If you go to the Dodgers baseball reference page, you will see photos of the top 24 Dodger players, according to WAR. Of those 24, nine played only in LA, and six played in Brooklyn and LA. The rest played exclusively in Brooklyn. Number 12 on the list with a career WAR of 47.2 is George Napoleon Rucker. Better known as Nat. For ten seasons, he was one of the best in the league. His won-lost record is 134-134. Brooklyn, in those days, was not a very good team.
Rucker was born in Crabapple, Georgia, on September 30, 1884. His father was John Rucker, a Confederate veteran. His mother was Sarah Hembree. Rucker left school at an early age and worked as an apprentice in a printing shop. An article he was given to set type for caught his eye: “$10,000 DOLLARS FOR PITCHING A BASEBALL.” That moment he said later, was when he decided to become a pitcher. He joined a local Semi-Pro team and caught the eye of the Atlanta Crackers. A member of the Southern League, they signed him on a trial basis.
Years later, Bill Nye, the famous bodyguard, who had protected Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson, claimed he was the one who recommended Rucker to the Crackers. Nap pitched his first professional game on September 2nd, 1904, but at the end of the season, he was farmed out to Augusta.
Rucker’s teammates on the 1905 Augusta team included Eddie Cicotte, Clyde Engle, and a 19-year-old outfielder named Ty Cobb. Rucker got to witness Cobb’s famous temper up close and personal. Cobb and Rooker, both Georgians, roomed together, and they would go to the park early so Cobb could practice hitting left-handed pitching. When they arrived home, Cobb would bathe first and then Rucker. One day, Rucker got knocked out of the game early. Cobb arrived home and found Rucker already in the tub. He flew into a rage and attempted to choke the naked Rucker. “You don’t understand’ he said, “ I’ve just got to be first, all of the time.”
Rucker finished the season 13-11. He returned to Augusta for the 1906 season and got off to a spectacular start. That prompted speculation that the Athletics of Philadelphia were going to purchase him. But the deal fell through, and he finished the season with a 27-9 mark. That offseason, he was drafted by the Brooklyn Superbas for $500. That season he quickly became the team’s Ace. He went 15-13, and led the team in innings, 275, K’s, 131, and ERA, 2.06. That more than justified his $1900 dollar salary.
The next year he was even better, with 17 wins for a team that lost 101 games. His best performance came on September 5th when he threw a no-hitter against the Boston Doves. He became the first lefty to throw a no-hitter for Brooklyn. The next Dodger lefty to accomplish that feat was a guy named Koufax some 54 years later. Three years later, he would flirt with another one, going eight and 2/3rds before a single by Bob Bescher broke it up.
In 1909, he set a career-high for strikeouts with 201. On July 24th, he stuck out 16 St. Louis Cardinals to set a record that stood until Dazzy Vance broke it in 1933. He always claimed he struck out 17 that day, but a lackadaisical official scorer forgot to record it. Once again, he was the best pitcher on a terrible team. He went 13-19 despite posting an ERA of 2.25. In 1910, he improved his record to 17-18 again with 27 complete games, 320 innings, and six shutouts. In 1911, he posted his only 20-win season with a 22-18 mark. But in 1912, he went 18-21, despite a 2.21 ERA, A full run lower than the league average.
All the strikeouts, no-hit bids, and low ERAs brought Rucker acclaim as one of the NL’s fastest pitchers. In 1912, he and Walter Johnson became the first pitchers to have their throwing speed scientifically measured. Using copper wires set several feet apart, the test measured how long it took the pitches to travel a certain distance. It was most certainly underestimating the pitcher’s velocity. Rucker was gauged at 113 feet per second, 77 MPH, and Johnson, 122, 83MPH. When not getting tested for speed, Nap worked at the Marietta Free Press as a typesetter. It was owned by one of his cousins’. To his manager’s dismay, he also spent his winters eating peanuts and ice cream. Never one for vigorous training, he routinely showed up in camp at 210 pounds, although he would always be at his playing weight, 180, by opening day.
By 1913, Rucker’s fastball had begun to fade, and he started to throw a particularly slow curve, which one reporter described as the slowest ball in the history of major league baseball. Whatever the reason, Rucker used the pitch to post one more workmanlike season where he posted a 14-15 mark with 260 innings pitched and a 2.67 ERA.
