Steve Baker was THE Voice of 97X for 20 years, from 1984 all the way through the bittersweet end in 2004, when he provided the poignant sign-off for the terrestrial station.

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Steve also was — and still is — THE Voice of Miami Redhawks sports. He’s done play-by-play for Miami football and basketball broadcasts for 31 years. (In fact, he’s done it so long that he was THE Voice of the Miami Redskins back in a less enlightened time.) In my humble opinion, he’s one of the best play-by-play people in the whole wide world.

At 97X, Steve wore many hats: newsman, Breakfast Club host, station manager, engineer… if it needed to be done, Bake did it.

He’s still wearing many hats in his gig at Miami University, serving as Assistant Athletic Director/Director of Broadcasting. In addition to his play-by-play duties, Bake also coordinates all the broadcasts for MU sports, including tons of online programming.

But wait, there’s more… Bake’s so talented that he occasionally will sing the national anthem at Miami b-ball games, then do the play-by-play. Here’s photographic proof from a week ago, courtesy of former Breakfast Club co-producer (and now MU professor) Mighty Joe Sampson:

Now that’s talent!

At an age when most people are content to veg out on the couch, the already-busy Bakerman managed to squeeze in college classes, and this past December he earned an Associates Degree in Humanities from Miami University. It was the culmination of a dream that started four decades earlier.

He had begun at Miami in the late 70s, but family circumstances pulled him away from his initial degree plans. Soon he began working in radio stations, leading to positions in Hamilton, Richmond (IN), Virginia, and Florida, before returning to Oxford and working at WOXY, the local station what would emerge as a national presence as “the future of rock and roll.”

Here’s an excerpt from our podcast interview with Steve where he talks about his journey.

Read this article for the full story of Steve Baker’s latest accomplishment. I love this line:

In another Middletown class, The History of Rock and Roll, it was Baker who often led the student discussion based on his years of experience.

It’s great that Steve is now an alum of the school to which he’s devoted countless hours over the past 30+ years.

And it’s totally fitting that the man who was THE Voice of a station that always challenged listeners with new music is still finding ways to challenge himself.

Here’s our Rumblings from the Big Bush podcast episode where we interviewed Steve, from January of last year: