Steve Decker's winning touch
Former Volcanoes manager has found success throughout minor leagues
By David Driver
Special to the Statesman Journal
BOWIE, Md. — Steve Decker, the former Salem-Keizer Volcanoes manager, just keeps on winning.
The Keizer resident and former major league catcher won back-to-back Northwest League titles in 2006 and 2007, then moved up to the long-season Single-A San Jose Giants, where he turned in the best record (85-55) in the California League.
This year, Decker, 43, has moved up again. He is running the San Francisco Giants' Double-A team in Connecticut, and the Defenders are 60-45, 81/2 games ahead in the Eastern League's Northern Division.
Decker's lifetime managerial record is 302-171, a .638 winning percentage.
How does he do it?
Decker and current and former players cite his intensity, aggressive style and attention to detail.
"I have three things: create a plan, have an approach and hold them accountable," said Decker earlier this week when the Defenders were visiting the Bowie Baysox.
"They have to come up with an approach. If they are not going to do that, they are going to be in my office or in the (batting) cage. I hold them accountable. That is what I am paid to do."
"He is very hard-nosed," said former Volcanoes infielder Brian Bocock, who played for Decker in Salem-Keizer and Connecticut. "He likes to win. We all do. He is very intense.
"Every manager or coach has a different style. His is very intense. He is going to be on you from the time you walk in the door until the time you walk out. That is the way he is. That is the style he wants his team to play. He is not a laid-back player's coach.
"But when you play well, things go well. He has been very successful wherever he has been. He likes to win. He is a very good game manager. I believe he knows the game very well."
Although the Defenders roster is peppered with former Volcanoes, the only Oregon resident on the roster is left-handed pitcher Joe Paterson, 23, who graduated from McMinnville High School and played for Oregon State's 2007 College World Series champions.
Paterson is 3-4, with a 2.09 earned run average and 10 saves for the Defenders, who lost closer Dan Otero, another former Volcanoes player, to the disabled list Sunday with a sore right arm.
Paterson met Decker before he signed with the Giants as a 10th-round pick out of OSU in 2007.
"He has been my manager (almost) the whole time," said Paterson, who played with Salem-Keizer in 2007 and last year with San Jose.
"I have seen him more than any other (coach) in the Giants' system. You can tell he wants to win. He has won at every level."
After spending most of his career as a player and coach on the West Coast, Decker is experiencing baseball on the East Coast for the first time.
And it can be a challenge playing in a league that includes farm teams of the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and New York Mets.
At home games in Norwich, Conn., many of the fans are rooting for the opposing team since major markets Boston and New York are about two and three hours away, respectively, from Norwich.
"It is huge up there," Decker said of fans of the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets in Connecticut.
"We come to our ballpark and people are cheering more when the other team scores. I understand it. I really do. But I don't appreciate it. It drives me nuts. I am a competitor."
Decker, like most minor league managers, would welcome the chance to coach in the majors. Although he played parts of seven seasons in "The Show," he has about five years of service time and a person needs 10 years in the big leagues to be fully vested with a pension.
"Ultimately, you think about a major league pension," Decker said. "I would like to get back in some capacity. I really enjoy this phase of development. I like having my style and attitude rub off on the team."
