Steiner’s dream job leads to radio Hall

LOS ANGELES — Saturday night at a black-tie dinner in Chicago, a Dodgers broadcaster went into the Hall of Fame and it wasn’t Vin Scully. A shocker? No. Scully is already there. If there is a Hall of Fame that has any connection whatsoever to broadcasting and Scully isn’t in it, it’s a lousy Hall of Fame.

Now, Charley Steiner has joined him. That means, next year, when fans tune in to Dodgers’ baseball, they will be informed and entertained by three Hall of Famers. That’s far from the norm, maybe a first, and should make Dodgers fans proud. Even if their team doesn’t turn out to be a winner, they’ll be getting the news from two of them. And in Spanish, from a third Hall of Famer, Jaime Jarrin.

Steiner’s induction into the Radio Hall of Fame will be frosting on a lifetime of chocolate cake. We all have our dreams. Steiner lives his daily.

He is 64 and has been headed to where he is now, being a Dodgers broadcaster, for the last 58 years.

He grew up in Malverne, N.Y., on Long Island. He was a Dodgers fan. One October afternoon in 1955, left-hander Johnny Podres beat the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the World Series. It was the famous 2-0 game, the Sandy Amoros catch, the only Brooklyn World Series title.

Saturday night in Chicago, Steiner told much of this story. Surrounding him were pictures of his sports predecessors — the Hall is for all of radio, not just sports. Steiner’s previously inducted peers include the likes of Red Barber, Jack Buck, Harry Caray, Ernie Harwell, Mel Allen, Bob Uecker, even Ronald Reagan, who used to dazzle them on WHO in Des Moines.

Oh, yes, and that Scully guy, who is sports radio’s Sultan of Swat.

“I tell people I have the perfect job,” Steiner says. “Everyday, I go to work and get to play pepper with Babe Ruth.”

Now, Charley Steiner gets to do more than play pepper. He gets to join Babe’s club.