Fred Decker retired from Western Michigan University in 2004, after 29-years as head coach.
Originally from Colon, Michigan, Fred is also an alumnus of Western Michigan, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1964 and masters in 1968. As a player at Western Michigan, he received All-American recognition in 1963 and 64. The highlight of his playing career was playing in The College World Series in 1963 on a team that was ranked as high as second in the nation.
Fred started his baseball-coaching career at Portage Central High School where he was head coach for two years before returning to Western Michigan as a graduate assistant. After serving as an assistant coach with head coach Bill Chambers at WMU, Decker was named head coach in 1976.
During his tenure as head coach his teams had 791 overall wins and 40 Mid-American Conference victories. Both records rank first all-time in the MAC record books.
Decker had 95 players drafted and signed into professional baseball and two of his former players Randy Ford (who succeeded him at Western Michigan), and Rich Maloney (University of Michigan) are head coaches at the Division I level.
In 1993, he was inducted into the WMU Athletic Hall of Fame and named the W Club Man of the Year. Decker was also named MAC Coach of the Year and Mideast Regional Coach of the Year in 1989.
Decker served for nine years on the ABCA All-American selection committee.
