Five Enter O.C. Sports Hall of Fame

The five newest entries into the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame shared one feeling during their induction ceremonies Thursday--humility.

Joining 73 other area sports luminaries were former Cypress College men’s basketball Coach Don Johnson; former Ram kicker Mike Lansford; former Brea Olinda and Orange Coast College football Coach Dick Tucker; former Troy High basketball star Mark Wulfemeyer; and ex-Angel left-hander Clyde Wright.

Johnson won 588 games and two state titles during his 27-year reign at Cypress College. Lansford, who played for the Rams from 1982 to 1990, finished as the team’s all-time scorer (789 points).

Tucker won eight league and two section titles at Brea Olinda High, then went on to 129 victories and two national championships in 24 seasons at Orange Coast College. Wulfemeyer finished his career at Troy as the county’s and Southern Section’s all-time leading scorer (2,608). In 1970, Wright pitched the first no-hitter in Anaheim Stadium. That year he also won 22 games for the Angels, a club record that still stands.

But the acceptance speeches were either full of self-deprecating humor, or pointed out that none of the honorees got there by themselves.

Johnson said he was “euphoric for weeks” upon learning of his selection, but was brought back to earth by a Monday conversation with a former player.

“I had told him I had been chosen,” Johnson said. “There was a pause, and then he said, ‘Well, I guess you have been around long enough.’ I waited for a follow-up statement. There was another pause, and then he said, ‘I think everyone else has been inducted.’ ”

Wulfemeyer, who had a fling with professional baseball before injuring his arm, said he would change only one thing. “I’d have the coaches put a nail through home plate so it wouldn’t move around on me so much.”

Tucker said he learned the proper perspective on coaching long ago. “You do your best coaching when you have good kids, and you try not to foul them up,” he said.

As for Wright, he said the ceremony was “the most important thing that’s happened to me. Especially when you consider the careers of the other people in here, then you consider mine.”