Now open: Charley Steiner School of Sports Communication

Charley Steiner’s name will live forever, at least at his alma mater.

Bradley University named its sports communication school in Steiner’s honor at a ceremony Thursday night in Los Angeles.

“It’s really overwhelming,� Steiner said. “It will be there after I’m gone.�

Steiner, who started his career at Bradley’s campus radio station in 1967, has been a member of the Dodgers broadcast crew since 2004 after stints with ESPN and the New York Yankees. In addition to making an undisclosed financial gift to the university, Steiner said he would spend a week on campus every fall, inviting writers, broadcasters and publicists to help him teach at the Charley Steiner School of Sports Communication.

Steiner, 65, said he had $700 to his name when he graduated from Bradley in 1971.

“You get to a certain point in your life where you want to give back,� he said.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said he was “delighted� that Bradley students would benefit from Steiner, and from the “passion, enthusiasm and humor� he injects into his broadcasts.

“Our national pastime is proudly the game of broadcasters,� Selig said in a statement. “As such, it is a privilege to join the Dodgers in applauding Charley’s career in baseball and this extraordinary recognition from his alma mater.�

Steiner noted that Bradley and Peoria, Ill., where it’s located, have turned out such renowned broadcasters as the late Chick Hearn of the Lakers, Ralph Lawler of the Clippers, the late Jack Brickhouse of the Chicago Cubs, the late Bill King of the Oakland Athletics and Raiders and Golden State Warriors, and the late Bob Starr of the California Angels and Los Angeles Rams.

“With all those guys coming out of Bradley and Peoria, it’s like San Pedro de Macoris for shortstops,� said Steiner, referring to the famous Dominican town. “That makes me Jose Offerman.