by Louis Bonnette
It was just a blurb in the local Lake Charles American Press in the back section underneath the 25 Years Ago headline.
Most people missed it.
“I think that someone told my wife about it,” said Ray Fontenot, a former pitching standout for the New York Yankees.
In three sentences the section said that Fontenot, then a Yankee rookie had won his second major league game, beating Texas 3-1 in an Oldtimers Day tilt.
Fontenot remembers the contest.
“I pitched in two oldtimers game while I was with the Yankees, both were against Texas and I won them both,” he recalled.
The Oldtimers Day game of July 17, 1983 was his third major league start.
He had been called up by the Yankees after having spent the early season in Triple A ball, going 3-2 with ERA just above 2.00 and eight saves as a closer.
The Yankee plans were to use him as a starter. They were in the thick of a pennant race and figured that Fontenot could help them out.
His major league debut had come two games prior to the Oldtimers and it was against Baltimore.
“I clearly remember that game,” the Lake Charles native said. “I gave up a double to the first batter. Billy Martin (the manager) came out to the mound and said now you’ve given up your first hit in the big leagues. Next, Cal Ripken came up and hit one up the middle to score the run.
“Martin came out again and said to me ?now you’ve given up your first big league run. That’s all he said.”
Fontenot would go on to finish with a no-decision, holding the Orioles to that one run over six innings.
He became a starter, joining in with fellow Louisiana native Ron Guidry in rotation. Later the New York press would dub the duo “Thunder (Fontenot) and Lightning (Guidry).”
In that oldtimers game 25 years ago, Fontenot gave up five hits in seven innings and took a 3-1 victory with Rick Gossage coming on with relief help. That gave him a 2-0 record on the way to an 8-2 season mark and 3.33 ERA in 97.1 innings.
Fontenot had been drafted out of McNeese State in 1979 by the Texas Rangers after a collegiate career in which he set school records for complete games (29), shutouts (9) and lowest ERA (1.02 in 1976) and had won 25 games. He was later traded to the Yankees in the Mickey Rivers, Oscar Gamble trade as the player to be named later.
He had gone through training camp in 1983 with the Yankees and had been on their roster to head north. However, a trade for Doyle Alexander fell through and Fontenot was re-assigned back to Triple A when the season began.
Later in the year he rejoined the club, making his debut in Yankee Stadium against the Orioles.
“There is nothing like it,” he said remembering his debut. “You’re out there on the mound in Yankee Stadium. You’re playing big league baseball and there are 52,000 fans in the stands and all of their eyes are on you. Also, we had all of those old Yankee greats at the game.
“I don’t remember being nervous on the mound but I was when I was warming up in the bullpen.
“Once on the mound, I didn’t see or hear anything else. It was a concentration level that you had to have to be where you were.”
Backing Fontenot up in the field that day were Rick Cerone behind the plate, Don Mattingly (who was his roommate) at first, Willie Randolph at second, Craig Nettles at third, Andre Robinson at shortstop and Dave Winfield, Steve Kemp and Omar Marino in the outfield. Don Baylor was the DH.
Also on the team besides Guidry and Goosage were Bobby Mercer, Lou Pinella, Dave Rigetta, Shawn Rawlins and Jay Howell and Yogi Berra was an assistant coach.
“Another thing that I remember about the game was that it was on national television (USA network) and my family and friends back home were able to watch it,” Fontenot said.
The next year he continued to turn in quality starts for the Yankees, going 8-9 with a 3.61 ERA in 169.1 innings. Fontenot later played for the Chicago Cubs and the Minnesota Twins, compiling a 25-26 career record along with a 4.03 ERA in 145 major league appearances.
A shoulder injury forced him to retire in 1987.
He’s been in private business since his retirement and currently serves as the Southwest Louisiana territory manager for Tyco International. A member of the McNeese Hall of Fame, Fontenot is also active in the community and serves on the Calcasieu Parish planning and zoning board.
