(According to the always handy Holiday Insights calendar, today is "Bad Poetry Day." Isn't that redundant? I mean, isn't all poe ... OK, never mind, that's not very appreciative. On with Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 44th in a series):
I don't normally feature such a bland-looking card in Cardboard Appreciation. But the card is here more for the subject than its appearance.
If you saw the New York Times article over the weekend, you know why this card is here. But if you didn't, I'm going to tell you a little story. Today is the 20th anniversary of the last time a left-handed catcher played in a major league game. And that catcher was Benny Distefano.
Distefano caught in three games for the Pirates in 1989, the last one being on Aug. 18, when he replaced Junior Ortiz in the sixth inning of a 13-6 loss to the Braves. The article mentions that one of the reasons that Distefano was able to catch was because his manager, Jim Leyland, often saw Tony La Russa make unconventional managerial moves when the two were with the White Sox. And one of the unconventional moves was using a left-hander at catcher.
In fact, the last left-hander to catch before Distefano was the White Sox's Mike Squires, placed behind the plate by La Russa.
Squires also played third base, which may be even more unusual than seeing a lefty at catcher.
The only other lefty to catch in a major league game in the last 100 YEARS was Dale Long, who did so for the Cubs in 1958. Long also caught before that day in 1958. And you can see what they thought of that on the back of his 1956 card:
They thought it was pretty stupid, didn't they?
The New York Times article does a good job of explaining why baseball doesn't employ lefties at catcher, or more accurately, pointing out that baseball doesn't really have a good reason for NOT employing lefties at catcher. The old theories (lefties have trouble throwing around right-handed batters on steal attempts, lefties' throws to second curve away from the runner) aren't really issues.
You may wonder why I'm writing so much about this. Well, I've mentioned before that I am left-handed. I played a lot of baseball as a kid, although I never played catcher (like a lot of kids, I wasn't interested in getting knocked around behind the plate). But during games with the neighbor kids and in youth leagues, I played an awful lot of shortstop and some third base -- two positions that are forbidden to left-handers in the majors.
By the time I got to high school, it was just understood that lefties didn't play third, short, second or at catcher. They either pitched, played first or took a spot in the outfield. That was a problem for me, because I wasn't very big, so first base was out. My arm was weak, so that's a major disadvantage at pitcher or in the outfield. I did pitch some and did OK. But mostly I played the outfield and wasn't thrilled about it.
My strong point in baseball was my fielding. That's why I played the infield as a youngster. As I got older, I understood why lefties couldn't play those positions. It's awkward for a lefty to turn a double play and it's awkward for a lefty to field a bunt and throw to first. (In pick-up games as a youngster there weren't many double plays or bunts). But I didn't like it very much.
Eventually, I just stopped playing ball. I was stuck in positions where I didn't have any chance to do anything notable. I wasn't any kind of talent at all, but at least if I was at second, short or third I could've done something worthwhile periodically.
So that's why I appreciate this anniversary, and what Benny Distefano did on that day. He caught three innings that day. And you know what? The world didn't end.
I don't normally feature such a bland-looking card in Cardboard Appreciation. But the card is here more for the subject than its appearance.If you saw the New York Times article over the weekend, you know why this card is here. But if you didn't, I'm going to tell you a little story. Today is the 20th anniversary of the last time a left-handed catcher played in a major league game. And that catcher was Benny Distefano.
Distefano caught in three games for the Pirates in 1989, the last one being on Aug. 18, when he replaced Junior Ortiz in the sixth inning of a 13-6 loss to the Braves. The article mentions that one of the reasons that Distefano was able to catch was because his manager, Jim Leyland, often saw Tony La Russa make unconventional managerial moves when the two were with the White Sox. And one of the unconventional moves was using a left-hander at catcher.
In fact, the last left-hander to catch before Distefano was the White Sox's Mike Squires, placed behind the plate by La Russa.
Squires also played third base, which may be even more unusual than seeing a lefty at catcher.
The only other lefty to catch in a major league game in the last 100 YEARS was Dale Long, who did so for the Cubs in 1958. Long also caught before that day in 1958. And you can see what they thought of that on the back of his 1956 card:
They thought it was pretty stupid, didn't they?The New York Times article does a good job of explaining why baseball doesn't employ lefties at catcher, or more accurately, pointing out that baseball doesn't really have a good reason for NOT employing lefties at catcher. The old theories (lefties have trouble throwing around right-handed batters on steal attempts, lefties' throws to second curve away from the runner) aren't really issues.
You may wonder why I'm writing so much about this. Well, I've mentioned before that I am left-handed. I played a lot of baseball as a kid, although I never played catcher (like a lot of kids, I wasn't interested in getting knocked around behind the plate). But during games with the neighbor kids and in youth leagues, I played an awful lot of shortstop and some third base -- two positions that are forbidden to left-handers in the majors.
By the time I got to high school, it was just understood that lefties didn't play third, short, second or at catcher. They either pitched, played first or took a spot in the outfield. That was a problem for me, because I wasn't very big, so first base was out. My arm was weak, so that's a major disadvantage at pitcher or in the outfield. I did pitch some and did OK. But mostly I played the outfield and wasn't thrilled about it.
My strong point in baseball was my fielding. That's why I played the infield as a youngster. As I got older, I understood why lefties couldn't play those positions. It's awkward for a lefty to turn a double play and it's awkward for a lefty to field a bunt and throw to first. (In pick-up games as a youngster there weren't many double plays or bunts). But I didn't like it very much.
Eventually, I just stopped playing ball. I was stuck in positions where I didn't have any chance to do anything notable. I wasn't any kind of talent at all, but at least if I was at second, short or third I could've done something worthwhile periodically.
So that's why I appreciate this anniversary, and what Benny Distefano did on that day. He caught three innings that day. And you know what? The world didn't end.
Comments
I was a huge fan of Squires.
Jesus, that explains a lot.
In high school, the coaches begrudgingly let me catch a JV game when our two catchers were unable to play. You could see that they were embarrassed.
Their main theory? If you're left handed and have a good enough arm to throw out runners, you probably have a good enough arm to pitch. And since decent left handed pitchers are harder to come by then righties, a lot of would be lefty catchers end up on the mound instead.
I also didn't realize that Adam LaRoche used to be a catcher, which that article also said. Obviously he moved though.
I remember watching Mattingly play third once. It's really fun to watch lefties at third.