About Inductee

Some kids are born to play football. Some are born to play basketball. Or tennis. Or golf. Or soccer. Roger Wright was always a straight-up baseball guy. True, he also played a few of the other traditional sports, particularly basketball, while growing up in Chapman Heights near Huntsvilles historic Five Points district. But it was clear early-on that baseball was his real passion. At Lee High in the early 1980s, Wright developed into a dominating All-City pitcher at a school which was in the middle of a baseball mini-dynasty that eventually spanned nearly three decades, beginning with Max Burlesons state championship team in 1971. As a 3-year letterman, the boy called "Dawg" compiled the most victories (30) in the history of the school and played on two teams (1981 and 1983) that advanced to the Final Four in the state tournament. He then moved on to college baseball at Calhoun for two years, setting a school fielding record for a pitcher, and later played at North Alabama. While a senior at UNA, Wright got his first taste of coaching, helping with the Lions JV team and later serving as an assistant for Lees longtime basketball coach, Jerry Dugan. Wright had found his niche. He coached a variety of sports in Huntsville and Madison County for most of the next three decades, starting as an assistant in football, basketball and baseball at Lee in 1989. Named the head baseball coach at Buckhorn High School in 1997, he continued in that role for the next 17 years, winning nearly 400 games, appearing in 12 state playoffs and being named Metro Coach of the Year five times. He retired early in 2014 because he and his wife, Belinda, wanted to spend more time with their three sons, Mitchell, Kyle and Trey. Mitchell played baseball at UAH and Kyle is now a promising sophomore pitcher at Vanderbilt, which advanced to the College World Series in 2015 and made it to the championship game before falling to Virginia, 4-2. "I enjoyed it all, especially those last 17 years at Buckhorn," said Wright, who credits his parents and a host of other mentors for his successes. "My dad used to catch my pitches in the backyard even when my velocity increased to the point where he probably no longer felt comfortable," he said. Two coaches at Chapman Middle School, Ed Nulter and Don Dukemineer, had a huge impact on me at a young age. Both were ahead of their time. My development as a player and a coach was mainly because of Jerry Dugan, Max Burleson, Ricky Davidson, Onree Jackson and John Dudley, and Fred Frickie during my time at Calhoun. Coach Dugan and Butch Weaver trusted me with the opportunity at a very young age to coach through failures and successes." Wright has enough special memories as both a player and a coach to last a lifetime. Two examples: In his sophomore year at Lee, the Generals advanced to the Final Four but lost big to Berry High School in Game 1. In Game 2, Wright was Lees starter. The opposing pitcher was future Major League star Jeff Brantley, who went on to make All-American at Mississippi State on a loaded roster that included Will "The Thrill" Clark, Rafael Palmeiro and Bobby Thigpen. All four played multiple seasons in the majors. Wright was warming up in the bullpen when he was approached by Lees centerfielder, Ricky Moore, later a bruising football standout at Alabama. "Ricky looked me straight in the eyes, and said, You better pitch the game of your life, " recalled Wright. "I guess youd have to know Ricky to understand, but that was maybe the first and only time I pitched out of fear due to someone on my own team. We won, 3-2." Thirty-one years later, Wrights 2012 Buckhorn team, which won 34 games, hosted Sparkman in the second round of the state playoffs. The Senators won the first game, which started at 4:30 p.m. but was quickly delayed three hours by rain. Buckhorn won 2-1 in Game 2, which started at 10 p.m. and didnt finish until 1 a.m. "We had as many fans at 1 in the morning as we had earlier in the afternoon," said Wright. "I remember getting home around 3:30 a.m. and going back to school about three hours later to spend the day getting the field ready for Game 3 that afternoon. We ended up winning the series and that was great, but playing in the wee hours of the morning is something Ill never forget."