The next season, 1914, Rucker developed arm problems, and over the next three seasons, he would only be effective with at least two weeks of rest. Rucker, who had after the 1913 season been voted the best lefty in the game by the sports writers, now was reduced to a secondary role. But he did become a mentor to some of Brooklyn’s younger players, including one Charles Dillon Stengel. ” When I broke into the league, I had trouble hitting low balls,” Casey said. ” Nat would take me out early to the park and throw me low balls; I doubt I would have stayed in the game had it not been for Nat.”
Rucker, though had one goal elude him, he never pitched in a World Series. Charles Ebbets, the team owner, said, ” I would give a great deal of money to have my team in a World Series if only for the honor it would bring Rucker.” On August 1st, 1916, Rucker pitched five and 2/3rds innings of relief against the Reds to win his 134th and final game. To honor its best pitcher, Brooklyn threw a Nap Rucker day on October 2. 1916. Knowing Rucker would retire after the season, Uncle Robbie let him pitch two innings of mop-up baseball in game 4 of the 1916 Series against the Red Sox. He threw two scoreless innings, striking out three Sox hitters.
Now retired, Nap returned to his mansion, Great Oaks, in Roswell, Georgia. He owned the local wheat mill, invested in the bank, and ran two small cotton plantations. He also would umpire in local Semi-pro games. He also scouted the south for the Dodgers, finding Dazzy Vance, Al Lopez, and Hugh Casey for the team. In 1934, with the depression causing cuts, his contract was not renewed. He then ran unopposed for Mayor. He was a segregationist mayor. He could not do anything else politically and be a Georgian. As Mayor during the New Deal, the former pitcher was responsible for bringing running water to Roswell and later served as the town’s water commissioner for several decades.
In 1939, he was again hired by the Dodgers to scout the south. The next season, he watched his nephew, Johnny Rucker, make his debut with the New York Giants. After serving a brief stint with the U.S. Government in Panama during WWII, he and his wife, Edith, whom he had married in 1911, returned home and lived in semi-retirement until Nap’s death at age 86, on Dec 18th, 1970.
Great write up Bear. Got a couple of questions. Was Nap Rucker the only Brooklyn lefty to pitch a no hitter? Regarding the photo where it looks like he’s wearing a sweater. Do you know if that’s just a warm-up jacket or is that a uniform top? Wonder what pitchers would put in those pockets these days.
Yes, Rucker was the only Brooklyn lefty to throw a no-hitter. 6 more no-hitters were thrown in Brooklyn after Rucker’s by 5 different pitchers. Carl Erskine threw two of them. The last no-hitter in Brooklyn was thrown by Sal Maglie in 1956. Koufax’s first in 1962 was the first one by an LA Dodger. There have been 9 no-hitters thrown by LA since Koufax’s perfecto. One was a combined no-hitter that involved 4 pitchers, Buehler, Tony Cingrani, Yimi Garcia, and Adam Liberatore. Cingrani and Liberatore were lefty’s. Of those 9, 3 were tossed by lefty’s, Valenzuela, Ruess and Kershaw. That is a warm up sweater, or that years version of a warm up jacket. Looks like it is made of heavy wool.
Thanks Bear for answering my questions. The additional information was outstanding as well.
Was Nap’s mother related to the Dodgers’ current reliever, Heath Hembree?
Not that I could find.
Dustin May,
Progress is not linear. Keep working!
Rain delays are always difficult.
Some bad luck and a horrible call by the home plate umpire played a hue role in his so -so performance last night.
Should have been a strike out-throw em´out vs Grisham just before the 3 run bomb.
That was as clear a strike as there is.
On the minor league front:
Some of our top prospects look to be tiring a little.#
Cartaya, Pages, Ramos, Busch all have slowed down the last couple weeks.
Bobby Miller as skipped in the rotation in OKC after his 14 SO performance.
Yet another great blog , OldBear! Really looking forward to your stories about former great of baseball.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!
Don’t look now but the braves are here! They are red hot with no signs of slowing down. Which brings me to this point, . Winnable games like last night, we have to use high leverage relievers in these situations! Off day Thursday everyone should have been rested, maybe I’m crazy but I’m not feeling totally comfortable thinking we can keep using some of these guys and not lose best record standing. May looks unhitable at times, but completely normal otherwise. Braves rotation is outstanding right now, and their offense is clicking, still think we’re better team but we can’t give games away. When lux comes back we’re stout 1-6,it’s 7-9 that’s scares the crap out of me!
