Mitchell Decker
by John Trausch
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Few players have taken the pro game by storm when they first picked up a bat as Mitchell Decker did at the tender age of 17. But then, few have excelled both on the fields of play as well as the fields of battle. Decker did that, too.
Decker grew up in the humble surroundings of Northport, Alabama, in the Jim Crow South. Young Mitchell was aware of the racism that infected his town, never more so than the night that hooded Ku Klux Klansmen raided his home claiming the boy had committed a petty crime. The hooded terrorists did eventually leave but left a lasting image on Mitchell. Enraged by the racial inequities of the time, the young Decker became known to put himself in harm’s way in efforts to achieve justice.
At 17, Mitchell joined the woeful Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Southern League (1935). Installed at second base, his power was immediately evident, as he slugged 20 home runs before his 18th birthday. He quickly became the toast of northern Alabama.
Decker, the victim of violent racism in Alabama, read of the heroic defense of the patriots in the Spanish Civil War against the invading fascists. Decker sympathized with the Spaniards’ struggle for liberty. Following the 1937 season, he signed up with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and joined the thousands of Americans of all races in the fight to stop the rise of fascism.
Back at home, Decker continued to mash home runs at an astounding pace. But when his own country was called into the world war, Decker spent three years serving his country, specializing in the dangerous work of bomb-defusing, a job he did so quickly that he earned the nickname of "Hands", a handle he would carry back to baseball.
Following the war, Decker signed with the Montreal Habitats of the AABC to play third base. There was some skepticism that his Negro League numbers would carry over to the AABC as Decker stumbled out of the gate, hitless in his first 16 at bats. But he soon settled down and began showing his light-tower power to the Quebec partisans, leading the league in home runs in his first four seasons. The team rallied behind him and heralded his leadership, as did the fans, who invited him to hit more home runs by frequently hanging signs in the left field bleachers reading "ALLEE DES MAINS" (Hands' Alley).
He ended up second in the MVP race in his rookie season. In the subsequent years, he continued to mash home runs and was named the league MVP in 1947, 1948, and 1949. Decker was known as the best player in the game. Disappointedly, the Habs failed to make the postseason while the four-time all-star manned the hot corner. Decker established team records with the Habs in home runs, runs, and RBIs in his nine seasons in Montreal before retiring after a year with the Cleveland Bobcats in 1955.