Veteran broadcaster Charley Steiner is in remission after being diagnosed with myeloma blood cancer in January, he has revealed to the Los Angeles Times.
The long-time Los Angeles Dodgers radio announcer and ESPN alum did not previously disclose the cancer diagnosis he received in January. He learned Monday that he is now in remission after dropping 50 pounds and using a wheelchair in recent months.
‘Remission is a beautiful word,’ the 75-year-old told columnist Bill Plaschke. ‘Monday was one of those days where it was like, OK, we’re good.’
Steiner described the battle as a ‘constant debilitating lower back pain.’
His cancer battle has cost him the last year in the broadcast booth. Now the Dodgers and New York Yankees – two teams he’s worked for as a radio announcer – are set to play in a World Series he won’t be calling.
Veteran broadcaster Charley Steiner is in remission after being diagnosed with myeloma blood cancer in January, he has revealed to the Los Angeles Times
Dodgers pitching coach Jim Colborn, right, playfully disrupts a taping by Fox Sports Network announcers Steve Lyons, left, and Charley Steiner in 2005, Steiner’s first year with the club
‘It’s been really weird and tough watching the Dodgers and the Yankees,’ Steiner said. ‘I broadcast both of them, yet I can’t do either of them.’
The good news is that Steiner will be back on the radio in 2025.
‘He’s part of our family, we care about him, we’ve been through this journey with him, we’re here to support him,’ Dodgers VP and chief marketing officer Lon Rosen told the Los Angeles Times. ‘And yes, we expect him back next year.’
‘Remember when the Dodger fans would always say, ‘Wait till next year?’ Steiner said. ‘That’s me. That’s going to be my time. Next year.’
A native of the Forest Hills neighborhood in Queens, Steiner left to New York to begin his career in Peoria, Illinois in 1969. He’d soon move to Iowa, Connecticut, and Cleveland Ohio before working as the play-by-play announcer for Donald Trump’s New Jersey Generals in the USFL.
Later, while working for RKO Radio, Steiner famous got involved in a shoving match at a John McEnroe press conference at Wimbledon in 1981.
He ultimately joined ESPN in 1988, where he became the network’s boxing analyst and a key SportsCenter anchor. He’s perhaps best known for a series of humorous ‘This Is Sportscenter’ ads, where writers played on his professional demeanor.
Steiner left the Worldwide Leader in 2002 to replace Michael Kay in the New York Yankees’ radio booth. He then joined the Dodgers in 2005, occasionally filling in on television broadcasts.