Harry Decker

Earle Harry Decker

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.

• Debut August 23, 1884
• Final Game October 3, 1890
• Born September 3, 1864 in Lockport, IL USA

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Biographical Information

"He was in the habit of entering saloons and ordering wine for everybody present and then walking out with the belief that the place belonged to him and he could give away his own wares if he saw fit.” - from the New York Times, Aug. 21, 2010, quoting a Chicago Tribune article, and speculating that Decker's bizarre and criminal behaviors may have been caused by brain damage due to getting hit in the head by balls as a catcher

Earle Harry Decker was a catcher, a criminal and an important inventor. His death date and location are unknown because of all the aliases he used.

A history of his career (from the Wichita Eagle, April 28, 1889) states that he had been a pro for seven years prior to that, and started his catching career with the Chicago Board of Trade team. He was blacklisted in 1885 (no reason was stated in the article). He was said to be a reliable backstop and good thrower, who hit well for Toronto in 1887 and 1888.

Decker was in the majors for four seasons, in three different leagues. He appeared for six different teams. In addition to catcher, he sometimes played other positions, mostly first base and left field. His minor league career seemed to peter out in 1891.

Another biography [1] states he quit halfway through his first major league season to play for a different league, leaving debts behind him, and getting blacklisted for jumping. He was later suspected of throwing a game. In 1887, he accepted offers from three teams, and tried to cash all three checks, two of them at the same time. Still later, he tried to cash multiple checks from other teams offering him a job. He might have invented a kind of turnstile, although he may have stolen the idea. The biography details quite a few crimes he committed, including stealing from teammates, stealing a horse, stealing a bicycle, and forging many checks. Sometimes he claimed he had been hit in the head with a ball, but other times he gave other explanations for his actions. He apparently had rich parents who helped to rescue him from the courts on various occasions.

He was granted several patents on catcher's mitts he invented. Various sources credit him with inventing the first catcher's mitt. One patent, from 1889, was sold to the Spalding company and used for decades. He was in trouble with the law in 1895, so his wife submitted a patent that year on another mitt. Yet another patent was granted in 1906.

Decker had arrests or convictions in six states, and one of his victims (of forgeries) was Al Reach. Sometime in the period 1910-1915 he was in San Quentin prison, released in 1915. The prison had a top baseball team, and Decker was the top player. He served time under the name Earl Henry Davenport, but was recognized as the former major league player.

Peter Morris tried to track him down, to see what happened to him in later life, but Decker had a long career in crime and used a lot of aliases, so it turned out to be difficult.

Two of the sources: Biography of Harry Decker [2] and history of gloves [3].

"(he) changes his name each time he boards a train." - comment about Decker's use of many aliases [4]