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Born in Crabapple, Georgia in 1884, Nap Rucker was the son of a former Confederate soldier. He reached the big leagues as a 22-year old in 1907 and enjoyed a ten-year career.

His lifetime record stands at 134 wins and 134 losses. Despite the mark of mediocrity, Rucker was one of the National League’s top lefties of his day.

The Deadball Era star played for the Brooklyn ballclub when it was one of the least-talented teams in the league. Indeed, during his decade with the club, Brooklyn was 175 games below .500 when Rucker didn’t figure into the decision. With Rucker did get the win or the loss, they were a break-even ballclub.

Rucker was the first lefty hurler in Brooklyn franchise history to author a no-hitter. In the dominant gem of September 5, 1908 Rucker struck out 14. His game score of 101 was the highest of any contest during the Deadball Era. In fact, it was not equaled until Hall of Famer and fellow Dodger Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game in 1965.

As of 2021 only 16 single-game pitching performances have a triple-digit game score.

Rucker’s highlights are many. In 1910 he led the league in innings pitched, complete games and shutouts. Despite this Brooklyn won only 17 of his 35 decisions.

The following season Rucker won 22 games with a 2.71 ERA for a team that managed only 64 victories. He received support in MVP balloting for his performance.

In 1912 Rucker posted a 2.21 ERA and again had the most shutouts in the National League. His record that year was a 18-21. The southpaw still holds the Brooklyn team mark for strikeouts in a game and shutouts in a career.

Rucker left the game with a sterling 2.42 ERA. His career 47.1 WAR is higher than 27 Hall of Fame pitchers including Dizzy Dean, Jack Morris, Chief Bender, Lefty Gomez and Catfish Hunter.

Quite simply, Nap Rucker might be the greatest .500 pitcher that ever lived.

In the collection is this government postcard signed by the Brooklyn legend.

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Nap Rucker was one of the greatest pitchers in Brooklyn Dodger history. A glance at the all-time Brooklyn leaderboard shows Rucker first in shutouts and second in ERA, strikeouts and pitcher’s WAR.

Ahead of him on the Brooklyn list in ERA is Jeff Pfeffer. For ERA, strikeouts and pitcher’s WAR only Hall of Fame hurler Dazzy Vance beats him.

Before Vance found fame with Brooklyn he was a fringe prospect with the Yankees. The Hall of Fame hurler appeared in 10 games with New York, going 0-3 with a 4.45 earned run average.

His last two appearances for the Yanks came in 1918. On February 20, 1919 the Yankees transferred his contract to Double-A Sacramento.

In the collection is the document that made that transfer official. The signatures of Vance and Hall of Fame Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert are on it. Autographs from this early in Vance’s career are rarely seen.

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Nap Rucker has one of the lowest ERAs in Dodger franchise history. Among Brooklyn pitchers his 2.42 mark is second behind only Jeff Pfeffer.

When counting Los Angeles hurlers, Rucker stands fourth all-time. Zack Greinke holds the top spot at 2.30, followed by Pfeffer at 2.31, and Kenley Jansen at 2.37. Then comes Rucker.

Brooklyn’s Pfeffer was one of baseball’s best pitchers from 1914-1917. During that period he claimed 78 victories and pitched to a 2.05 ERA.

Then in 1918 Pfeffer appeared in just one game. He made the most of it with a two-hit complete-game shutout against the eventual National League champion Chicago Cubs.

In the letter above Pfeffer explains his abbreviated campaign.

“The reason for my one game appearance during the season of 1918 – I was busy with duties at the Great Lakes Naval Station as a member of the Armed Services where I was stationed for two months during the First World War. I pitched the one game for Brooklyn when they came to Chicago on one of their regular trips of that season.”

Pfeffer’s signature is at the bottom.

Interestingly the correspondence is dated June 17, 1965 from Chicago, a half-century to the day after his 13 2/3-inning complete-game loss in the same city. On June 17, 1915 Cub hurler Zip Zabel established a still-standing MLB record by throwing 18 1/3 innings in relief for the win.