Our bullpen pitched 5 innings, 3 hits and zero earned runs. With the ghost runner rule in extra innings there is zero room for error. A well placed single ends the game. This was on May, who simply didn’t have a good game following a rain delay and our lineup managed one hit in the last 5 innings. The problem certainly wasn’t our bullpen.
I disagree, with a 19-game lead going into last night’s game, there was absolutely no reason to use all of the high leverage pitchers. Some of those guys, Bickford and Hembree, are auditioning for post season spots. And you have at this point a roster pinch. Almonte, Kahnle are both close to coming back. Hembree will suffer the same fate that Reed did, he will be DFA’d. Bickford would most likely be optioned. I am more convinced the rain delay and a couple of blown calls by the ump had a lot to do with the loss, Plus the fact that the offense went to sleep after the 4th inning.
What I saw was May being wild, only 50% strikes. You’re not gonna get those calls when you’re wild like that. Besides bad calls work both ways. also he got frustrated by not being able to field his position two times.
As far as the rain delay, it only lasted 36 minutes and May never even started to warm up. I’m not blaming him it’s only his fourth start after coming back. In my opinion it was just one of those games that he’s gonna have to do better on in the future.
Offense didn’t help either
https://youtu.be/68vZX2uUKKA
Ump missed the call on the strike em out throw em out pitch. Probably was blocked by Smith, but it was a bad call. I also think the wet field contributed to the errors. Trying to pick up a baseball that is soaking wet is not that easy.
Dodgers I don’t think they’re going to play 100% the rest of the season, I doubt they’re going to go full “accelerator” in these last few games, I think they’re going to give the most innings to pitchers who won’t be on the playoff roster. ..
Breaking win records isn’t the point, and definitely not risking injury (ask Muncy last year) just to crush other teams, and prove what? Relax, it’s just a game, LA are not the ones in “danger” of being out of the postseason…..
And look, I hate those motherfuckers, and still, I don’t care as long as LA doesn’t risk injury, and I also love seeing that shitty team suffer… It’s okay to give them a game so they can keep having hope!
I don’t know if I use the word “accelerator” correctly
As long as you use the word mother.. correctly
Ha
I agree with Jorge here. What the F is anyone worrying about anything for at this point in the season? The last 3 hitters? Give me a break. 7-9 in the playoffs will likely be Lux, Trayce and Belli. What team is better 7-9?
As many have mentioned, the ump blew the game. Have you noticed that we’re in the game on practically every loss? And our wins are often the blowout, no save variety.
We have a 7-8 game lead for the best record and home field advantage all the way through the playoffs and a 5 game lead over Houston for home field in the WS. We have several high leverage relievers on the IL and 1-2 regulars are sitting out every game. Yet, some people are still worried and find things to complain about.
Hembree and Bickford aren’t trying out for the postseason. They’re simply resting better options and keeping a seat warm for Almonte, Graterol and Kahnle. I’m not sure it even makes sense to let Duffy or Price return this year. Let’s see what V-Gone has.
The remaining games will be pretty tough to watch since there’s little on the line. There’s a balance between staying sharp and phoning it in. It sure feels more like Spring Training than a pennant race.
Thanks Bear for another cool look back to the real old timers.
My granddad was a fireman (Mack truck maestro to be specific) who played semi-pro ball in upstate New York around Rucker’s time. He was a fixture at Falcon Park in Auburn for years. The Ny-Penn league was entry point for many of us into The Game.
As a catcher George had a keen eye for all parts of the game. My big moments were games when he was present and I made some plays. He was a quiet man with a lot of New York / Canadian history in his takes. Wished I had written down some of them. He was not easily impressed, so a bit of praise from him went a long way for your confidence.
We all move on and I left the game behind to surf. Grandad kept on well into his 90’s, driving a new Buick around town and watching games at Falcon. When he passed I remember the funeral and a drive by the little old ballpark. I was all choked up thinking about growing up into the baseball life in little towns in the middle of no where. Those were good memories.
Thanks for the stoke brother!
https://www.google.com/search?q=suburn+new+york+falcon+stadium&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari#wptab=s:H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgVuLUz9U3MDcwyzN-xGjCLfDyxz1hKe1Ja05eY1Tl4grOyC93zSvJLKkUEudig7J4pbi5ELp4djHx-eQnJ-YE5GcGZOSX5BcvYpVMS8xJzs9TKEgsylZILE0qLQKywXIAXorLaXEAAAA&lpg=cid:CgIgAQ%3D%3D,ik:CAoSLEFGMVFpcE5TNTBNTHd5VzVLeTFFcndWbzd0bkJaSi10OEswNkxBcXRqeHFM
Falcon Park. Auburn, NY
You are quite welcome. Dodger history is something I really love, along with American history. The team was really bad during most of Rucker’s career. Just think how much better his record would have been had he pitched for a winner.
