# Al Closter

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{{short description|American baseball player (born 1943)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Al Closter
|position=[Pitcher](/source/Pitcher)
|image=
|bats=Left
|throws=Left
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1943|6|15}}
|birth_place=[Creighton, Nebraska](/source/Creighton%2C_Nebraska), U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=April 19
|debutyear=1966
|debutteam=Washington Senators
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 17
|finalyear=1973
|finalteam=Atlanta Braves
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[Win–loss record](/source/Win%E2%80%93loss_record_(pitching))
|stat1value=2–2
|stat2label=[Strikeout](/source/Strikeout)s
|stat2value=26
|stat3label=[Earned run average](/source/Earned_run_average)
|stat3value=6.62
|baseball_ref= 
|teams=
*[Washington Senators](/source/Washington_Senators_(1961%E2%80%9371)) ({{mlby|1966}})
*[New York Yankees](/source/New_York_Yankees) ({{mlby|1971}}–{{mlby|1972}})
*[Atlanta Braves](/source/Atlanta_Braves) ({{mlby|1973}})
}}
'''Alan Edward Closter''' (born June 15, 1943) is an American former professional [baseball](/source/baseball) [pitcher](/source/pitcher). He played on the [United States national baseball team](/source/United_States_national_baseball_team) during the [1964 Summer Olympics](/source/1964_Summer_Olympics). He pitched parts of four seasons in [Major League Baseball](/source/Major_League_Baseball) between 1966 and 1973, pitching in a total of 21 games.

==Career==
Closter played [college baseball](/source/college_baseball) at [Iowa State University](/source/Iowa_State_University).<ref>{{cite magazine |date=September–October 1964 |title=Olympic rosters in NCAA title sports |url=http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/NCAANewsArchive/1964/19640901.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324221551/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/NCAANewsArchive/1964/19640901.pdf |archive-date=March 24, 2012 |magazine=NCAA News |page=4 |via=[Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) |volume=1 |issue=4}}</ref> He represented the United States in [baseball at the 1964 Summer Olympics](/source/baseball_at_the_1964_Summer_Olympics) as a [demonstration sport](/source/demonstration_sport), one of seven pitchers on the team.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cava |first=Pete |year=1991 |title=Baseball at the Olympics |url=https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll10/id/3005/rec/4 |url-status=live |journal=Citius, Altius, Fortius |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809200123/http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/JOH/JOHv1n1/JOHv1n1e.pdf |archive-date=August 9, 2017 |access-date=May 3, 2018}}</ref> He was signed by the [New York Yankees](/source/New_York_Yankees) as an amateur free agent before the start of the 1965 season.

===Minor leagues===
In 1965, Closter's first year in the [minor leagues](/source/Minor_League_Baseball), he split his time between two teams, the [Rookie](/source/Rookie) league [Johnson City Yankees](/source/Johnson_City_Yankees) of the [Appalachian League](/source/Appalachian_League) and the [Single-A](/source/Single-A) [Greensboro Yankees](/source/Greensboro_Yankees) of the [Carolina League](/source/Carolina_League). In the winter, Closter also spent time with the Yankees affiliate of the [Florida Instructional League](/source/Florida_Instructional_League).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Al Closter Winter & Minor Leagues Statistics & History |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=closte001ala |access-date=2018-05-03 |website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>

On November 29, 1965, the [Cleveland Indians](/source/Cleveland_Indians) selected Closter in the [Rule 5 Draft](/source/Rule_5_Draft). A few months later, on April 6, 1966, before ever playing a game in the Indians organization, the [Washington Senators](/source/Washington_Senators_(1961%E2%80%9371)) purchased Closter's contract. He played only one game in the Senators organization, pitching {{Fraction|1|3}} of an inning against the [Baltimore Orioles](/source/Baltimore_Orioles) in his [MLB](/source/MLB) debut, before being purchased again by the Yankees on May 3, 1966.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Al Closter Stats |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/clostal01.shtml |access-date=2018-05-03 |website=[Baseball Reference](/source/Baseball_Reference)}}</ref> After returning to the New York Yankees organization, Closter finished the season with the [Greensboro Yankees](/source/Greensboro_Yankees).

