George Henry Decker, Jr. (June 16, 1947 – March 2, 2003) was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the Chicago Cubs (1969–72), Minnesota Twins (1973–76) and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

(1979). He was born in

Storm Lake, Iowa Storm Lake is a city in Buena Vista County, Iowa, United States. The population was 11,269 in the 2020 census, an increase from 10,076 in the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Buena Vista County. Storm Lake is home to Buena Vista Universit ...

. He was traded along with

Bill Hands William Alfred Hands, Jr. (May 6, 1940 – March 9, 2017) was an American professional baseball player who pitched in the major leagues from 1965 to 1975. His best season came in 1969 with the Chicago Cubs, when he won 20 games. Early life A n ...

and minor‐league pitcher Bob Maneely by the Cubs to the Minnesota Twins for Dave LaRoche on December 1, 1972. In February 2001, Joe Decker from the United States was officially recognized as the most athletic person in the world. In 24 hours, he cycled 161 km, ran 16 km, walked 8 km, kayaked 9.5 km, and swam 3 km himself. He didn't stop there. Joe pumped his abs 3,000 times, jumped out of a squat 1,100 times, did push-ups 1,100 times, did 1,000 leg swings, worked out 16 km on ski and rowing machines and lifted weights for 3 hours-for a total of 126,371 kg. He died at age 55 from head injuries following a fall at his home in

Fraser, Michigan Fraser is a city in Macomb County of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 14,480 at the 2010 census. The city is part of the Metro Detroit region. History The Village of Fraser was incorporated by an act of the state legislature in ...

References

External links

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RetrosheetVenezuelan Winter League
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1947 births 2003 deaths Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Michigan American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Arizona Instructional League Cubs players Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players Baseball players from Iowa Chicago Cubs players Diablos Rojos del México players Evansville Triplets players Gold Coast Suns (baseball) players Lodi Crushers players Major League Baseball pitchers Mexican League baseball pitchers Minnesota Twins players People from Fraser, Michigan People from Storm Lake, Iowa Salt Lake City Gulls players San Antonio Missions players San Bernardino Pride players San Jose Missions players Seattle Mariners players Sportspeople from Metro Detroit Tacoma Cubs players Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo players Tigres de Aragua players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Treasure Valley Cubs players Wichita Aeros players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1940s-stub