CONEY ISLAND — He’s the answer to one of baseball’s great trivia questions. But we’ll approach that later.
For now, Benny Distefano is more concerned with his Lafayette High School/Gil Hodges Baseball Reunion, set for Saturday, Oct. 3, at Gargiulo’s in Coney Island.
“I thought about it for a while,” Distefano told the Brooklyn Eagle the other day from his Missouri City, Texas, home. “In fact, five months ago, I gave Gargiulos a $1,000 deposit for the event. Yeah, I took a chance.”
The event is a sit-down buffet — $125 a pop for guests — and is open to Lafayette alumni baseball players, as well as ballplayers from New Utrecht, Lincoln High, Nazareth High and kids who played baseball in the Parade Grounds when “we were 13 to 17 years of age,” he said.
“To date, we have close to 120 alums coming, including six major leaguers,” Distefano, a 1980 Lafayette High grad, said.
Of course, six big leaguers will attend — Lafayette High is, well, big league baseball. Unofficially, the school produced more major leaguers than any high school in America.
One of the guests – former ace reliever John Franco, who was Lafayette senior when Distefano was a sophomore.
“Yeah, I owe him,” said Distefano, who grew up at 5 Dorso Court. “We went on a Florida baseball trip when we both played at Lafayette. My mom packed me two suitcases — one was all sweets – ya know, Yodels, Ding Dongs, the works. The other was my clothes.
“Well Franco stole my suitcase — the one with my clothes. I had nothing left. No shoes, no sneakers. Nothing. I did get it back after about three days.”
Oh, there’s more.
“In 1986, we — me and Franco — were both on major league ballclubs. He calls me,” Distefano says, “and says, ‘If I face you — I’m gonna throw you a fastball right down the middle.’
“Well, I did face him, and that first pitch was a slider,” Distefano said.
Franco’s response: “That’s what you get for trusting me.”
Tim Tebow, left, talks with outfield coordinator Benny DiStefano between drills, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Photo: Wilfredo Lee/AP
Now for trivia.
Distefano, who played first base and pitched for Lafayette High (1978-80), is the last left-handed throwing catcher to have played in the major leagues.
“It was September 1988,” he said, “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 basdeballamore.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 one stolen base while Pirates’ pitchers threw just one wild pitch when he was behind the plate.
So why aren’t there more — or any left-handed catchers playing today?
“First, a left-handed catcher might struggle to throw runners out at third base,” Distefano said. “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 when baseball feared more bases would be stolen off a left-handed catcher.
“Fuhgeddaboutit,” he said, “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.
Distefano played in the major leagues with the Pirates and Houston Astros in the 1980s and early ’90s, and later with Navegantes del Magallanes in the 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 Aug. 18, 1989, when he caught the last three innings of a 13-6 loss to the Braves at Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium.
“I’m giving kids lessons these days,” he says. “It gives me time to reflect on my playing days at Lafayette.”
And time to get those zingers ready for Saturday night.
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] X:@AndyFurmanFSR