Having coached in both the professional and amateur ranks, Dennis Rogers is best known for having led the Riverside City College baseball program from 1990-2009 and 2011-15. In 25 seasons as head coach, Rogers led Riverside City to a record of 765-383, good for a winning percentage of .666.
In 1990, Rogers took over a struggling Riverside program that had seen just 28 combined victories over the previous three years. He quickly transformed the Tigers into one of the most successful community college baseball programs in the nation. That recognition intensified when the Tigers won back-to-back-to-back California Community College state titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002, becoming just the third California community college to win three consecutive championships. Under Rogers, the Tigers added a fourth state title in 2007 and earned the Riverside City skipper his fourth CCCAA Coach of the Year honor (2000, 2001, 2002, 2007).
In addition to his championship efforts, his Riverside teams captured three conference titles and finished runner-up six times during his tenure. Ninety of Rogers’ former players signed professional baseball contracts.
Rogers began his successful playing career as a middle infielder for the legendary John Scolinos at Cal Poly Pomona from 1971-73. His All-California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) selection in 1973 drew the attention of the San Francisco Giants and he played in their minor league system during the 1974 season.
Rogers began his coaching career in 1976 as an assistant at John W. North (Calif.) High School. A year later he became the head coach at San Gorgonio (Calif.) High School, where he piloted the team to a California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) 4A championship. Rogers later moved to San Bernardino Valley College as an assistant, where he helped the club to consecutive regional championships in 1978 and 1979.
From 1980-83, Rogers again found himself under the tutelage of his former college coach Scolinos, an ABCA Hall of Famer himself, at Cal Poly Pomona. As an assistant, Rogers’ recruiting efforts brought together a team that would produce NCAA Div. II national championships in 1980 and 1983. Rogers was a member of the coaching staff at Cal State Fullerton in 1988 and 1989, helping coach the Titans to the semifinals of the NCAA Div. I College World Series in ’88.
Rogers had multiple stints in professional coaching over his career. From 1982-84, Rogers managed professionally for the Medford A's, Oakland’s Rookie Class-A affiliate, after the collegiate season at Cal Poly Pomona. He led Medford to a 149-63 record (.703) and captured the 1982 Northwest League Championship. During the 1986 and 1987 seasons, Rogers coached the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Class-AA Nashua (N.H.) Eastern League club as well as the Pirates’ Class-A Macon (Ga.) team. In 1997, Rogers was also an evaluator and coach for the USA Olympic trials. In 2003 and 2004, he coached the Oakland A’s Rookie Class A team, the Vancouver Canadians, leading them to the Northwest League Western Division title in 2004.
His induction into the ABCA Hall of Fame will mark Rogers’s fourth Hall of Fame nod. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education in addition to earning a teaching credential from Cal Poly Pomona. Rogers went on to earn a master’s degree in secondary education from Azusa Pacific University.
