Benny Distefano

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Benny Distefano

|position=First baseman / Right Fielder / Catcher

|image=Benny Distefano.jpg

|image_size=250px

|bats=Left

|throws=Left

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1962|1|23}}

|birth_place=Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=May 18

|debutyear=1984

|debutteam=Pittsburgh Pirates

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=August 5

|finalyear=1992

|finalteam=Houston Astros

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.228

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=5

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=28

|teams=

Pittsburgh Pirates ({{mlby|1984}}, {{mlby|1986}}, {{mlby|1988}}–{{mlby|1989}})
Chunichi Dragons ({{npby|1990}})
Houston Astros ({{mlby|1992}})

}}

Benito James Distefano (born January 23, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros and in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Chunichi Dragons. He made his MLB debut in 1984 and played his last game in 1992.

Biography

Distefano attended Lafayette High School in Brooklyn, New York, followed by college at Alvin Community College in Alvin, Texas. Distefano was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second round of the 1981 MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase.{{Cite web |title=Benny Distefano Minor & Japanese Leagues Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=distef001ben |access-date=2024-04-12 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}

Distefano remains the most recent left-handed-throwing player to catch an MLB game, catching in three separate games for the Pirates in 1989.{{cite news|first1=Alan|last1=Schwarz|access-date=June 20, 2023|title=Left-Handed and Left Out|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/sports/baseball/16catcher.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 15, 2009|issn=0362-4331|via=NYTimes.com}}

On April 28, 1992, David Cone of the New York Mets brought a no-hitter into the eighth inning. Distefano broke it up with an infield hit.{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FYZQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1RIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5092,7431817&dq=benny+distefano+david+cone&hl=en|title=Cone hurls 2-hit shutout}}

In 2010, Distefano was hired by the New York Mets to serve as the hitting coach for the Single A Brooklyn Cyclones.{{Cite web|url=https://www.milb.com/brooklyn|title=Brooklyn Cyclones|website=MiLB.com}}

After serving as the hitting coach for the Class A St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League for a few years, Distefano returned to Brooklyn for the 2014 season.

Distefano was named as the bench coach for the Syracuse Mets of the New York Mets 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.{{cn|date=February 2025}}