The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
Legendary Lakewood baseball coach Walter “Spud” O’Neil added yet another significant honor to his already lengthy list of accolades last week, as he was inducted into the CIF Southern Section Hall of Fame. There was a large and loud group of supporters there to cheer on O’Neil at the Grand in Long Beach, where the ceremony was held.
In addition to the usual friends and family, O’Neil’s section was unique in that it featured more than a dozen guys who coached against him throughout his 52-year career. On hand were current Wilson coach Andy Hall and current Millikan coach Ron Keester, as well as former Poly coach Toby Hess, former Jordan coach Marc Prager (now an assistant at Wilson) and many others.
“I’ve been doing this a long time,” said former CIF-SS commissioner Rob Wigod, who introduced O’Neil. “I have never seen so many coaches who coached against an inductee here to support them.”
Rival coaches certainly could have been forgiven for not feeling all warm and fuzzy about O’Neil, who won 970 games as a head coach, the second-highest total of any high school baseball coach in California history. He was hired as the head coach at Lakewood in 1984 after coaching at his alma mater St. Anthony and at Colton High. Just the third-ever coach in Lakewood’s history, O’Neil won a pair of CIF-SS Division 1 titles as well as 23 Moore League championships.
“You get the word out and they come, and you know it’s pretty cool,” said O’Neil of so many of his fellow coaches showing up for him. “We have a great family in the Moore League and hopefully that’ll continue as things move on.”
Hall said that once the other coaches heard, there was no question they’d be there.
“It’s a tribute to Spud and what he’s meant to this game of baseball in the city o fLong Beach and Lakewood High School for so many years,” he said. “It’s nice to hear him say thank you to the people he’s coached against. But in the same breath, this is us saying thank you to him for the leadership and the guidance that he’s provided. I wouldn’t have missed it, I absolutely wouldn’t have missed it.”
O’Neil has spent the last few years collecting major honors around town. Lakewood dedicated its baseball field as the Walter “Spud” O’Neil Baseball Field back in 2017; he’s also been inducted into the Long Beach Century Club and St. Anthony Halls of Fame.
After Wigod read his introduction to the CIF-SS Hall, a short video was played highlighting his career accomplishments. O’Neil acknowledged it’s been a transition for him since he coached his last game a few months ago.
“It’s emotional,” he said. “Overall I just love this. I love baseball, I love the CIF, and I’ve been doing this since 1970, not many guys can say that.”
O’Neil said that he and his wife Carolyn have a house in Indio now as well as their Lakewood home, so house projects will keep him busy when he gets restless. Asked if he was still planning on attending Moore League baseball games this year, he cracked a smile.
“The good games, anyway,” he said.
