Charley Steiner
Charley Steiner | |
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Sport | Major League Baseball |
Charley Steiner (born 1948 or 1949).
Early career
Steiner was born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City.[2] He grew up a Brooklyn Dodgers fan in a Jewish family in Malverne, New York.[3] He attended Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, and began his career as a newscaster for WIRL radio in Peoria, in 1969. After graduating from Bradley in 1971, he hosted his first sports show on KSTT radio in Davenport, Iowa. A year later, Steiner moved to New Haven, Connecticut, and worked for WAVZ radio as its news director, before moving north to Hartford and WPOP radio in a similar capacity.
In 1977, Steiner relocated to
Steiner entered the New York market in 1978 at
It was during his time with RKO Radio that he was involved in a fracas at the conclusion of a
Career at ESPN
Steiner joined ESPN in 1988, primarily as an anchor on SportsCenter. In addition to those duties, he served as the network's lead boxing analyst.
Steiner was involved in many comical situations during his tenure on SportsCenter, including one broadcast in 1993 when
Steiner was featured in a series of well-known television promos from ESPN's This is SportsCenter comical promo campaign. In 1999, amid fears of the Y2K situation, Steiner starred in a promo where the SportsCenter cast spoke about a "contingency plan" at ESPN's studios after Y2K, and Steiner was featured wearing a tie as a head band (along with Braveheart-style face paint) and screaming the phrase "Follow me to freedom!"[10] A second promo featured Steiner being traded from ESPN to Melrose Place in exchange for actor Andrew Shue. While Shue delivers a straight-up report on a meeting with Paul Tagliabue, Steiner is then seen wearing shorts and introduces himself to Laura Leighton (in character as "Sidney Andrews") as the new "pool boy" in the show's apartment complex.[11] Steiner starred in a third promo with boxer Evander Holyfield. In the opening shot, Evander questions Stuart Scott about Steiner's assessment that Holyfield is only the "50th best heavyweight of all-time"; Stuart then deadpans that he meant "the 50th best heavyweight — in Georgia". In the final scene, an angry Holyfield is seen roaming the halls of ESPN screaming, "Charley! Come on out and get your whoopin'! Charley, come on out! Steiner!" Steiner is seen cowering under a desk. In another promo for the campaign, Steiner talks about how at ESPN the personalities can cover the sports that they enjoy and he says that his is boxing. During the promo several personalities try to pick a fight with him and he walks away from them all until the end when Steiner is getting into his car and Otto the Orange comes up to him and Steiner takes out all of his frustrations out on Otto by punching him square in the face.
On August 9, 2004, Steiner returned to ESPN to co-host an "old school" version of SportsCenter with Bob Ley.
Steiner also hosted a program on the NFL Network called Football America, which ran from 2003 to 2005. He has also been shown in frequent cuts of interviews for the network's NFL Top 10 series, discussing such subjects as former Jets defensive end Mark Gastineau. Cuts of his play-by-play of the Jets' September 1986 overtime victory (51–45) over the Dolphins are used in retrospectives on that game. Steiner was also interviewed on the 1986 New York Jets–Cleveland Browns playoff game in which he proclaimed the Jets would win following a fourth-quarter touchdown only to see the Browns tie the game and win in double overtime.
Baseball broadcasting
ESPN Radio
When ESPN Radio gained broadcast rights for Major League Baseball's national radio package from CBS in 1998, Steiner became its lead announcer, working Sunday night games, the All-Star Game, and postseason games. (Steiner never worked the World Series while he was calling games for ESPN Radio, however, as those were covered by then-lead TV voice Jon Miller.)
Steiner's most controversial
New York Yankees (2002–2004)
Steiner left ESPN in 2002 and joined the
There's a fly ball deep to left... it's on its way... there it goes... and the Yankees are going to the World Series! Aaron Boone has hit a home run! The Yankees go to the World Series for the thirty-ninth time in their remarkable history! Aaron Boone down the left field line... they are waiting for him at home plate, and now he dives into the scrum! The Yankees win it, six to five!
