Nap Rucker played an even ten seasons with Brooklyn (1907-16), back when the franchise had intriguing team names like the Superbas and the Robins.
Rucker only had a career record of .500 (134-134), but it was not until 1915 that he played on a winning team. In his first seven seasons, Rucker's ERA was below 3.00, and he was always in the top ten in bWAR for Pitchers in those seasons. Rucker was at the top of that leaderboard in 1911 and 1912.
Considered to be one of the fastest pitchers of his day, Rucker was again in the top ten in Strikeouts in those first seven seasons, and while he was prone to fits of wildness, he still managed to place in the top ten in WHIP four times.
Rucker's last three seasons were mostly ineffective from arm fatigue, and he was out of the Majors by age 31. As good as Rucker was, it could be argued that it was wasted for bad Brooklyn teams, but he gave fans a great reason to come out to the park.
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