Dodgers and SportsNetLA analyst Jessica Mendoza tells USA Today Sports that fans should be “really excited” to hear Joe Davis call the World Series.
Dodgers analyst Jessica Mendoza joined Mackenzie Salmon on USA Today Sports to talk about the World Series, and one topic of conversation was, of course, the broadcast booth. After 25 years as the voice of baseball for FOX Sports, Joe Buck moved to ESPN earlier this year, creating an opportunity for someone new to fill his spot on the baseball side of things.
Dodgers play-by-play announcer Joe Davis got the call, much to the delight of anyone who has ever listened to him with an open mind. Mendoza, of course, called a handful of Dodgers road games as the color commentator next to Davis this season, so she’s seen his work up close, and she thinks he’s more than up to the task of replacing Buck.
“I worked side by side with Joe Davis this year on the Dodger games, and I am excited. I mean, Joe Buck is classic, obviously going back to even his dad, and you think about the Buck family in baseball. So you can’t compare who’s gonna be better.
“But let’s be real — Joe Davis replaced Vin Scully. You’re talking about the godfather of all announcers. In the history of baseball, Vin Scully is number one, and Joe Davis had to come into that and did it, I feel, with flying colors. He’s done a phenomenal job. So I think people are — a lot of people still don’t know who Joe Davis is, at least the ones who just tune in for the World Series, broader baseball fans — and I think they’re gonna be really excited to hear him on a broadcast.”
Jessica is exactly right. Davis has earned this role by virtue of being excellent at his job, and while fans of the teams involved are always going to think every announcer is biased against their team, fans with clear eyes and ears are finding out that Davis is the best there is in baseball right now.
