With less than two hours remaining before kickoff, the busiest person at Yager Stadium isn’t wearing pads or holding a whistle.
That designation belongs to Miami University’s fire-eating music man of a play-by-play announcer whose voice has appeared on stage and in Oscar-winning films.
For almost three decades, Steve Baker has served as the “Voice of the RedHawks,” primarily calling Miami football and men’s basketball. He’s also been Miami’s broadcasting director since 2001, overseeing all media production for the athletic department.
“I like the chaos,” said Baker. “It puts a lot of stress on you, but it’s what makes the job fun.”
Before uttering a word over the loudspeaker, Baker sets up the stadium’s PA system, checks all video equipment and hosts a donor function in the parking lot. It’s a daunting schedule. This Saturday, he’ll oversee a volleyball production after the football game against Akron University.
This multi-faceted role falls in line with a broadcasting career that was completely unexpected.
“I got into radio totally by accident,” said Baker. “I do enjoy it because I like painting that picture for people.”
Baker left his hometown of Brookville, Ind. in 1977 to become a music instructor. He entered Miami as a 30 instrument-playing singer, but his college experience was short-lived. After eight weeks on campus, his mother fell ill and lost her leg, and Baker returned home to his family.
He began working at WOXY-FM, an Oxford station that was making little impression as an automated Top 40 station in a college community.
“The owner of the station said it had a negative 10 rating,” said Baker. “Nobody listened and 10 people hated it.”
The station’s staff surveyed Miami’s campus and began crafting a playlist that reflected the students’ tastes, leading to 97X, one of America’s first modern rock stations.
“Our first core artists were Madonna, Prince, U2,” said Baker. “There were literally hundreds of bands that we broke. It was a sound that caught on.”
The format went on to earn national accolades, including four placements on Rolling Stone’s reader poll of best American radio stations. It also led to Baker’s 15 seconds of national fame when actor Dustin Hoffman imitated Baker’s 97X station ID in 1988’s highest-grossing film, Rain Man.
97X’s broadcasting deal with Miami athletics allowed Baker to develop a sports broadcasting career that began in the early 1980s with high school sports in Indiana, Virginia and Florida. Starting as an audio engineer, Baker rose to football and basketball announcing by the late 1980s and held the role until 1997, when Miami took over production of radio broadcasts and hired another announcer.
This led to a seven-year absence from announcing that was born out of Baker’s loyalty to 97X.
“I didn’t feel like it was honest to the radio station to work there and then go announce,” Baker said.
To read the rest of this article visit The Miami Student which is where it was originally published
Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
