Dodgers television voice Joe Davis’ third World Series call for FOX pits arguably baseball’s most historic franchises. He fields some questions from The Post’s Steve Serby.
Q: How do you deal with the pressure knowing that all over the world, so many eyeballs will be on you given that it’s Yankees versus Dodgers?
A: I try to be myself, that’s the first thing. I’ve always been somebody who’s tried to nail the basics, and then get out of the way. I think that I’ll do what I’ve always done, and then just get out of the way and not pay a ton of attention to the outside noise. ’Cause I know that it comes with the territory that people are gonna have strong opinions and these are when the games are the most heated and people’s emotions are the most heightened. I totally get that that’s part of the gig, so being myself and then doing as best I can just kind of wall off any outside noise and not let that affect me.
Q: What is your mindset heading into your third World Series after learning what you’ve learned from the first two?
A: I think that what I found in my first one was that when I got to the World Series, it was as special as I had dreamt it would be. But it wasn’t overwhelming because it was the next big game in a month full of them with the same partner and the same crew that I had been with all month.
Q: Your partner, John Smoltz?
A: Man, he’s brilliant, he’s brilliant. I learn something from him every time that I work with him. Part of the reason baseball’s a beautiful game is because there’s always another layer that you can pull back. You can go to the park every day, I think, for your whole life and learn something each time you go. And each time I work with him, I feel like it’s a chance to do that, in the way that he peels back the layers on the hitter-pitcher matchups… As a broadcasting nerd, I think that he has a big-game sound, and I know that I appreciate that about him, too.
Q: Ohtani versus Judge?
A: Oh, it’s so good! I’ve told a couple of people you could put the Dodgers and the Yankees on the field, just put those uniforms on the field, and it’s going to be special. But then you consider who’s in those uniforms — like these superhero-type players. It’s, like, too good to be true, this whole thing. These guys finally get to the biggest stage, they do it at the same time, the two biggest stars in the game, and the two biggest franchises in the game — it’s spectacular.
Q: What amazes you most about Ohtani?
A: I think that when you consider all that was working against him this year, all that was making it difficult to do what he did — first year with a new team, everything that comes with being a human in a new situation, the pressure that comes with the contract, the off-field distractions that he had to go through — his interpreter and his best friend, having his trust violated by him — and still able to perform like this. Not to still be good, but to find a way to still be extraordinary. Knowing from afar how amazing the talent is. I think the appreciation I’ve gained this year watching him every day, you just can’t faze the guy. He’s had so many different things thrown at him, and he’s still managed to be Shohei Ohtani and even take it to another level.
Q: What amazes you about Juan Soto?
A: First of all, he’s great TV, always has been. I watch him and I smile. As soon as he steps in the batter’s box, he makes me smile. He’s just such a complete hitter. The perfect package of patience, and power, and the ability to make contact and the ability to hit for average. I think you roll all the things in with his youth — he’s gonna turn 26 years old the night of Game 1, you roll all those things together and this is as good of a young hitter as the game has ever seen.
Q: And what amazes you most about Judge?
A: That’s another guy where it’s like it’s so much more than the home runs, and he would tell you that his favorite stat isn’t 58 home runs, it’s the .322 average. And the way that he’s continued to refine his game where it’s not just the home runs, he’s cut down on his strikeouts every year, he hits for average … when you look at particular pitch sites that used to give him a hard time, he’s addressed those one by one. Just the all-around nature of his game, in addition to the superhero-like figure that he is, the Paul Bunyan-like figure that he is, as imposing as he is when he’s in the batter’s box.
Q: Who can be ‘X’ factors?
A: It’s weird to say Judge, but the Yankees have gotten here without him being himself. I can’t envision him not having his moment here at some point.
Q: For the Dodgers?
A: I’ll give you two guys who have been huge parts of the offense all year, didn’t hit in the championship series — Teoscar Hernandez and Will Smith. Both those guys had pretty good performances in the last game of the championship series, but had been automatic outs prior to that.
Q: Mr. October candidates?
A: It’s gotta be Tommy Edman at this point. Tommy Tanks, as they call him around here. . .Kiké Hernandez, somebody who always seems to rise to the occasion. And on the Yankee side, Giancarlo Stanton. How many times do you see guys sorta rewrite their legacy and rewrite their story just in what they do in this one month, and he’s making a case to do that. And now he’s got the whole story of coming home to Los Angeles and the park where he grew up coming to games and has always hit well since coming to the big leagues. That script has rolled out there beautifully for him to keep doing what he’s been doing.
Q: How about Mookie Betts?
A: You can call him an ‘X’ factor too because teams don’t give Ohtani a ton good to hit, so a lot of things tend to find a way to Mookie Betts’ plate, and lately he’s been coming through and that’s put teams in a hard spot.
Q: How intimidating can Yankee Stadium be in October?
A: Very. I hear from the people who experienced both Yankee Stadium and say this one is nothing like the old Yankee Stadium, but to me, the place still just feels so big-time. And I think the Dodgers saw that in June when they went there for the regular-season series. It felt like a postseason series dropped right into the middle of the summer. I think it can be hugely intimidating. It might not feel “fans right on top of you and you can feel the history in the walls” like you could at the old place, but I really do think that there’s still something about it that is special.
Q: Why are the Dodgers in the World Series?
