Veteran host Charley Steiner is in remission after being diagnosed with myeloma blood cancer in January, he revealed to the Los Angeles Times.
The longtime 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 losing 50 pounds in recent months and using a wheelchair.
“Remission is a nice word,” says the 75-year-old told columnist Bill Plaschke. “Monday was one of those days where it was like, OK, we’re doing good.”
Steiner described the struggle as a “constant, debilitating pain in the lower back.”
His battle with cancer has cost him the past year in the broadcast booth. Now the Dodgers and the New York Yankees – two teams for which he has worked as a radio announcer – will play in a World Series that he will not name.
Veteran host 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 recording of Fox Sports Network announcers Steve Lyons, left, and Charley Steiner in 2005, Steiner’s first year with the club
“It was really weird and tough watching the Dodgers and the Yankees,” Steiner said. “I’ve sent them both out, but I can’t do either.”
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 again next year.’
“Remember when Dodger fans used to say, ‘Wait until next year?’ Steiner said. ‘That’s me. That’s my time. Next year.’
Born in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, Steiner left for New York in 1969 to begin his career in Peoria, Illinois. He would soon move to Iowa, Connecticut and Cleveland Ohio before working as a play-by-play announcer for Donald Trump’s Generals in New Jersey in the USFL.
Later, while working for RKO Radio, Steiner famously became involved in a shoving match during a John McEnroe press conference at Wimbledon in 1981.
He eventually joined ESPN in 1988, where he became the network’s boxing analyst and a major anchor of SportsCenter. He is perhaps best known for a series of humorous “This Is Sportscenter” advertisements, in which writers capitalized on his professional demeanor.
Steiner left the Worldwide Leader in 2002 to replace Michael Kay in the radio booth of the New York Yankees. He then joined the Dodgers in 2005 and occasionally filled in on television broadcasts.