Dr. Charles Steinberg is in his 5th year as President of the Pawtucket Red Sox after many years as Executive Vice President of the Boston Red Sox. In a vast career in which he has also worked with the Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig, "Dr. Charles" has helped re-energize the PawSox while leading their effort to aggressively reach out to the community.
He has also been instrumental in the community engagement of Central Massachusetts, where Worcester's Polar Park is under construction and scheduled to welcome the franchise in April, 2021. He has orchestrated 21 "Fan Planning" meetings that have garnered 877 ideas, insights, or suggestions for the design and operation of the new ballpark, set in the resurgent Canal District of the second-largest city in New England.
Under his leadership, the PawSox and their foundation established the PawSox Scholars program in 2016 to provide college scholarships to area middle school students, the "In Debt to a Vet" program to recognize veterans between innings at each game, and the "PawSox Mentors" program with Mentor Rhode Island. The club has also augmented its support of the Tomorrow Fund, which helps Rhode Island families with children battling cancer.
At the urging of club Chairman Larry Lucchino, Steinberg led the effort in 2019 to visit every city and town in Rhode Island that responded to the club's offer to receive one or more of the "50 Acts of Kindness" rendered to celebrate the 50-year relationship with the Boston Red Sox. That club will renew the program in 2020 as the PawSox celebrate their Golden Anniversary (1970-2020).
In Worcester, Steinberg has helped launch the WooSox Foundation, which has already announced the establishment of the WooSox Scholars, and has already made a commitment to the Worcester Public Library Foundation. The WooSox Foundation has also announced commitments to the United Way of Central Massachusetts and to the Hanover Theatre in Worcester.
To bring children closer to the game, Steinberg was instrumental in creating the PawSox Lunch Box program, in which two children have lunch with a player in the owners' box on the afternoon of a night game. He also led the creation of the Junior PawSox Announcer program, in which a young person does play by play for an inning on a PawSox radio broadcast.
As they have done with each of their franchises, Lucchino & Steinberg have now created events at holidays, including Jackie Robinson's Birthday (the Eve of Black History Month); Groundhog Day, when staff members "see their shadows," (high school students who learn about careers in baseball); Truck Day, when the Red Sox Equipment Truck visits McCoy Stadium on its way to Spring Training; Valentine's Day, when mascots Paws and Sox deliver flowers to seniors; and Halloween, when the club turns its Hall of History into a "den of mystery." The club has now established annual steak dinners for Veterans Day, as well as luncheons at Thanksgiving for elementary school students and at Christmastime for middle school students.
Steinberg spent 11 seasons with the Boston Red Sox (2002 through 2007 and 2012 through 2016), with his primary areas of responsibility in Public Relations, Community Relations, Ballpark Entertainment, Advertising, and various aspects of Marketing. In the intervening four years, he was Chief Marketing Officer of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Senior Advisor for Public Affairs to the Commissioner of Baseball.
Dr. Charles has been instrumental in the creation and writing of ceremonies at Fenway Park, ranging from Opening Days to World Series parades. Together with colleague Sarah McKenna and their staff, they have produced ceremonies for the retiring of the numbers for Pedro Martinez and David Ortiz, the unveiling of statues for Carl Yastrzemski and "The Teammates," as well as the honoring of the New England Patriots at Fenway Park after each of their Super Bowl championships.
Steinberg was also instrumental in Fenway Park beginning a tradition of "Going Gold" to raise awareness each September for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The inaugural ceremony, created in 2015 in partnership with G1ve-A-Buck Fund and the Jimmy Fund, helped inspire Major League Baseball to establish Childhood Cancer Awareness Days throughout MLB each year thereafter.
Perhaps the most important ceremony of his career was April 20, 2013, in which Boston's largest community convocation gathered at Fenway Park following the Boston Marathon tragedy of April 15. The emotional ceremony culminated with David Ortiz's unforgettable--and unrepeatable--exhortation. Thereafter, the club continued to embrace the heroes, survivors, and bereaved families, with the remarkable season culminating in a World Series Parade that paused at the Marathon Finish Line for a brief, tender tribute.
The New England Region of the Anti-Defamation League honored Steinberg and the Red Sox with its Distinguished Community Service Award in February, 2014, for helping Boston heal from the wounds of the Boston Marathon tragedy and for the community programs they have created since 2002.
