Joe Decker

George Henry Decker Jr. (June 16, 1947 – March 2, 2003) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs (1969–72), Minnesota Twins (1973–76) and Seattle Mariners.

Decker was born in Storm Lake, Iowa. After his father, George Sr., died, Decker's family moved to California.

The Cubs selected Decker in the ninth round of the 1965 MLB draft out of Petaluma High School in Petaluma, California. He signed for a $50,000 signing bonus and the Cubs committing to pay for his college expenses. He reached the majors as a September call-up in 1969. In parts of four seasons with Chicago, he was 7–9 with a 4.37 earned run average. On June 26, 1973, Decker threw a 15-strikeout shutout over the Chicago White Sox, matching a single-game franchise strikeout record set by Camilo Pascual in 1961. Decker paired with Bert Blyleven at the top of the Twins rotation for two seasons. He missed almost two months of the 1976 season, his last with the Twins, with a viral infection.