In the case of catchers, shortstops, and third basemen however, the hand that someone uses to throw cannot be ambidextrous all the time. There are exceptions in which players have played these positions left-handed, but the fact remains that these are few and far between.
Another disadvantage to left-handed throwers is how they are brought up, too. Baseball is about tradition, and even if there could be theoretical exceptions to the rules against left-handed catchers, baseball stands firm in employing right-handed ones to do the job. I want to thank Mickey and the Mets for their amazing hospitality.
Want to wish him and the team nothing but the best this season! Indeed, this would be an advantage for a left-handed catcher who can more easily get his glove in position to handle these wild pitches. This one is true, too. Right-handers are in better position to receive the throw from the outfielder or cutoff man and reach down for the tag with his left gloved hand than a left-hander who would have to catch the ball with his right gloved hand and turn his body before applying the tag.
But this is another argument adversely affected by the relative rarity of the play. And both Weinstein and Distefano dismissed it.
He knows where the guy is going to go, especially when taking throws from right field where your glove is closer to the plate. Ah, yes, the argument that holds back much of human progress. Admittedly, pitchers peering in for the sign might find the sight of a gloved right hand jarring at first. So by the time players advance to professional baseball, what few lefty catchers that could have existed have either been eliminated or eliminated themselves.
But if the above has convinced you that this unwritten rule ought to be broken, allow us to end on an optimistic -- and amazingly coincidental -- note. The year-old Distefano has devoted his post-playing career to coaching. He coached in the Tigers and Mets farm systems from until , and he has offered youth lessons in Houston for many years.
As fate would have it, Distefano is currently working with an year-old apprentice who not only shares his first name but also his love of left-handed catching. I enjoyed it. And he has a message for every southpaw who has eyed the tools of ignorance and wrongly assumed they must abstain. The player who no longer exists in the Majors.
Share share-square Distefano added that there was a time baseball feared more bases would be stolen off a left-handed catcher. His U. It was April 28, 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, , when he caught the last three innings of a loss to the Braves at Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium. The season wound up being the last of his four seasons with the Pirates.
He served as the hitting coach for the Brooklyn Cyclones in After serving as the hitting coach for the Class A St. Distefano was named the bench coach for the Syracuse Mets of the New York Mets organization for the season.
Why left-handed throwers are effectively banned from catching is less obvious than why they can't play shortstop or third base. And perhaps completely wrong. The most common reason cited is that a left-handed catcher is at a disadvantage in making the throw to third base, especially with a right-handed hitter at the plate.
While this may be true, the overall effect is debatable. The average major league team attempted Right-handed catchers appeared to have little problem with the pickoffs at first base, the equivalent of a lefthander's throw to third with a right-handed batter at the plate. The lack of left-handed catchers is more of a traditional thing than reality say most scouts. There are obstruction issues on some of the throws a catcher has to make, but there are some advantages to being left handed as well.
One advantage is a left-handed catcher's ability to frame a right-handed pitcher's breaking balls.
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