David Michael Rucker (born September 1, 1957) 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 ...

, who played 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), ...

(MLB) from 1981 to 1988, primarily as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

. Rucker attended Eisenhower High School and

University of LaVerne The University of La Verne (ULV) is a private university in La Verne, California. Founded in 1891, the university is composed of the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Business & Public Management, the LaFetra College of Education, College o ...

where he was drafted in 1978 by the Detroit Tigers and joined the big league team, in 1981. In 1983, he was traded to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

for

Doug Bair Charles Douglas Bair (born August 22, 1949) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played for 15 Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons — from 1976 to 1990 — for seven teams. Career Pittsburgh Pirates Bair was drafted by the ...

. In 1985, Rucker was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Bill Campbell and

Iván DeJesús Iván Alvarez DeJesús (born January 9, 1953), is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball shortstop and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, N ...

. His MLB career came to an end, following the 1988 season, spent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

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Dave Rucker
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League) 1957 births Baseball players from California Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Detroit Tigers players Evansville Triplets players Lakeland Tigers players La Verne Leopards baseball players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Montgomery Rebels players Oklahoma City 89ers players St. Louis Cardinals players Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players Portland Beavers players Sportspeople from San Bernardino, California UCLA Bruins baseball players Mat-Su Miners players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1950s-stub