Charley Steiner is back in the booth for Dodgers home playoff games, and after everything he’s been through, it’s nothing short of a huge comeback story. He’ll be on the mic for AM 570 and the team’s radio network, covering every Dodgers home game from the National League Division Series right through to the Championship Series and World Series, should they advance. This isn’t just another gig for him; it’s his first postseason action in three years, a return that comes after a debilitating back injury and a tough battle with cancer.
The Long Road Back to the Booth
Steiner has had an incredibly difficult path over the last few years. He hasn’t called a playoff game since Game 3 of the 2023 NLDS, and the journey back involved overcoming serious health challenges. He fought a debilitating back injury and battled cancer, which kept him out of the play-by-play chair. Now, though, he’s feeling well and clearly ready to jump back into the high-stakes world of postseason baseball. His presence is a testament to his sheer grit and determination.
From Three Innings to Nine: A Season of Comeback
This season wasn’t a sudden leap for Steiner. It was a gradual, hard-won return to form. He called 35 Dodgers games on radio, carefully increasing his workload as the season progressed. He started slow, calling just the first three innings of two games during the very first homestand. “The whole issue was a question of physical strength,” Steiner explained. “When I first started way back at the beginning of the season, three innings was a lot.” Over the next few months, he gradually added innings before handing off the play-by-play duties to Stephen Nelson or Tim Neverett.
He called the first game of nine out of the Dodgers’ first 10 home series. Then, he hit a big milestone, calling the first five innings of the last two games against the Tampa Bay Rays (June 15-16) and the Baltimore Orioles (June 19-20). During a 10-game homestand leading into the All-Star break, he was back every other game, going five innings for three games, and then six innings for two games. The real breakthrough came on August 13. After calling the first six innings of a series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers, he had a pivotal conversation with radio producer and engineer Duane McDonald. “I was leaving and I said to Duane, ‘I’ll see you Saturday, we’ll go for seven,’” Steiner recalled. “And Duane said, ‘Fuck it, let’s just do nine,’ and you know that was the kick in the ass that I needed.” Just two days later, Steiner called all nine innings of the Dodgers’ loss to Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski. It was his first full game broadcast since that 2023 NLDS game. “That was such a big deal to me, because it’d been such a long time,” Steiner said. “I didn’t know if I’d be physically able to do it, and then I did. It was for me the most significant broadcast that I had done, because I had to do so much to get to that point.”
Looking forward, the Dodgers postseason run is set for Fox Sports for television, with Stephen Nelson taking over radio play-by-play when the team is on the road. But for every single home game, fans will hear Steiner, a veteran who’s spent 14 years at ESPN and the last 25 years broadcasting baseball, including 22 years with his favorite childhood team, the Dodgers. What a story, right? This guy battled back for this moment, and you know he’s going to bring all that passion to the microphone. Get ready to hear his voice loud and clear when those games kick off!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by True Blue LA.
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