![\"Tim](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/AP16264617119644-423x600.jpg\")
Tim Tebow, left, talks with outfield coordinator Benny DiStefano between drills, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Photo: Wilfredo Lee\/AP<\/p>\nCONEY ISLAND \u2014 He\u2019s the answer to one of baseball\u2019s great trivia questions. But we\u2019ll approach that later.<\/p>\n
For now, Benny Distefano is more concerned with his Lafayette High School\/Gil Hodges Baseball Reunion, set for Saturday, Oct. 3, at Gargiulo\u2019s in Coney Island.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought about it for a while,\u201d Distefano told the Brooklyn Eagle the other day from his Missouri City, Texas, home. \u201cIn fact, five months ago, I gave Gargiulos a $1,000 deposit for the event. Yeah, I took a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The event is a sit-down buffet \u2014 $125 a pop for guests \u2014 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 \u201cwe were 13 to 17 years of age,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo date, we have close to 120 alums coming, including six major leaguers,\u201d Distefano, a 1980 Lafayette High grad, said.<\/p>\n
Of course, six big leaguers will attend \u2014 Lafayette High is, well, big league baseball. Unofficially, the school produced more major leaguers than any high school in America.<\/p>\n
One of the guests \u2013 former ace reliever John Franco, who was Lafayette senior when Distefano was a sophomore.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I owe him,\u201d said Distefano, who grew up at 5 Dorso Court. \u201cWe went on a Florida baseball trip when we both played at Lafayette. My mom packed me two suitcases \u2014 one was all sweets \u2013 ya know, Yodels, Ding Dongs, the works. The other was my clothes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell Franco stole my suitcase \u2014 the one with my clothes. I had nothing left. No shoes, no sneakers. Nothing. I did get it back after about three days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh, there\u2019s more.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 1986, we \u2014 me and Franco \u2014 were both on major league ballclubs. He calls me,\u201d Distefano says, \u201cand says, \u2018If I face you \u2014 I\u2019m gonna throw you a fastball right down the middle.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I did face him, and that first pitch was a slider,\u201d Distefano said.<\/p>\n
Franco\u2019s response: \u201cThat\u2019s what you get for trusting me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim Tebow, left, talks with outfield coordinator Benny DiStefano between drills, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Photo: Wilfredo Lee\/AP<\/p>\n
Now for trivia.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was September 1988,\u201d he said, \u201cI was called up by the (Pittsburgh) Pirates and was trying to make an impression for the 1989 roster.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow come there are no left-handed catchers?\u201d Miller said aloud to Distefano.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis,\u201d said Distefano, was no spontaneous remark by Miller. He said the coach was planting a seed \u2014 and it certainly took root. The next day, Distefano went to manager Jim Leyland\u2019s office and made an announcement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to be your third catcher next year,\u201d he said. Distefano said Leyland was open to the idea \u2013 and with roster sizes reduced from 25 to 24 men in 1989, versatility was vital.<\/p>\n
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\u2019 roster as a bench player.<\/p>\n
He made three brief appearances as catcher that season \u2013 a total of six innings \u2013 that entire season. He had only one passed ball and allowed one stolen base while Pirates\u2019 pitchers threw just one wild pitch when he was behind the plate.<\/p>\n
So why aren\u2019t there more \u2014 or any left-handed catchers playing today?<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, a left-handed catcher might struggle to throw runners out at third base,\u201d Distefano said. \u201cA right-handed catcher can keep his feet planted and make the throw, a lefty would have to pivot first.\u201d<\/p>\n
And lefties have more difficulty tagging out runners on plays at the plate.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight-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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Distefano added that there was a time when baseball feared more bases would be stolen off a left-handed catcher.<\/p>\n
\u201cFuhgeddaboutit,\u201d he said, \u201cthere\u2019s not much stealing in the bigs these days.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the 19 catchers in baseball\u2019s Hall of Fame, four of them are left-handed batters: Yogi Berra, Mickey Cochrane, Bill Dickey and Louis Santop.<\/p>\n
Distefano played in the major leagues with the Pirates and Houston Astros in the 1980s and early \u201990s, and later with Navegantes del Magallanes in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League.<\/p>\n
His U.S. baseball-playing career ended in 1993 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m giving kids lessons these days,\u201d he says. \u201cIt gives me time to reflect on my playing days at Lafayette.\u201d<\/p>\n
And time to get those zingers ready for Saturday night.<\/p>\n