Selfishly, Joe Davis was hoping Shohei Ohtani would make history Thursday — he did, but that’s beside the point. The Los Angeles Dodgers play-by-play voice was jetting out of Miami after the game to head to New Orleans for Saints-Eagles this weekend.
But from his hotel room in The Big Easy, Davis can rest easy. After revealing that he regretted his call for Ohtani’s 40/40 moment, wishing he could have a redo while on the Awful Announcing Podcast, Davis stepped up to the plate — and just like Ohtani — he didn’t miss.
“Triple for the cycle, homer for history,” Davis said, setting the scene. “On a 1-2, Ohtani sends one in the air, the other way, back it goes! GOOOOONE! One of a kind player! One of a kind season! Shohei Ohatani starts the 50-50 club!”
Davis then, in the words of legendary Dodgers announcer Vin Scully, “let the moment breathe,” going silent for about a minute as Ohtani circled the bases and went through the dugout.
“Triple for the cycle, homer for history. On a 1-2, Ohtani… SENDS ONE IN THE AIR, THE OTHER WAY, BACK IT GOES, GOOOOOONNNEEE! ONE OF A KIND PLAYER! ONE OF A KIND SEASON! SHOHEI OHTANI STARTS THE 50/50 CLUB!” – Joe Davis on the historic call⚾️🎙️🦄 pic.twitter.com/JxDyNUfzTD
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 19, 2024
While on The Rich Eisen Show Friday, he described the Dodgers designated hitter making history “as fun of a day I’ve had in my career.”
“I mean, that’s the thing, we talked about this on the broadcast; he could’ve had this day in mid-May, and it still would’ve been one you could argue is the greatest individual day in baseball history,” says Davis. “But he did it to get 50/50, and to punch his first ticket to the postseason — all rolled in one day.
“He continues to do things that if you were to pitch this as a Hollywood script, it’d get turned away because it’s unbelievable. ‘This stuff doesn’t happen. Nobody’s gonna believe that. It’s a stupid script; too unbelievable.’ And he does this frequently, which is like there’s no chance something like this happens. He continues to defy the odds in every way.”
Ohtani went 6-for-6 with three home runs, two doubles, a single, four runs scored, two stolen bases, 10 RBIs, and 17 total bases. He was a triple shy of the cycle and he got thrown out trying to stretch one of his two doubles into a three-bagger. On top of that, he became the first player in MLB history with three home runs and two stolen bases in a single game, as well as becoming the first player in history to record 10 RBIs and 5 XBHs in a single game.
As Ohtani keeps rewriting the record books, his legend only grows. For Joe Davis, it was a chance to be the voice of yet another unforgettable moment in baseball history. From regretting a missed call to nailing one of the biggest milestones ever, Davis didn’t just get his redemption—he became part of something iconic.
In the end, maybe he didn’t need that redo after all.
