If Charlie Rogers has one regret, it’s that he didn’t last a lot longer in the big leagues.

The reason?

He would’ve liked to have made a lot more money.

Not for selfish reasons, though. Not even close.

It’s more for what Rogers could’ve done for the Cullman and Cold Springs communities to show appreciation for their unwavering support during his local baseball career.

As the lefty’s induction into the Cullman County Sports Hall of Fame approaches, the 47-year-old is quicker to count his blessings than his teenaged self ever was.

“I used to have big crowds to watch me pitch. Being an adult now and thinking back, I just realize how special that was,” Rogers said. “You don’t really realize it when you’re a 17-, 18-year-old kid. When you’ve been as well-traveled as I have — I’ve played all over the world. I’ve played in Australia. I’ve played in Mexico —when you’ve done all this and you think back on when you’re a kid and you remember that, those people were really, really good to me. I’m a lucky guy to have that kind of experience as a kid to play in Cullman.”

Rogers and 11 other inductees will descend on the Civic Center April 23 for a banquet installing the local hall’s 17th class.

Like so many who’ve come before him, the former fireballer was grateful for his selection.

“I was just overwhelmed that Cullman thought that much of me,” he said. “Just very humbled that I would be looked at and thought of as a hall of famer for Cullman County, because they’ve produced some great athletes.”

Rogers, who also played hoops at Cold Springs, burst onto the school’s baseball scene as an eighth-grader and was voted the team’s MVP his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. He graduated in 1986 and accepted a baseball scholarship at nearby Wallace State, where he was Player of the Year as a sophomore.

Before going the professional route, Rogers spent a spring at UNA and tossed 10 shutout innings against Jacksonville State in the Gulf South Conference championship series.

And, to think, his hurling talents had yet to be truly tapped considering both Lions had mostly utilized Rogers at center field.

Even still, the southpaw had an inkling pretty early on his arm was the ticket to a pro career.

“In high school, when you’re striking out 17, 18, 19, 21 batters a game, I knew then,” he said. “I struck out 25 in a summer league game that went extra innings.”

Rogers graduated high school at 17 and actually got to compete in said summer league as an 18-year-old after completing his freshman campaign at Wallace State.

That wasn’t good news for opposing batters.

“I think I managed to give up five hits,” he said. “My first two games were no-hitters with like 18 strikeouts.”

Rogers signed with the Miami Miracles, a Single-A independent team, in 1990 and proceeded to break Dwight Gooden’s Florida State League strikeout record with 20 in a single game. He eventually moseyed over to the Milwaukee Brewers farm system and excelled as a closer, picking up the Single-A California League’s Relief Pitcher of the Year award in 1992 and the Double-A Texas League’s Player of the Year prize in 1993.

Between the two seasons, he combined for 40 saves and 119 strikeouts in a shade more than 150 innings.

Perhaps Rogers’ most notable strikeout came in spring training in 1993. Starter Cal Eldred had hit his pitch count early in an exhibition against the Oakland Athletics, so the Brewers left the relief to Rogers.

The first batter he faced, and subsequently fanned?

None other than the legendary Rickey Henderson.

“It really wasn’t a big deal to me at the time because it was just another hitter,” he said. “But I realized then when you can make a hitter like Rickey Henderson take pitches and you can strike a guy like that out, it gave me a world of confidence. Of course, that confidence went on to give me the best season I had and get me actually put on the big league roster.”

Rogers’ career came to an unfortunate halt after a couple of surgeries stemming from a winter ball stint in Mexico. The diet south of the border made it impossible to keep up his playing weight, and his arm suffered as a result.

It wasn’t easy for Rogers to leave the game.

And he wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

“You have a window and then the window closes,” he said. “I had managers crying when they had to release me because I was a guy that always wanted the ball. I took a lot of pride in wanting the baseball and wanting the game on my shoulders.”

Rogers currently resides in Huntsville and annually puts on a training program the six months leading up to the high school season. Coincidentally enough, his past students include Chase Mallard, the son of Cindy Mallard, a fellow inductee in this year’s class.

Rogers has been a trainer for 15 or 16 years and doesn’t plan on calling it quits any time soon.

“It’s all I’m good at,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t know if my skillset goes outside that. I enjoy it because it gives me a venue to do what I’m good at, but more importantly, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve changed lives. To be a great coach, it’s not about understanding the game or being great at coaching or playing, it’s about how we change lives. Because I know the game. It’s all I’ve ever done. How can I not know it? But how I affect kids’ lives or anyone’s life around me is really what I’m going to be remembered by.”