Dusty Decker

{{Infobox baseball biography

| name = Dusty Decker

| image =

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| position = Shortstop

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1911|10|19|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Hopkinsville, Kentucky, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1962|10|11|1911|10|19|mf=y}}

| death_place = Evansville, Indiana, U.S.

| bats = Unknown

| throws = Unknown

| debutleague = Negro league baseball

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| debutyear = 1932

| debutteam = Indianapolis ABCs

| finaldate =

| finalyear = 1937

| finalteam = Detroit Stars

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Charles Edward "Dusty" Decker (October 19, 1911 – October 11, 1962) was an American baseball shortstop in the Negro leagues.{{Cite book |last=Riley |first=James A. |title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues |url=https://archive.org/details/biographicalency00rile |url-access=registration |place=New York |publisher=Carroll & Graf |year=1994 |isbn=0-7867-0959-6 }} He played with the Indianapolis ABCs and Montgomery Grey Sox in 1932 and the Detroit Stars.{{cite web|url=http://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/player.php?playerID=decke01dus |title=Dusty Decker Seamheads Profile |publisher=seamheads.com |access-date=January 19, 2021}}

Early life and career

Charles Edward Decker was born on October 19, 1911, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, the oldest of two sons born to Edward Decker and Inez Caldwell.[https://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/items/show/2812 Decker, Charles Edward]. [https://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/about Notable Kentucky African Americans Database]. Retrieved July 8, 2021. Approximately one month later, the family moved to Evansville, Indiana.

Decker graduated from Frederick Douglass High School before briefly attending Fisk University in 1928. The following two years, he majored in physical education at Lincoln University while winning All-Midwestern honors as quarterback for the Blue Tigers,Recorder staff (April 19, 1947). [https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=INR19470419-01.1.9&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- "Indiana Legislators 'Open the Door'; March of Progress; State Legislators Make History in Ind. Assembly; Rep. Chas. E. Decker"]. Indianapolis Recorder. p. 9. Retrieved July 8, 2021. acquiring an alternate nickname, "the Human Catapult", in the process.Courier staff (October 11, 1930). [https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=81017414 "Missouri Classic Attracts"]. The Pittsburgh Courier. p. 14. Retrieved July 8, 2021.