What years did Dave Rucker play?

Dave Rucker played in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 1988.

Was Dave Rucker a pitcher?

Yes. Dave Rucker pitched in the major leagues, recording 16 wins and 170 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Dave Rucker hit?

Dave Rucker hit 0 career home runs with 5 hits.

What teams did Dave Rucker play for?

Dave Rucker played for 4 teams: the Detroit Tigers (1981–1983), the St. Louis Cardinals (1983–1984), the Philadelphia Phillies (1985–1986), and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1988).

What were Dave Rucker's career stats?

In 206 games, Dave Rucker went 16-20 with a 3.94 ERA, 170 strikeouts, 319.2 innings pitched, and 1 saves.

What was Dave Rucker's salary?

Dave Rucker's recorded salary was $220,000 in 1985.

What position did Dave Rucker play?

Dave Rucker played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Dave Rucker and how much did he weigh?

Dave Rucker was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 185 pounds.

What was Dave Rucker's career ERA?

Dave Rucker finished with a 3.94 career ERA, going 16-20 with 170 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Dave Rucker have?

Dave Rucker recorded 170 career strikeouts.

Is Dave Rucker in the Hall of Fame?

No. Dave Rucker has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Dave Rucker

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1981-1988)

Dave Rucker was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 1988 for 4 teams, including the Detroit Tigers, a span of 8 seasons. Across 206 career appearances, he went 16-20 with a 3.94 ERA and 170 strikeouts. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 402.4.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 15, 2026

W–L 16–20

ERA 3.94

WHIP 1.51

SO 170

Pitcher PIV 402.4

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 185 lb
Born: 9/1/1957 in San Bernardino, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1981-04-12
Last Game: 1988-10-02

Full name: David Michael Rucker

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Career Pitching Statistics

Dave Rucker — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
16	20	206	10	1	0	1	319.2	337	140	19	147	170	3.94	402.4

Career ERA 3.94 vs. league average 3.83 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Dave Rucker Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1981	DET	AL	0	0	2	0	0	0	4.0	3	3	1	2	6.75	—	0.0
1982	DET	AL	5	6	27	4	1	0	64.0	62	24	23	31	3.38	3.86 (+13%)	211.9
1983	DET	AL	1	2	4	3	0	0	9.0	18	17	8	6	17.00	3.87 (-339%)	0.0
1983	SLN	NL	5	3	34	0	0	0	37.0	36	10	18	22	2.43	3.87 (+37%)	386.4
1984	SLN	NL	2	3	50	0	0	0	73.0	62	17	34	38	2.10	3.81 (+45%)	1195.8
1985	PHI	NL	3	2	39	3	0	1	79.1	83	38	40	41	4.31	3.89 (-11%)	-651.9
1986	PHI	NL	0	2	19	0	0	0	25.0	34	16	14	14	5.76	3.97 (-45%)	-899.1
1988	PIT	NL	0	2	31	0	0	0	28.1	39	15	9	16	4.76	3.73 (-28%)	159.2
Career · 8 seasons			16	20	206	10	1	1	319.2	337	140	147	170	3.94	—	402

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Dave Rucker — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
208	26	2	5	1	0	0	0	0	1	11	.192	.222	.231	.453	0

Career AVG .192 vs. league average .258 across their career seasons — 25.5% below league average.

Career OBP .222 vs. league average .323 across their career seasons — 31.2% below league average.

Career SLG .231 vs. league average .386 across their career seasons — 40.2% below league average.

Career OPS .453 vs. league average .709 across their career seasons — 36.1% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Dave Rucker — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1981	DET	AL	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1982	DET	AL	27	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	DET	AL	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	SLN	NL	34	4	0	0	0	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1984	SLN	NL	50	7	0	1	0	0	3	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1985	PHI	NL	41	12	2	4	1	1	5	.333	—	—	—	—	0.0
1986	PHI	NL	19	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1988	PIT	NL	31	2	0	0	0	0	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 8 seasons			208	26	2	5	1	1	11	.192	—	—	—	—	0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (414 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Dave Rucker — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	108	18	2	5	0	0	.278
Away	100	8	0	0	0	0	.000

Pitching — Home / Away

Dave Rucker — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	106	186.2	180	70	80	106	3.38
Away	100	133.0	157	70	67	64	4.74

