Snap pickoff throws to first are less important than throws to third  as Torre put it, “The runners only go in one direction”  and on the latter, right-handed hitters would impede a left-handed-throwing catcher. But Distefano brushed that back, too.

“When I had to throw to third, I cheated a little bit  I sat a couple of inches farther back and my left foot was a little open,” he said. “I didn’t have to shuffle my feet because I had good arm strength. And when guys steal third, 9 of 10 times it’s on the pitcher anyway.”

Distefano offered two explanations. Bunts toward third base, he said, cause problems for left-handed catchers. In scampering to grab the ball, transferring it to their left hand and throwing to either first or second base, their bodies get closed and clumsy. Throws for right-handers are far more open and natural.

But the primary problem Distefano encountered was with plays at home. Because his glove was on his right hand, every accurate throw to the runner’s side of the plate would have to be reached for backhanded, impeding a quick tag. And on outfielder throws up the first-base line, reaching out with his right hand would leave his throwing shoulder wide open to the runner.

Image Dale Long caught briefly for the Cubs. Credit... James G. Kligensmith/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“If there’s going to be a bang-bang play, the left-handed catcher’s going to get hurt,” he said.

Distefano did manage to parlay his newfound versatility into a better-paying job in Japan in 1990. He attended the Houston Astros’ spring camp in 1992  with the pitchers and catchers  and made the team in part because he could serve as emergency catcher. He never got into a game behind the plate, but they needed an extra body with Craig Biggio moving to second base.

Come to think of it, speaking of second base, why don’t any lefties get to play there, either? And not at shortstop, nor at third?