Charles Steinberg is a romantic and a pragmatist, a dazzled fan who swept storerooms and compiled statistics for the Baltimore Orioles but earned a degree in dentistry in case the whole baseball thing didn't work out.
Steinberg, the Dodgers' new executive vice president for marketing, gets misty about baseball's ability to unite families, but he's unmarried and childless in his 40s.
In orchestrating how games are presented and trying to make fans share his love of baseball, Steinberg listens to "the 10-year-old kid that is eternal inside of me." Team President Jamie McCourt said the decision to hire him was made "in terms of dream-weaving," his skill at creating an atmosphere in which families connect and create memories.
He may be a dreamer but he's bold enough to tackle the impossible -- he's trying to change Southern California tradition and get fans into Dodger Stadium hours before the first pitch.
The reward? Beating traffic and having time to bond with your family, with baseball as the glue.
The new policy of allowing fans to watch batting practice in a small section of the outfield is a Steinberg touch.
Establishing a corps of Dodgers ambassadors and picking kids to announce "It's time for Dodger baseball" or be an honorary batboy are other kid-centric ideas Steinberg implemented.
"So now it's a memory. We just imprinted that moment on an 8-year-old's memory this week," said Steinberg, lured here after six years as the executive vice president of public affairs for the Boston Red Sox and creator of the newly upbeat atmosphere in venerable Fenway Park. "Get the kids involved. Make them happy, make mom and dad happy, and you build customer loyalty. Because good things will happen if kids, after a day at a ballgame, are saying, 'Thank you mommy and daddy, you're my heroes. This was the best day of my life.' "
As he did in Boston, he plans to stage Father's Day catches, Mother's Day walks and other events when the team isn't at home. Everyone benefits: Fans associate the Dodgers with happy occasions and the team keeps people in the habit of going to Chavez Ravine.
Steinberg also built goodwill in the community by hosting civic events. He was able to leverage that goodwill while leading the crusade to build Petco Park in San Diego and help squeeze enough revenues out of enough corners of Fenway to ensure its long-term survival.
