Dodgers: Joe Davis Shares His Biggest Fear in Calling Game 7 of the NLCS
The 2020 National League Championship Series was one of the most insane postseason series that you will ever see. The Dodgers had to come back down 3 games to 1 and pour it on the Braves to make it to the World Series. Luckily for Los Angeles fans, they got a treat in Game 7.
The normal broadcast for the NLCS consisted of Joe Buck and John Smoltz. When the NLCS got to Game 7, Buck had to leave to cover an NFL Sunday broadcast. That left the Dodgers play-by-play man Joe Davis to cover the game for FOX.
As great as it was for us, it wasn’t all fun and games for Davis. He talked about the experience recently on the Big Swing podcast with Ross Stripling and Cooper Surles. For Davis, his worry was that Dodgers fans wouldn’t like him as much if he had to call a Braves win.
Thank god it went the way it did this year. That game 7 of the NLCS that I did, which was a dream come true for me a career highlight getting to do that game. Had the Dodgers lost that game the way that they won that game, and maybe this is overblowing it, but I would think that that would potentially be damaging to the way Dodgers fans feel about me. Even just subconsciously.
As strange as it might sound, there might be something to that. I am thoroughly convinced that Dodgers fans’ disdain for Joe Buck stems from the fact that he has called the games in which our hearts have collectively been broken the most. Then again, Joe Davis is just such a likeable guy in general, I don’t know how anyone couldn’t love him.
Regardless, the Dodgers won the series and then the World Series, so we’re good Joe.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube Channel yet? Subscribe and hit that notification bell to stay up to date on all the latest Dodgers news, interviews, live streams, and more!
Dodgers: MLB Writer Offers the Most Ridiculous Trade Scenario We’ve Seen All Offseason
Davis is about himself. Scully, may go way back to when Moses wore short pants, but at least it’s a story.
Fox first team Joe Buck and John Smoltz is not my fan favorite! They both can go do Bush League games, can not stand them!
I love the Joe Davis and Orel combo. I didn’t dislike Scully, but definitely wasn’t a big fan, sorry for the sacrilege. But then I wasn’t a Dodger fan until after McCourt went bye bye.
Vin is from a different time. In 1958, almost no games were televised and later, just the 9 from San Francisco and the World Series. Prime Vin Scully was at a time when everyone listened to the game on radio, brought their radios to the game — so many radios in fact that you probably didn’t have to bring yours to hear Vin. He had some good times interacting with the crowd in the stadium via the radio and the crowd’s feedback. I grew up without a television in the house. Vin’s calls were such that you could visualize exactly what was going on. There is very little film of Sandy Koufax’ perfect game. His broadcast partner was a virtual human computer when it came to information to pass onto the fans. They are a combo that no one comes close to today.
Today’s broadcasters are in a different medium, and it’s unfair to them to compare them with Vin. You became a Dodger fan when Vin was already over 80. By then, he had adapted to television, so you missed out on the real golden age of baseball broadcasting as I doubt you ever listened to a game on the radio. I listened to nearly every game on the radio up until the time I retired and could be at home to watch it on television.
All that being said, we are fortunate to have landed Joe Davis. He reminds me quite a bit of Vin at the same age. Vin’s will always be the greatest though.
Joe Davis is a welcomed replacement to Joe Buck anytime. He’s good and Hersheiser is even better. We don’t dislike Buck because he’s covered so many Dodger heartbreaks. We hate him because he’s always a homer to the favorite flavor of the month and makes it clear that he’s never held a bat or ball in his life. For those of us who understand baseball he’s just awful. They only use A-rod to make Buck seem tolerable in comparison. Buck had such a man crush on Altuve and Springer back in ’17. It was sickening.
I can’t speak for other fans but Joe Buck revealed his distain for the Dodgers in the 2018 World Series against Boston. He was unprofessional and biased. That is why I don’t like him and I would guess lots of others.
Joe Davis is head and shoulders above him and the network just doesn’t have the guts or foresight to make the switch. Buck’s heavy handed style is a thing of the past. Smoltz is OK but kisses up a bit too much and changes opinions with the prevailing wind. Hersheiser is better. But Davis and Hersheiser are special. We Dodger fans are lucky. If you don’t believe me listen to some other teams broadcasts.
Yeah, Joe Buck was definitely biased against the Dodgers. Not just in 2018, but it seemed whenever he called a national game. He did show much less of it this past year. I still wish Joe Davis could have called the World Series.
I can’t speak for others but the reason I don’t like joe buck is because of his self proclaimed lack of enthusiasm for the game, not to mention his homerism when it came to the cards and his abrasive ness in general towards anything positive about the Dodgers. You can tell he doesn’t like the team and it’s shows in his calls. Great broadcasters are neutral and put an emphasis on crafting a story in the game, buck is boring.
I posted previously…I don’t get the ‘dislike’ of Joe Buck. The late Skip Caray son of the legendary Harry Caray caught a lot of flack for a call he made on a David Justice homerun that gave the Braves a pivotal win in a playoff series in the early nineties. He stated that if people don’t believe that believe there’s a bond between the broadcasters and the team they cover, they’re naive. Joe Buck stood up during a broadcast during this World Series when he stated how the Astros had cheated and deprived the Dodgers of a championship in ’17. That took guts…
Joe Buck and John Smoltz’s bias against the Dodgers was so hard to listen to after the first couple of games I turned the sound off when they were calling the game. I understand Smoltz’s bias in the Braves series, but it would be nice if Joe Buck maintained a bit more neutrality than he did throughout the NLCS and World Series. He was clearly rooting for Braves and the Rays. As an announcer for a nationally televised series he should really maintain a more professional attitude and try and remain neutral. I was thrilled to be able to turn up the sound again in game 7 of the NLCS where Joe Davis got the play-by-play. Joe did a great job, and remained more neutral than I thought he would.
Welll Joe Davis is a legend, he is the best. And to be honest I would be a little mad if he had to announce a braves win but hey It didnt happen so Im happy. Im glad he was able to call game 7. Joe davis wouldve been a butt if he were to call game 7 like he was every game he called. He is a dodger hater. Dodgers vs Astros, he chooses astros, Dodgers vs Red Sox, he chooses red sox, Dodgers vs Braves, he chooses Braves, Dodgers vs Rays, He still freaking chooses rays. He would still choose the astros after everything they did and to be honest we deserved this championship. This year was real cause why did it happen?
Are you talking about Joe Buck or Joe Davis??