Last 10 Games — Batting

Dave Rucker — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	SO
1988-10-02	PIT	CHC	L	0	0
1988-09-26	PIT	STL	L	0	0
1988-09-24	PIT	CHC	L	0	0
1988-09-18	PIT	PHI	L	0	0
1988-09-15	PIT	WSN	L	0	0
1988-08-24	PIT	CIN	L	0	0
1988-08-12	PIT	PHI	L	0	0
1988-08-09	PIT	WSN	W	0	0
1988-08-07	PIT	NYN	L	0	0
1988-08-06	PIT	NYN	L	1	1

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Dave Rucker — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
1988-10-02	PIT	CHC	—	0.2	3	1	1	0	1
1988-09-26	PIT	STL	—	2.0	4	2	2	1	0
1988-09-24	PIT	CHC	L	0.0	1	1	1	0	0
1988-09-18	PIT	PHI	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0
1988-09-15	PIT	WSN	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	1
1988-08-24	PIT	CIN	—	2.0	1	1	1	1	3
1988-08-12	PIT	PHI	—	1.0	3	1	1	0	0
1988-08-09	PIT	WSN	—	0.0	1	1	0	1	0
1988-08-07	PIT	NYN	—	0.2	1	0	0	1	1
1988-08-06	PIT	NYN	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Dave Rucker — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	206	10	22	51	10	6

Season-by-Season Fielding

Dave Rucker — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1981	DET	P	2	0	1	0	0	0
1982	DET	P	27	4	4	10	3	2
1983	DET	P	4	3	1	3	0	0
1983	SLN	P	34	0	5	5	1	1
1984	SLN	P	50	0	4	10	5	1
1985	PHI	P	39	3	5	14	0	1
1986	PHI	P	19	0	1	5	0	1
1988	PIT	P	31	0	1	4	1	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Dave Rucker — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	206

Salary History

Dave Rucker's recorded salaries total $220,000 over 1 season, in 1985. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Rucker's career ran from 1981 to 1988. His seasons before 1985 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 1986 and 1988.

Dave Rucker — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1985	PHI	NL	$220,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$220,000

College History

Dave Rucker — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
University of La Verne	La Verne	CA	1978
University of California - Los Angeles	Los Angeles	CA	1976, 1977

Dave Rucker: the record in brief

April 12, 1981 and October 2, 1988 bracket Dave Rucker's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. By club, Rucker's seasons break down as the Detroit Tigers (1981 to 1983), the St. Louis Cardinals (1983 to 1984), the Philadelphia Phillies (1985 through 1986), and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1988). The bio lists Rucker as a pitcher who batted and threw left-handed. Rucker is listed at 6'1" and 185 pounds. Rucker was born on September 1, 1957, in San Bernardino, CA, USA. On the record, Dave Rucker was born David Michael Rucker.

Across 206 games (10 starts), Rucker recorded 16 wins against 20 losses with a 3.94 ERA. The totals include 170 strikeouts. Rucker's 3.94 ERA was close to the 3.83 league figure for those seasons. The best win total was 5, in 1982. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 2.10 in 1984, when the league's was 3.81. Pitcher PIV, the site's era-adjusted run-prevention measure, totals 402.4 for Rucker's career.

Frequently Asked Questions about Dave Rucker

What years did Dave Rucker play?: Dave Rucker played in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 1988.
Was Dave Rucker a pitcher?: Yes. Dave Rucker pitched in the major leagues, recording 16 wins and 170 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Dave Rucker hit?: Dave Rucker hit 0 career home runs with 5 hits.
What teams did Dave Rucker play for?: Dave Rucker played for 4 teams: the Detroit Tigers (1981–1983), the St. Louis Cardinals (1983–1984), the Philadelphia Phillies (1985–1986), and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1988).
What were Dave Rucker's career stats?: In 206 games, Dave Rucker went 16-20 with a 3.94 ERA, 170 strikeouts, 319.2 innings pitched, and 1 saves.
How much did Dave Rucker earn in his career?: Dave Rucker's recorded salaries total $220,000 over 1 season, in 1985. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Rucker's career ran from 1981 to 1988. His seasons before 1985 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 1986 and 1988.
What was Dave Rucker's salary?: Dave Rucker's recorded salary was $220,000 in 1985.
What position did Dave Rucker play?: Dave Rucker played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Dave Rucker and how much did he weigh?: Dave Rucker was listed at 6 feet 1 inch and 185 pounds.
What was Dave Rucker's career ERA?: Dave Rucker finished with a 3.94 career ERA, going 16-20 with 170 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Dave Rucker have?: Dave Rucker recorded 170 career strikeouts.
Is Dave Rucker in the Hall of Fame?: No. Dave Rucker has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.