George Napoleon "Nap" Rucker (September 30, 1884 – December 19, 1970) was a sportsperson and politician from Georgia. Rucker was a left-handed

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 dr ...

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 ...

for the Brooklyn Superbas/Dodgers/Robins. Over his 10 seasons, Rucker lead the league in

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s, and

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning ...

throughout his career. On September 5, 1908, Rucker became the first left-handed pitcher to throw a no-hitter in Dodger history.

Early years

Rucker was born in

Crabapple, Georgia Centered today at the crossroads of Georgia Highways 140 and 372 (also known as "the Silos area"), Crabapple, Georgia, is one of the oldest parts of Fulton County, Georgia. Originally part of Cherokee County, Georgia, (created 1832), Crabapple w ...

, to parents Sarah Hembree and John Rucker, a Confederate veteran. He dropped out of school and became an apprentice printer. Inspired by a headline he worked on entitled "$10,000 For Pitching a Baseball", Rucker pursued a minor league career.

Professional baseball

Minor league

In 1904. Rucker played with the

Atlanta Crackers The Atlanta Crackers were Minor League Baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1966. History Atlanta played its first ...

in the

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), ...

. He then spent the following two years playing for the

Augusta Tourists Augusta may refer to: Places Australia * Augusta, Western Australia Brasil * Rua Augusta (São Paulo) Canada * Augusta, Ontario * North Augusta, Ontario * Augusta Street (Hamilton, Ontario) France * Augusta Suessionum ("Augusta of the Su ...

in the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

and compiled a 40–20 win–loss record during that span. Rucker also roomed with

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the l ...

during his time with the Tourists.

Major league (1907–1916)

Rucker played for the

Brooklyn Superbas The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californ ...

for his entire major league career. Rucker threw a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher w ...

against the

Boston Doves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

on September 5, 1908. He led the National League in complete games (27), innings pitched (320.1), and shutouts (6) in 1910. His best year was 1911, when he won 22 games for the Dodgers. He holds the Brooklyn Dodgers record for the most shutouts in the National League (38); most strikeouts (16) in a regulation nine-inning game, and the most 1-0 shutouts (3) in a 154-game season. He became strictly a

knuckleball A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from laminar to turbulent flow. This chan ...

pitcher when his speed declined.

MLB Hall of Fame

In 1936, Rucker became eligible for the MLB Hall of Fame. As a player who received more than 5.0% of votes cast, Rucker remained eligible for induction by the

Baseball Writers' Association of America The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is a professional association for journalists writing about Major League Baseball for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying websites. The organization was founded in 1908, and is known fo ...

until 1946, when his time on the ballot expired after 10 unsuccessful appearances. His highest percentage of votes earned came in his final year on the

ballot A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16t ...

, receiving 6.4% of the vote in 1946. Following his unsuccessful nominations,

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 o ...

Hall of Fame manager,

Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and Manager (baseball), manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, th ...

, said about Rucker, "If it hadn't been for Nap, I reckon I wouldn't be manager of the Yankees now. I wouldn't have even stayed in baseball."

Later life: Mayor of Roswell

Rucker was born in

. After his baseball career, Rucker went on to a successful business career including investing in a local bank and ownership of a

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

, several

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

farms, a

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologica ...

mill. He also served as mayor of Roswell from 1935 to 1936. After serving as mayor. Rucker was responsible for creating Roswell's first supply of running water and served as the city's water commissioner for many years. Rucker was inducted into the

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame is located in Macon, Georgia. It is the largest state sports hall of fame in the United States at . Exhibitions The Hall of Fame houses over of exhibit space broken down into sections including Hall of Fame Induc ...

in 1967. Rucker died in

Alpharetta, Georgia Alpharetta is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and is a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 US Census, Alpharetta's population was 65,818 The population in 2010 was 57,551. History In the 1830s, the Che ...

, in 1970 and was interred in the Roswell Presbyterian Church Cemetery in

Roswell, Georgia Roswell is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States. At the official 2010 census, the city had a population of 88,346. The 2020 estimated population was 94,884, making Roswell the state's ninth largest city. A close suburb of Atla ...

Personal life

His nephew Johnny Rucker played baseball for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division ...

External links

Nap Rucker
- Baseballbiography.com

New Georgia Encyclopedia entry for Nap Rucker

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Bio for Nap Rucker

Baseball Almanac stats for Nap Rucker

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rucker, Nap 1884 births 1970 deaths Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Major League Baseball pitchers Knuckleball pitchers Brooklyn Robins players Brooklyn Dodgers players Brooklyn Dodgers scouts Brooklyn Superbas players People from Roswell, Georgia Mayors of places in Georgia (U.S. state) American athlete-politicians Atlanta Crackers players Augusta Tourists players Sportspeople from Fulton County, Georgia 20th-century American politicians