As MLB broadcaster Joe Davis gets set to call his second World Series for Fox Sports, he revealed that replacing Vin Scully on Spectrum Sports Net was harder than replacing Buck on Fox.
“The greatest to ever do it and 67 years being the Dodgers announcer, that’s probably the taller hill to climb,” Davis told John Ourand on The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast. “But I think Joe is the greatest guy of this generation, and he’s my favorite guy growing up.”
However the 35-year-old Davis said he worked hard to not frame himself as a replacement in his mind.
“It would be tough and impossible to replace either one of those guys,” Davis said.
Was it easier to replace Vin Scully or Joe Buck?
Fox's Joe Davis answers:Listen to the Marchand & Ourand Sports Media Podcast here:
Apple: https://t.co/p63oY2kNGe
Spotify: https://t.co/FJo6TSpHUB
Google: https://t.co/SKcawwzKSZ pic.twitter.com/8GkqczRv83— John Ourand (@Ourand_Puck) October 26, 2023
Davis said his approach has been to carve his own niche and become recognizable in the same way Buck and Scully were as baseball announcers.
“If you go in there thinking, ‘OK I’m going to replace them,’ the tendency is going to be to try to be them,” Davis said, “and try top copy things that made them them.
“You can take things from them, and you’d be stupid not to. But getting caught up in trying to replace them, I’ve tried to avoid that.”
Earlier in the interview, Davis also admitted even before the new MLB pitch clock rules he could never quite rattle off a story the way Scully used to. There are some things better left untouched.
Scully and Buck are one of one, but Davis is quickly solidifying himself as a comfortable, authoritative voice on baseball broadcasts as well.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.