Closer Confusion

1960's mystery league....I had a non-closer come into the eighth inning who suddenly found himself in a closer situation in the ninth when the tying run reached base. The pitcher has an "N" closer rating . HAL did not remove the pitcher. The pitcher gave up one more hit, but, still, HAL didn't budge. The pitcher's F9 fatigue rating was preserved the rest of the inning and he got the save.

Very unexpected result. HAL should have recognized he is not eligible for "closer" duty and taken him out, replacing him with reliever who is eligible.

I'm not 100% sure (maybe 80% sure), but I think that the "closer" rule isn't actually used in some of the older sets - possibly ATG, 60's, maybe even 70's.

Historically, the concept of a closer really came into its own with a few pitchers in the late 70's and early 80's, and then carried forward from there. Quisenberry and Eckersley were among the earliest super-closers, historically.

The strat rule change for the closer only came into being around that time, according to my memory.

So, although there are closer ratings for RPs in the earlier sets and ATG, I don't think that the closer rule is used in the game engine for those sets.

Does anybody know for sure, or more precisely which sets the closer rule is used in?

/Geoff

You're probably correct in saying that closer rules don't apply to earlier sets, and, yet, the documentation for "online" playing (shown below) says you must have at least 1 pitcher who has a closer Endurance rating, including the earlier sets (e.g. 70's, 60's). There's not much logic behind requiring at least 1 pitcher who has a closer rating if it doesn't come into play. I suspect the documentation people and and coders aren't on the same page in explaining how this stuff works.
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2007-2012, 1999, Back to the '90s | ATG VI, VII, '70s, '60s | 1986 | Back to the '80s

At all times, you must have at least 24 players and no more than 28 players on your roster.
You must have at least 13 and no more than 17 hitters.
- At least two of those hitters must be eligible to play catcher.
You must have at least 10 and no more than 12 pitchers.
You must have at least 5 pitchers who have starting pitcher Endurance ratings (e.g. S7).
You must have at least 4 "pure" relievers (i.e. a relief rating (e.g. R2) but no starter rating).
You must have at least 1 pitcher who has a closer Endurance rating (e.g. C4).

Those requirements only apply to the first group of card sets listed. Highlight the second group (ATG, 70s, 80s) and you'll see different requirements, including no closer.

Those requirements only apply to the first group of card sets listed. Highlight the second group (ATG, 70s, 80s) and you'll see different requirements, including no closer.

Yes, I see now. Thanks for pointing that out. It's still confusing in the sense that the online player card images for the 60s and 70s have closer ratings if they can close. I guess they come into play in the board game or windows game, but, not online.