Before leaving the Red Sox for the Dodgers in 2008, Steinberg spent six seasons ('02 through '07) in Boston as Executive Vice President for Public Affairs, helping to launch a new fan-friendly attitude, revamped community outreach, and innovative communication. He was responsible for orchestrating ceremonies throughout the year, and was instrumental in players greeting fans at the gates, fans having Father's Day Catches on the Fenway Park grass, and celebrating the lives of Ted Williams and Johnny Pesky when each passed away.
Steinberg was a key force in establishing the Fenway Ambassadors, the Red Sox/Jimmy Fund Radiotelethon, the annual September 11 Red Cross Blood Drive, as well as community events on Halloween, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, the birthday of Jackie Robinson, and Valentine's Day.
In the community, Steinberg was instrumental in creating the Red Sox Scholars program (college scholarships for Boston middle schoolers), the Boston Area Church League (Saturday double headers with pastors as coaches, police as umpires, and district attorneys as volunteers), Red Sox Children's Retreats (weekends at the Ron Burton Training Village), and the Lindos Sueños program (Boston-area teens play baseball and render community service with Dominican teens in the Dominican Republic).
In 2008 and 2009, Steinberg was Executive Vice-President/Marketing & Public Relations (Chief Marketing Officer) for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He led the creation of the Dodgers Ambassadors, orchestrated the 2008 Opening Day Ceremonies that paid tribute to the club's 50th Anniversary in Los Angeles, helped execute the club's historic trip to China in March, 2008, and produced the ceremonies and events for the best-attended game in professional baseball history--a Guinness World Record of 115,300 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to benefit cancer research.
Celebrating the L.A. Dodgers' 50th Anniversary, he created and produced a three-day musical tribute at the Hollywood Bowl before more than 50,000 people. He also wrote the copy immortalized on the Dodgers' star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and instituted the annual tribute to Jackie Robinson, as he had done in Boston, on the pioneering Hall of Famer's birthday and the eve of Black History Month.
In 2010-'11, Steinberg worked directly for Commissioner Selig as Senior Advisor to the Commissioner of Baseball for Public Affairs. From April of 2015 until May of 2018, Steinberg helped Selig with his memoirs, which were published in July of 2019.
Before joining the Red Sox in 2002, he was Executive Vice-President/Public Affairs for the San Diego Padres, for whom he worked from 1995 through 2001. In San Diego, he helped revive a moribund fan base with new approaches to ballpark entertainment and community outreach. He created the Pad Squad, the Swinging Friar mascot, and television shows and documentaries. He created the Padres Scholars (similar to the Red Sox Scholars), oversaw the planting of 116 trees in San Diego, helped establish 20 Little Padres Parks, and the helped create the Cindy Matters Fund for pediatric cancer research. He was a key contributor to the city's successful campaign to build Petco Park, which enabled the Padres to remain in San Diego.
He started his career with his hometown Baltimore Orioles, rising in 19 years from intern to head of Public Relations. His career began with an internship from Gilman School, arranged with the Orioles' Jack Dunn III, grandson and namesake of the man who first signed Babe Ruth. He was Hall of Fame Manager Earl Weaver's statistician for six years and continued in that position with manager Joe Altobelli through the Orioles' World Championship season of 1983. He then created Orioles Productions, the club's first video department, in 1985, and its first customer service department in 1993.
He worked for the Orioles while earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland and his doctorate from Maryland's dental school, and continued his front office work while becoming the team dentist. In 1982, Steinberg became a founding and charter member of the Academy for Sports Dentistry. It was with the Orioles in 1979 that he first worked with his longtime friend and mentor, Larry Lucchino, whom he followed to San Diego, Boston, and Pawtucket.
With all four major league clubs, Steinberg has been responsible for the fan experience in the ballpark and in the community. He has headed the clubs' public relations and outbound marketing, ballpark entertainment and special events, community relations and advertising, television and video production, and in each case, created innovative fan services departments. Each of the four franchises established attendance records during his tenure.
Steinberg won an Emmy Award for the television production of the 1998 National League Champion Padres, and a Telly Award for the video production of the remarkable "Why Not?" season of the 1989 Baltimore Orioles.
He has earned seven championship rings: Five World Championships, including one with Baltimore (1983) and four with Boston (2004, 2007, 2013, 2018), plus two league championships with the '79 Orioles and '98 Padres. He has helped produce Postseason Play events and entertainment 14 seasons.
Steinberg has taught at Emerson College since September 2015, and in 2017 was named its Director of Sports Communication. The college is among the first to offer a Sports Communication major.