Closter spent the entirety of the 1967 season with the [Double-A](/source/Double-A_(baseball)) [Binghamton Triplets](/source/Binghamton_Triplets) of the [Eastern League](/source/Eastern_League_(1938%E2%80%932020)). Closter pitched in only 14 games that year but pitched well, going 4{{en dash}}0 with a 1.74 [ERA](/source/Earned_run_average) and 45 [strikeouts](/source/strikeouts).

In 1968, Closter began the season with the Single-A [Fort Lauderdale Yankees](/source/Fort_Lauderdale_Yankees) of the [Florida State League](/source/Florida_State_League). Playing only five games there, he was quickly promoted to the [Triple-A](/source/Triple-A_(baseball)) [Syracuse Chiefs](/source/Syracuse_Chiefs) of the [International League](/source/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 in 249 games for Syracuse, with a 69–58 record.<ref name=":0" />

===Major leagues===
After making his Major League debut with the Senators in 1966<!--, Closter was severely injured in a collision with [Dallas Green](/source/Dallas_Green_(baseball)), which derailed his career for some time.(can't find a source for this, would appreciate it if somebody could refer one to me)-->, Closter wouldn't pitch again in MLB until 1971, when he made occasional relief appearances for the Yankees. Closter made one [start](/source/starting_pitcher) in 1971 against the [Detroit Tigers](/source/Detroit_Tigers) on September 4. He pitched 5 innings and allowed 5 hits and 5 [earned runs](/source/earned_runs), two of which were [home runs](/source/home_runs).

Closter was traded to the [Atlanta Braves](/source/Atlanta_Braves) on September 5, 1973 as the [player to be named later](/source/player_to_be_named_later) as part of a trade that sent [Wayne Nordhagen](/source/Wayne_Nordhagen) and [Frank Tepedino](/source/Frank_Tepedino) to Atlanta for pitcher [Pat Dobson](/source/Pat_Dobson).

In his remaining two seasons in the MLB, Closter only made 6 appearances between the Yankees and Braves, pitching {{Fraction|6|2|3}} innings in relief.<ref name=":1" />

==Post-retirement==
After retiring, Closter lived in [Richmond, New York](/source/Richmond%2C_New_York). He worked for [Philip Morris International](/source/Philip_Morris_International) for 30 years, focused on product development in Latin America. In 2006, Closter was elected to the Syracuse Baseball Wall of Fame.<ref>{{cite news |last=Michael |first=Matt |date=July 28, 2006 |title=Tepedino, Closter find fame here |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1095081297/?clipping_id=173664681 |accessdate=24 September 2011 |newspaper=[Syracuse Post-Standard](/source/Syracuse_Post-Standard) |pages=C-1, [https://www.newspapers.com/image/1095081317/?clipping_id=173664699 C-2]}}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Baseballstats|mlb=|espn=|br=c/clostal01|fangraphs=|brm=closte001ala}}, or [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/C/Pclosa101.htm Retrosheet]

{{United States baseball roster 1964 Summer Olympics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Closter, Al}}
Category:1943 births
Category:Living people
Category:Atlanta Braves players
Category:Baseball players from Nebraska
Category:Binghamton Triplets players
Category:Greensboro Yankees players
Category:Florida Instructional League Yankees players
Category:Fort Lauderdale Yankees players
Category:Iowa State Cyclones baseball players
Category:Iowa State University alumni
Category:Johnson City Yankees players
Category:Major League Baseball pitchers
Category:Navegantes del Magallanes players
Category:American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela
Category:New York Yankees players
Category:People from Creighton, Nebraska
Category:Richmond Braves players
Category:Syracuse Chiefs players
Category:Tigres de Aragua players
Category:Washington Senators (1961–1971) players
Category:20th-century American sportsmen

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Al Closter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Closter) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Closter?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.