After Steiner completed his call, he joined Sterling in his famous "Yankees win! Theeeeeeeeeeee Yankees win!" call, saying he "had always wanted to do that".[13]
Steiner and Sterling reportedly had a contentious relationship during their three years together.[14]
Los Angeles Dodgers (2005–present)
Steiner left the Yankees after the following season, his last game being the infamous Game 7 of the
For four years covering the 2005 through 2008 seasons, the Dodgers' unique broadcasting arrangement had Steiner teamed with analyst Rick Monday and working play-by-play on radio during all home and intra-divisional road games. However, Steiner's duties during these games would begin with the fourth inning and cover the remainder of the game, as the first three innings were a radio/television simulcast voiced by Vin Scully. Steiner handled television play-by-play on all other games (with analyst Steve Lyons), primarily road contests east of the Rocky Mountains. For the 2009 season, the Dodgers had Steiner and Monday as their radio team for all 162 games, though the Scully simulcast of the first three innings would remain.[15] Starting in 2014, Steiner was paired with Orel Hershiser on the television broadcast for all games Scully did not call, and broadcast on the radio with Monday the other games.
Steiner also used to host Baseball Beat on
Following Vin Scully's retirement from the Dodgers after the 2016 season, the team split its radio-TV duties between Steiner and Joe Davis, with Steiner remaining on the radio side but switching to television on those occasions Davis has a Fox Sports assignment.
Awards and accomplishments
Steiner, an Emmy Award recipient, was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame on November 9, 2013, becoming the 17th sportscaster admitted into the Hall. In December 2010 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from his alma mater
References
- The Los Angeles Times. p. C3.
Steiner, 42, is probably most closely identified with boxing, because ESPN has dispatched him to all major fights.
- ^ Amendolara, Damon (June 18, 2023). Dodgers' Charley Steiner on Vin Scully, ESPN's Heyday, Working with John Sterling. Event occurs at 1:34. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
I was born in Forest Hills...
- The Los Angeles Times. p. C1.
He grew up in Malverne, N.Y., on Long Island. He was a Dodgers fan.
- ^ Martin Hardee. "99x WXLO Radio News – Historical Profile – 1978". Nyradionews.com. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
- ^ "Charley Steiner (biography) – Los Angeles Dodgers". Losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com. Archived from the original on November 27, 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
- ^ a b c "Habib, Hal. "London tabloids offer some unique insights into Wimbledon," Cox News Service, Sunday, June 19, 2005". Helenair.com. June 18, 2005. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
- ^ Curry Kirkpatrick (July 13, 1981). "Kirkpatrick, Curry. "His Earth, His Realm, His England," Sports Illustrated, July 13, 1981". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
- ^ Simon Cambers at Wimbledon (July 2, 2011). "Cambers, Simon. "Wimbledon 2011: The day pen-pushers came to blows over John McEnroe," The Guardian (London, UK), Saturday, July 2, 2011". Guardian. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
- ^ "ESPN Bloopers Featuring Charley Steiner". YouTube.com. February 27, 2009. Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
- ^ "YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on October 28, 2009. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
- ^ "YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on October 19, 2015. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
- ^ "Charley Steiner (biography) – National Organization of Professional Athletes and Celebrities Talent Agency". NOPACTalent. Archived from the original on April 1, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
- ^ "2003 American League Championship Game 7". Baseball-almanac.com. October 16, 2003. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
- ^ Marchand, Andrew (November 26, 2004). "ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION – STEINER NO GREAT LOSS TO YANK RADIO BOOTH". nypost.com. NYP Holdings, Inc. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
- ^ Dodgers do some TV repair work for '09: Steiner back on radio fulltime; gig opens for 40-game slate Archived December 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [1] Archived January 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "The Charley Steiner School of Sports Communication | Steiner School | Communication | Departments and Programs | Academics | Bradley University".
External links
- Los Angeles Dodgers biography
- Holmes, Tot (November 22, 2004). "Charlie Steiner New Broadcaster". Scout.com. Microsoft. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2008.