Benito James Distefano (born January 23, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

and

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

and in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

for the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011 ...

. He made his MLB debut in 1984 and played his last game in 1992.

Biography

Distefano attended Lafayette High School in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, followed by college at Alvin Community College in Alvin, Texas. Distefano was drafted by the

in the second round of the 1981 MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase. Distefano remains the most recent left-handed-throwing player to catch an MLB game, catching in three separate games for the Pirates in 1989. On April 28, 1992, David Cone of the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

brought a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

into the eighth inning. Distefano broke it up with an infield hit. In 2010, Distefano was hired by the New York Mets to serve as the hitting coach for the Single A Brooklyn Cyclones. After serving as the hitting coach for the Class A St. Lucie Mets of the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

for a few years, Distefano returned to Brooklyn for the 2014 season. Distefano was named as the bench coach for the

Syracuse Mets The Syracuse Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Syracuse, New York, and play their home games at NBT Bank Stadium, which ope ...

of the

organization for the 2019 season. In 2020-21, Distefano was a roving instructor in the Mets' system. Distefano is in the Houston area hosting a boys baseball camp annually.

References

External links

1962 births Living people Águilas Cibaeñas players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Alvin Dolphins baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan American people of Italian descent Baseball coaches from New York (state) Brooklyn Cyclones coaches Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Calgary Cannons players Chunichi Dragons players Greenwood Pirates players Hawaii Islanders players Houston Astros players Lafayette High School (New York City) alumni Lynn Pirates (1983) players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball outfielders Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Oklahoma City 89ers players Pittsburgh Pirates players Rochester Red Wings players Baseball players from Brooklyn Tiburones de La Guaira players Tucson Toros players Vancouver Canadians players 20th-century American sportsmen {{Texas-bio-stub