Gene Decker Reflects on a Long and Fulfilling Career

This is part seven of an ongoing series about notable people who once called the Cove home.

Blair County native Gene Decker started playing baseball in the Blair Twilight League. A man from Altoona came out to see him play in Woodbury. He ended up signing him up for an Altoona team in the City League. That was followed by getting involved with a team from Six Mile Run.  

"While I was playing for that league, a guy from Everett came out to see me play," Decker said. "That's how I got involved with The Pen-Mar League."

The Pen-Mar League was a semi-pro league that consisted of teams from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia.  

"I started to play in that league in 1971," he said. "The guy who got me involved with that league was Richard Crawford. We became very good friends." 

Decker ended up playing with and against many guys who had made the pros. They included Johnny Kruk, who was with the Phillies.

In 1995, a guy by the name of Joey Piotti got a team together to go down to Florida. It was called the Roy Hobbs Tournament. It was made up of guys forty and over.  

"At the time,  I think that I was either fifty-eight or fifty-nine," Decker said. "I played in that and was seen down there by lots of guys. I played with them until I quit in 2015. I played with them for twenty years, going to Florida, Phoenix, Vegas, and all over the place to play ball."

There were a lot of former pros in that league as well.  

"A teammate of mine was Ron LeFlore and I played against Bill Lee, who had pitched for the Red Sox, and Bert Campanaris," he said. "No one could believe I never had a sore arm.  I could pitch two days in a row."

Decker can't explain his love of the game. He says that he just loves baseball.

"My dad played. When I was only about ten years old, my dad built me a mound. 60ft 6in. Not a little league distance," he said. "When he would get off of the work bus, he would go into the house. In those days, supper was ready at five o'clock. He would sit there and drink his cup of coffee. When he was done, he would come out and I would throw to him from the time he would finish his coffee until five o'clock when supper was ready."

Decker looked forward to that. He quoted a line from the Field of Dreams movie. "I would never play catch, I just would like to play catch with my dad.' I miss him.  I miss my father. He was good to me.  He taught me a lot about baseball," Decker said. "I would raise hell with guys when they would have an error. He took me to the side one day and said 'That guy who just had that error will probably be the guy who would get the base hit to drive in a runner to make you a winner.' He had a lot of knowledge."

He has fond memories of Blair County.  

"I grew up in McKee. The only time that I was outside of Blair County was when I was in the service," Decker said. "When I came back, I met my wife. We lived here in Blair County. I can't say whether it helped or hindered my baseball career because I never got any exposure other than Blair County."

If Decker were to pick one game in his life he would like to see again, it was a no-hitter, but it wasn't because it was a no-hitter.

He remembered the camaraderie of the ball players, how they all came together and galled that one game.

"I still get goosebumps when I think about that game," Decker said. "I know that when the last out was recorded, Jack Morgan was on first base. He threw the ball up in the air and they realized that it was a no-hitter. I was sitting on the mound and I was crying. I knew that I had a no-hitter. That was probably the best game that I ever played. I can remember the game almost like it was yesterday and that was in 1972."

Decker has some great advice for those wanting to reach their goals. 

"You have got to have the three Ds, determination, dedication, and desire," he said. "If you don't have the desire to play, you have got to get out. You have to work at the game. You have to refine your skills. Like me, I would throw with my dad." He continues, "Pitching became natural to me. I would work on specialty control. Everybody said that control was my worst enemy because I could put a baseball where I wanted when I was pitching."

Decker has received many trophies and awards throughout his long career. In 2011, he was inducted into the Broadtop Hall of Fame, and in 2018, he was inducted into the Semi-Pro National Baseball Hall of Fame in Evansville, Indiana. He has also thrown a total of five no-hitters.

Gene has a lot of accomplishments and very fond memories, but the thing he cherishes the most is the friends and friendships that he has made over the years.