Good stuff again Bear. Love the oldies.
It will be interesting to see how management addresses rest while staying sharp down the stretch. That’s always the question with early clinchers. A lesson may have been learned last year went we went all-in to catch the Giants. And I supported that effort to keep the pedal to the metal. In retrospect, that was a mistake. I wanted to win and neglected to consult my crystal ball. I assumed a veteran like Scherzer would know his limits but he insisted on pitching only to blame the Dodgers for his dead arm in the playoffs.
The pen last night wasn’t the problem. It was again the usual suspects at the bottom of the order. The same guys pretty much who will be at the bottom of the order in the playoffs, minus Lux. The bottom 5 were 2 for 20 with 9 K’s. The lack of contact at the bottom concerns me.
8:40 PM ET
Dodgers (94-43)
Padres (77-62)
SP Julio Urias L
15-7 2.29 ERA 145.2IP 34BB 139K
SP Blake Snell L
6-8 3.73 ERA 99.0IP 42BB 134K
Confirmed Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
SS Trea Turner R
1B F. Freeman L
DH Will Smith R
3B J. Turner R
LF Chris Taylor R
2B H. Alberto R
CF T. Thompson R
C A. Barnes R
Partly-cloudy-day
14% Rain
79° Wind 8 mph Out
Saturday Dodger Minor League Schedule
3:35 p.m.:PT Great Lakes (Kendall Williams) at West Michigan (Jackson Jobe)
4:35 p.m.: Tulsa (Nick Nastrini) at Frisco (Avery Weems)
5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Ryan Pepiot) vs. Tacoma (Austin Warner)
Continuation of Suspended game (Rancho 6, Lake Elsinore 2, B3)
Game 2: Rancho Cucamonga (Peter Heubeck) vs. Lake Elsinore (Fernando Sanchez)
Heading south
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR5yMCDX/
Treinen back on the injured list, Andre Jackson recalled. Man, we need to get some guys back.
Gonsolin and Almonte to throw bullpens, both of which are encouraging.
Muncy back in the lineup tomorrow.
DODGERS RECALL ANDRE JACKSON
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers recalled right-handed pitcher Andre Jackson and placed right-handed pitcher Blake Treinen on the injured list with right shoulder tightness, backdated to September 7.
Jackson, 26, returns for his third stint with the team, but has not appeared with the club this year. In 2021, he made his debut, appearing in three games, allowing three runs in 11.2 innings and posting an 0-1 mark. With Triple-A Oklahoma City, he is 2-7 with a 5.00 ERA (42 ER/75.2 IP) and 76 strikeouts. He was originally drafted in the 12th round of the 2017 First Year Player Draft out of the University of Utah.
Treinen, 34, appeared in two games since returning from the injured list on September 2. He is 1-1 on the season with a 1.80 ERA (1 ER/5.0 IP) and six strikeouts. In his Major League career, he is a combined 36-31 with a 2.86 ERA and 79 saves. He has been with Los Angeles three seasons, and he is 10-9 with a 2.45 ERA (28 ER/103.0 IP) and 113 strikeouts in 104 career games.
Faith is great, but if you cut your arm off with a chain saw… it ain’t growing back… I don’t care how much faith you have.
It sounds like Treinen is done… this year and maybe next!
Yeah. Stinks.
Nah, just give him a cortisone shot and ride him until that arm falls off. Get some of your money back.
Julio angry at himself for throwing so many pitches……..PUTA MADRE !!!
Ha ha ha ha
My goodness. Just walk Manny!
D J Peters signed by the Nationals. USC rolls Stanford. Notre Dame loses to Marshall.
Great win. Need to manage Julio’s workload coz he is absolutely key for the Post Season.
Shame about Treinen but we have produced without him for most of the season.
Trea gonna get paid.
Treinen is a big loss. should he be out for the season. He got the stuff an and the experience to close games should Kimbrel faulter.
Hopefully Kahnle, Almonte, and Graterol will give Doc some options as hard throwing RH reliever come postseason play.
Big day for the Catman today as he is scheduled for a bullpen session . Hope it goes well, Dodgers need him at his best .
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!