In an episode of the podcast, Off Air with Joe and Orel, the two Dodger play-by-play broadcasters discussed their journey to the big leagues as well as the moment they got the call that they were going to the Major League.
Of course, many of you may already know Joe Davis never played professional ball, but his journey is one of coming out of college to becoming a Fox Sports broadcaster, to now co-broadcaster with the legendary Orel Hershiser.
Prior to being getting the gig with the Dodgers, Joe’s experience with baseball had been calling a season of independent ball, 3 seasons of AA baseball for the Montgomery Biscuits, as well as only a couple of major league games. Other than that the broadcaster announced other sports such as football and basketball at various levels for FOX Sports.
In October of 2014, the Dodgers had begun to plan for a future without longtime Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully in the booth and Joe himself was on of the candidates they sought to fill in the position. A couple of months later, Davis met with Lon Rosen, the Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer for the Dodgers, who had told him he was one of four candidates that the Dodgers were considering. Davis later reveals that Matt Vasgersian was one of the candidates and was originally offered the job before him.
Of course, nothing materialized and after a couple more months of waiting, Rosen reached out again to talk to Joe and his agent to figure out what needs to be done to have him join the Dodgers. After being offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to announce for the Dodgers, Davis wasn’t sure if it was what he really wanted. During this time, Davis was also contacted by the Chicago White Sox who were seeking to offer him a job. Davis goes on to say that he considered the White Sox job as it was closer to his home state of Michigan and momentum with the Dodgers had ceased for the time being.
Finally, after almost walking away from the Dodgers and negotiations about his contract, the stars finally aligned. Joe Davis officially became the next broadcast announcer in late 2015. After sealing the deal, Davis was honored with a call from his predecessor Vin Scully himself to welcome him to the family.
“Anyway good luck. I’ll see you I’m sure sometime soon and I’ll be thrilled to wish you all the best wishes possible. I know what it was like to be 27, 28, and starting out with a big club and I know it will be a great marriage so congratulations and look forward to seeing you.”
As Vin once said, “and the rest is history.” What started off as many fans feeling it would be impossible to replace the presence of Vin Scully, quickly changed to feelings of love and support for the duo of Joe and Orel. While it has been and always will be impossible to ever replace the beloved Vin Scully, Joe Davis has risen through the “minor leagues” to become the closest we can get to Vin himself.
For more on the story, listen to their podcast below!
Episode 5 – “The Day I Got the Call” (Dodgers)
