Joe Davis sees ‘cool responsibility’ in introducing Rangers and Diamondbacks to wider audience

As soon as the Arizona Diamondbacks sealed their Game 7 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series, people started complaining about the matchup for the 2023 World Series.

The Dbacks will take on the Texas Rangers, who similarly defeated the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.

Whether it’s the shared records of both squads, the lack of nationally known players, or the size of the television markets, plenty of people have derided the matchup for not being big or interesting enough.

Joe Davis will be on the World Series call for Fox and while he understands the pull that New York, Boston, and Los Angeles teams have, he also thinks there’s a matchup here with a lot of possibilities.

“Television is always going to want the top two-rated markets in any matchup, in any big game,” Davis told The Los Angeles Times’ Bill Shaikin. “But the way I like to look at it is, this is really cool that we have two teams that we get to introduce to everybody.”

Davis sees this as an opportunity to help make new stars for Major League Baseball rather than just rely on the ones who already exist.

“It would have been amazing to have Bryce Harper in the World Series,” said Davis. “But it’s going to be a lot of fun — and a cool responsibility — to introduce everybody to Corbin Carroll, and to have that first chance to have these guys on a national stage.”

Of course, Davis’s bosses at Fox are probably bummed that they’re not getting a major TV market or a team with nationally recognizable stars like the Phillies or Astros. But at least the guy who’ll be calling the games sees the potential that comes with a fresh matchup full of stars-in-the-waiting.