Alan Edward Closter is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played on the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball t ...

during the 1964 Summer Olympics. He pitched parts of four seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

between 1966 and 1973, pitching in a total of 21 games.

Career

Closter played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

. He represented the United States in baseball at the 1964 Summer Olympics as a demonstration sport, one of seven pitchers on the team. He was signed by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

as an amateur free agent before the start of the 1965 season.

Minor leagues

In 1965, Closter's first year in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

, he split his time between two teams, the

Rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

league Johnson City Yankees of the Appalachian League and the

single-A Class A, also known as Single-A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for each ...

Greensboro Yankees Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

of the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

. In the winter, Closter also spent time with the Yankees affiliate of the

Florida Instructional League The Florida Instructional League (FIL), sometimes known informally as "instructs", is an American professional baseball league. The league was founded in 1958. Young major league prospects hone their skills in the FIL, while experienced players may ...

. On November 29, 1965, Closter was selected by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

in the Rule 5 Draft. A few months later, on April 6, 1966, before ever playing a game in the Indians organization, Closter was purchased by the Washington Senators. Closter played only one game in the Senators organization, pitching 0.1 innings against the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

in his

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

debut, before being purchased again by the Yankees on May 3, 1966. After returning to the New York Yankees organization, Closter finished the season with the Greensboro Yankees. Closter spent the entirety of the 1967 season with the double-A

Binghamton Triplets The Binghamton Triplets were a minor league baseball team based in Binghamton, New York between 1923 and 1963. The franchise played as members of the New York–Penn League (1923–1937), Eastern League (1938–1963), New York–Penn League (19 ...

of the Eastern League. Closter pitched in only 14 games that year, but made an impressive performance by going 40 with an

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

of 1.74 and 45

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

. In 1968, Closter began the season with the

Fort Lauderdale Yankees The Fort Lauderdale Yankees, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, were an American Minor League Baseball franchise that existed from 1962 through 1992. The team was a member of the Florida State League (FSL) as an affiliate of the New York Yankees ...

of the Florida State League. Playing only five games there, he was quickly promoted to the triple-A

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

of the International League. For the rest of his career with the Yankees, Closter would bounce between Syracuse and the Major Leagues. Between 1968 and 1973, Closter played a total of 249 games for Syracuse, winning a total of 69 games and losing a total of 58.

Major leagues

After making his Major League debut with the Senators in 1966, Closter wouldn't play another game in the MLB until 1971, when he made occasional relief appearances for the Yankees. Closter made one start in 1971 against the Detroit Tigers on September 4. He pitched 5.0 innings and allowed 5 hits and 5

earned runs In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

, two of which were home runs. Closter was traded to the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

on September 5, 1973, as the

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

as part of a trade that sent Wayne Nordhagen and Frank Tepedino to Atlanta in exchange for pitcher

Pat Dobson Patrick Edward Dobson, Jr. (February 12, 1942 – November 22, 2006) was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Detroit Tigers (1967–69), San Diego Padres (1970), Baltimore Orioles (1971–72), Atla ...

. In his remaining two seasons in the MLB, Closter only made 6 appearances between the Yankees and Braves, pitching 6.2 innings in relief.

Post-retirement

In 2006, Closter was elected to the Syracuse Baseball Wall of Fame.

Notes

External links

, o
Retrosheet
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Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Winter League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Closter, Al 1943 births Living people Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Nebraska Binghamton Triplets players Greensboro Yankees players Florida Instructional League Yankees players Fort Lauderdale Yankees players Iowa State Cyclones baseball players Iowa State University alumni Johnson City Yankees players Major League Baseball pitchers Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela New York Yankees players People from Creighton, Nebraska Richmond Braves players Syracuse Chiefs players Tigres de Aragua players Washington Senators (1961–1971) players