LCSC Baseball retires two jerseys at ring ceremony

2-5-07

The Lewis-Clark State College baseball program held its ring ceremony for its 2006 Avista NAIA World Series national championship team last Saturday at the LCSC Williams Conference Center.

Players from last year’s squad received their championship rings during the event, which also featured video highlights of the season put together by the TJ Were and Media Services at LCSC.

Also, former Warriors Steve Reed and Steve Decker (shown in thumbnail photo on the main page) had their jerseys retired during the evening. LCSC has retired four jerseys under coach Ed Cheff and all four players were at the event (see photo below).

The Warriors posted a 47-8 record in 2006 to win their 14th national championship. The Warriors won the Series title with a 5-4 win over Cumberland University in 11 innings at Lewiston’s Harris Field in June. That was LCSC coach Ed Cheff’s 2001st win.

Reed, a right-handed pitcher, played for the Warriors during 1985-88, while Decker was a battery mate of Reed’s during the 1986-88 seasons when he played catcher at LCSC. Both had outstanding 1988 seasons when Decker hit .397 with 13 home runs and was the team’s MVP, while Reed picked up two wins in the 1988 Series.

Reed was signed by the San Francisco Giants as a free agent on June 24, 1988, and made his major league debut with the team in 1992, when he posted a 1-0 record with a 2.30 ERA in 15 innings of relief. That season impressed the Colorado Rockies, who made Reed its 30th player selected in the expansion draft. He led the majors in pitching appearances during the 1994 season with 61.

Reed pitched for the Rockies until 1998 when he signed with San Francisco, but was later traded to Cleveland. He was with the Indians until 2001 when he was traded to Atlanta as part of a deal for controversial closer John Rocker. He signed a free-agent contract with San Diego in 2002 but was soon traded to the New York Mets. He finished the year with the Mets, and then spent two more seasons with Colorado. He signed with Baltimore in 2005, but was eventually released that season at the age of 40, the ninth oldest player in the big leagues at that time.

During his 14-year major league career, Reed fashioned a 49-44 record with 18 saves. He pitched 881 innings, had 630 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.63.

Decker was drafted in the 21st round of the 1988 draft by San Francisco and immediately signed with the team.

It took Decker only three seasons to reach the major league level as he made his MLB debut in 1990. He appeared in 15 games for the Giants and went 16-of-54 at the plate for a .298 average. He also had three home runs and eight RBI.

The following season, he saw action in 79 games and hit five home runs with 24 RBI. He also played with the Giants in 1992 before he was selected by Florida in the expansion draft.

He spent most of 1993 and all of 1994 in the minors, but played in 51 games in 1995 and hit .226. The Giants signed him as a free agent in 1996 and he played in 57 games before his contract was purchased in August by Colorado and he saw action in another 10 games with the Rockies that year.

After the season, he was signed as a free agent and spent time in the minor leagues with Seattle, Pittsburgh and the New York Mets before he made it back to the big leagues with the Anaheim Angels in 1999. He played catcher, first base and designated hitter that season and saw action in 28 games. He retired following the season.

During his 10-year big league career, which also featured some playing time at third base, Decker hit .221 with 13 home runs and 72 RBI.

After his playing career ended, Decker joined the San Francisco Giants organization, first as a hitting instructor. He is now the manager of the Class A Salem-Keizer squad in the short-season Northwest League where he has won or tied for manager of the year honors for two straight seasons.

For more information on Reed, Decker and other former Warriors follow the link below:

http://www.lcsc.edu/athletics/Baseball/Miscellaneous/FORMERMLB.htm

(from left to right: Reed, Marvin Benard, Chad Miltenberger, and Decker)