Benny Distefano: Baseball’s last left-handed throwing catcher

August 2, 2021 Andy Furman

Benny Distefano. Photo courtesy of Andy Furman

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He was the last.

And if not for his manager Jim Leyland taking a chance, it might have never happened.

Benny Distefano, who played first base and pitched for Lafayette High School (1978-80), is the last left-handed throwing catcher to have played in the major leagues.

“It was September 1988,” Distefano told the Eagle, “I was called up by the (Pittsburgh) Pirates and was trying to make an impression for the 1989 roster.”

While waiting to board the flight from Philadelphia to St. Louis, Distefano and pitching coach Ray Miller were having a cold one at the bar and watching a bit of a ballgame on TV, according to baseballamore.com.

“How come there are no left-handed catchers?” Miller said aloud to Distefano.

“This,” said Distefano, was no spontaneous remark by Miller. He said the coach was planting a seed – and it certainly took root. The next day, Distefano went to manager Jim Leyland’s office and made an announcement.

“I’d like to be your third catcher next year,” he said.

Distefano said Leyland was open to the idea – and with roster sizes reduced from 25 to 24 men in 1989, versatility was vital.

And when Opening Day arrived in 1989, Distefano, who had spent time in the Fall Instructional League to practice his new position, was on the Pirates’ roster as a bench player.

He made three brief appearances as catcher that season – a total of six innings – that entire season. He had only one passed ball and allowed only one stolen base while Pirates pitchers threw just one wild pitch when he was behind the plate.

“A lot of people thought it was a joke,” said the kid who lived at Avenue U and Van Strickland. “I had a strong arm, so I was able to do it.”

Distefano said when he played for the Astros in 1992, he went to Major League camp with pitchers and catchers, as the emergency catcher.

“And my last year, I went to camp with the Rangers’ pitchers and catchers.”

So why aren’t there more – or any – left-handed catchers playing today?

“Good question,” Distefano said. “First, a left-handed catcher might struggle to throw runners out at third base. A right-handed catcher can keep his feet planted and make the throw; a lefty would have to pivot first.”

And lefties have more difficulty tagging out runners on plays at the plate.

“Right-handers are in better position to receive the throw from the outfielder and cutoff man and then reach down for the tag with his gloved hand than a left-handed who would have to catch the ball with his right hand and turn his body before the tag,” he said.

Distefano added that there was a time baseball feared more bases would be stolen off a left-handed catcher.

“Fuhgeddaboudit,” Distefano laughed, “there’s not much stealing in the bigs these days.”

As for the 19 catchers in baseball’s Hall of Fame, four of them are left-handed batters – Yogi Berra, Mickey Cochrane, Bill Dickey and Louis Santop.

At age 59, Benny Distefano is what you call a baseball “lifer.”

“I’ve been lucky,” he said, “I’ve put in 27 years.”

He played in the major leagues with the Pirates and Houston Astros in the 1980s and early ‘90s, and later with Navegantes del Magallanes in LVBP (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League).

His U.S. baseball-playing career ended in 1993 – but not before he broke up a David Cone potential no-hitter. It was April 28, 1992. Cone, then with the New York Mets, brought a no-hitter into the eighth inning, but Distefano broke it up with an infield hit.

And his last appearance at the position was August 18, 1989, when he caught the last three innings of a 13-6 loss to the Braves at Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium.

The 1989 season wound up being the last of his four seasons with the Pirates.

He served as the hitting coach for the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2010. After serving as the hitting coach for the Class A St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League, he returned to Brooklyn for the 2014 season.

Distefano was named the bench coach for the Syracuse Mets of the New York Mets organization for the 2019 season.

“But when the Mets changed ownerships,” he said, “I left the organization.”

But he hasn’t left baseball.

“I just didn’t want to go back to the minors and travel the buses,” he said.

So, he’s doing what he loves – and what he does best – teach.

“I’m giving kids lessons,” said Distefano, who calls Houston, Texas home these days. “It gives me time to reflect on my playing days at Lafayette.”

Distefano played for Joe Gambuzza, who guided the then-Frenchies into the playoffs in each of the 22 seasons he coached the Bensonhurst school.

“We had a pretty good team,” Distefano said, “made the playoffs every year I played. And I played with John Franco (former Red and Met). He was a senior when I was a soph.”

Gambuzza, who played for Lafayette, won a city title as coach in 1991.

But alas, Benny Distefano may have found the next left-handed catcher.

Ben Whitley plays on a 12-and-under team under the umbrella of USA Baseball and has been catching since Little League.

“My coach needed a catcher,” Ben explained in a published report, “so he made me get the gear on. I enjoyed it. He said, ‘Do you want to catch in the game?’ I said, ‘Sure, I’ll do that.’”

And he’s been doing it ever since. He found the only left-handed catcher’s glove for sale at Academy Sports. And he has a message for every southpaw who has eyed the tools of ignorance:

“If you’re the best catcher on the team and you’re left-handed,” Ben says, “the coach will play you.”

As Jim Leyland did for Benny Distefano.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at [email protected] Twitter: @AndyFurmanFSR