David Steele, a college student in Tennessee at the time, had career plans. He, like many young athletes, thought he was going to be a Major League Baseball player.
As a shortstop on the Carson-Newman College baseball team, the thought of being a broadcaster had not yet been considered. Rather than being the announcer who talked about the athlete, Steele would be the athlete who the announcer talked about.
“It became pretty obvious that that wasn’t going to happen,” Steele said with a laugh during a recent phone interview with Orlando Pinstriped Post.
Steele struggled at the plate and later transferred to the University of Georgia, where he says he soon realized he was the third best shortstop on campus.