A: I think everybody figured they would be, but it’s with a different cast of characters I think than anybody thought or could have envisioned that it would have been. When you look at it from ‘why are they in the World Series from where they were at the end of the regular season?’ it’s because they’ve outhit their starting rotation problems, the offense has delivered like you had dreamed it would, and the bullpen has been as shutdown as it had to be to help overcome the rotation.
Q: Why are the Yankees in the World Series?
A: They don’t get enough credit for how complete they are. Especially when you look across baseball, so many teams dealing with issues with pitcher injuries and with a lack of depth in the starting rotation, the Yankees having four legitimate starters in this Series. I don’t know if that’s talked about enough just relative to the rest of the league. Obviously, you’ve got the lineup with the superstars and that doing their thing, and then the way that they were able to reshape that bullpen on the fly makes them, to me, just a really well-rounded team.
Q: How would you compare this Dodgers team to the 2020 world champions?
A: I think that what sets this year’s team apart… it’s harder to compare to 2020 because of the uniqueness of that (pandemic) season, but what I can tell you about this team, what sets it apart from the last few years, I think, is how battle-tested they are, where those last few years, they won the division by 20-some games, they didn’t play a meaningful game over the month of September and then had to find a way to turn it on once they got to October, and couldn’t. This year’s different. They get all these injuries thrown at them, they have the Padres pushing them to the limit all season, and so when they get into the postseason, this is a group that had been hardened by all that. And I think you saw that when they fell behind in the division series against the Padres, I think you saw it when they had to play an extra game against the Mets after it was like, “Oh boy, here we go again.” And they seem to kinda be calloused where those teams in recent years, I think the path was so smooth during the regular season that once they got hot in the postseason, they didn’t have that ability to bounce back like they do now.
Q: The rotation and the bullpen?
A: I think the rotation has been better than people envisioned that it would be, but it’s VERY unpredictable. They’ve had games where it’s looked way better than anybody thought, but overall it’s been the bullpen that has made up for it. The bullpen’s covered more innings than any other in baseball this postseason and really for a lot of the regular season. The question will be, can they sustain that for another seven games? You get to this time of year and you wonder how much is left in anybody’s tank.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:
- Yankees’ season ends in heartbreak as they choke away Game 5 of World Series
- Aaron Judge’s crucial mistake erased breakout World Series moment
- Yankees’ Austin Wells hit with catcher’s interference call in brutal World Series moment
- Juan Soto’s season ends with million-dollar questions with Yankees future now murky
Q: Freddie Freeman’s health?
A: Sounds like he’s gonna be good to go. You know he’s hurting when he’s not in there — two games missed in the previous two years. He’s hopeful that these few days off here fill the tank up enough where he’s gonna be good to go for the World Series.
Q: Would Tommy Lasorda like this Dodgers team?
A: (Laugh) I think so. I think he would like the fight of this group.
Q: What are Dave Roberts’ strengths as a manager?
A: I think the communication. He’s somebody who the players love to play for. He talks to every guy every day, that’s not an exaggeration, that’s a goal of his to get around and talk to every guy in his roster every single day. And I think before this October, people would argue that he hasn’t been a great manager in postseason games, but it would be hard to argue anything other than he’s been fantastic and put on a master class the way he managed the pitching in the championship series. There’s a reason the guy’s won more games at a higher rate than any manager in baseball history. I think the strengths are many.
Q: Dodgers fans’ biggest concern about the Yankees.
A: I would think that it’s slowing down the big sluggers in that lineup, the 2 through 4 with Soto, Judge and Stanton. I just think that there’s no more imposing of a stretch in any order in baseball.
Q: The keys to this Series?
A: The Yankees have the four legitimate starters, but they are still really aggressive with the way they roll the bullpen out there. So I think that it comes down to the bullpens. Can the Dodger pen keep covering up for the rotation? I think Dave Roberts is gonna continue to be aggressive with the starters, get what he can out of them, and then hope that the bullpen can lock it down. And Aaron Boone has done just a marvelous job of overhauling that bullpen. Look at the guys that they finished off the championship series with.
Q: Following Vin Scully and Joe Buck?
A: Those names, for me, are a huge part of what makes my job special. Every day I get to do a Dodger game. It’s a responsibility to be the guy that followed Vin in that chair, the greatest ever to do the job. And Joe’s the guy that I grew up admiring, and has become a mentor and a friend to me.
Q: What made Scully the greatest?
A: His ability to tell stories, I think. I’ve said before, I think he’s the greatest storyteller of my lifetime and our lifetimes — in any job. You could argue that he’s the greatest storyteller just period. I think his ability to weave those stories in, and then the way he captured big moments. Anybody can call a big moment, but to really caption and capture it, that’s something that he did as well as anybody that’s ever done the job.
Q: Do you think the Series will go 7 games?
A: I would love if it did. I think that the baseball world would love if it did. I don’t know if Yankees fans’ and Dodgers fans’ nerves would prefer it to go 7, but I think it would be a fitting thing for this Series that baseball’s waited so long for and has SO many rich storylines to it. I think that it would only be fitting if we got the maximum out of it.
Favorite Movie? Wedding Crashers
Favorite Actor? Denzel Washington
Favorite Entertainer? Nate Bargatze
Favorite Meal? Way too much food at an Italian restaurant. If they don’t look at you like you’re crazy, you haven’t ordered enough.
