Fred Decker

The winningest baseball coach in Mid-American Conference history, let alone Western Michigan University program history, Fred Decker went from starring in the WMU outfield to establishing himself as an institution in Kalamazoo.

A native of Colon, Mich., Decker was named Second Team All-American and All-Region in both 1963 and 1964, helping lead the Broncos to a trip to the 1963 College World Series. Upon graduating, he coached for two seasons at Portage Central High School before returning to the Western Michigan University baseball team, attaining his master’s degree from WMU in physical education, and serving as a varsity assistant coach on Bill Chambers’ staff for eight seasons.

Entering the 1976 season, Decker was named the new WMU head baseball coach, a position he would hold for the next 29 seasons. By the time he retired following the 2004 season, Decker had won 791 games, 401 of those in conference play. Though he led the Broncos to back-to-back MAC West titles in 1982 and 1983, his greatest season at Western Michigan came in 1989, when the Broncos won a school record 39 games, 23 in MAC play, captured the conference championship, reached the NCAA Tournament and defeated No. 3 seed USC, earning Decker the honor of MAC Coach of the Year and Mideast Regional Coach of the Year.

Decker’s 29-season tenure at the helm in Western Michigan was one of the most successful runs in the history of the state of Michigan: From 1976-2004, 88 Broncos were selected in the Major League draft, 55 players were All-MAC First Team, 12 were named All-America and 18 were named Academic All-America.