Joe Buck's voice has become as synonymous with the World Series as anyone's in recent years. He has called 23 World Series in his broadcasting career since Fox first carried the series in 1996 and consistently since 1998.
Fans will hear his partner of the past several years, John Smoltz, on the call when the Astros and Phillies face off in the 2022 World Series, but they won't hear Buck. The longtime Fox voice is now an employee of ESPN, meaning his days of calling the World Series are over.
Replacing the iconic broadcaster will be Joe Davis, the play-by-play announcer for the Dodgers, who is no stranger to taking over for prominent figures in the booth.
MORE: Why Joe Buck isn't calling World Series games for Fox
As Davis prepares for the biggest broadcasting duties of his career, there are probably a lot of questions viewers will have about his path to the Fall Classic. Here's all you need to know:
Who is Joe Davis?
Davis has carved his career in the broadcasting booth, but it could have begun on the gridiron. Davis attended Beloit College, a Division III school in Wisconsin, where he was quarterback of the football team.
However, Davis told The Sporting News' Ryan Fagan in 2019 that he arrived at the school hoping to be the starter right away, but was injured early and had to transition to wide receiver. When things didn't go well, he began to focus more on his broadcasting career. He spent three years as the voice of Beloit's spring sports, including baseball and basketball games for the school.
The summer before his final semester at Beloit, Davis was hired to be the voice of the Schaumburg Flyers, a baseball team in the independent Northern League, though the position was unpaid.
TSN 2022 MLB All-Stars: AL | NL
"I think it was probably illegal, what they had us do, not paying us a cent, having us do all the duties as a broadcaster and the media relations stuff, and we were selling and not making commission off our sales," Davis told TSN in 2019.
Davis had several jobs before he landed at Fox. Following his stint with the Flyers, he was hired to be the play-by-play voice of the Montgomery Biscuits, the Rays' Double-A affiliate, and he worked for the Baylor Independent Sports Properties Network.
"Definite culture shock for a kid who grew up in Michigan, you know?" Davis told TSN. "There’s a difference in cultures from North to South, but also the humidity. Just incredible humidity and heat. But it was a wonderful place for me to start my professional career, the Southern hospitality."
Davis continued his meteoric rise through the broadcasting ranks. He spent time working for the Comcast Sports Southeast and in July 2012, he joined ESPN, earning calls in a variety of sports, including work for MLB games on ESPN radio.
TSN 2022 MLB awards: Aaron Judge voted top player
In 2013, Davis made history as the youngest person ever (25) to call a bowl game for ESPN, when he was on the call for the Poinsettia Bowl between Utah State and Northern Illinois.
He moved to Fox Sports in 2014, calling a number of different sports, including MLB and NFL games, for both Fox and FS1.
Joe Davis replaces Vin Scully
One of the biggest steps in Davis' career came in 2015. Davis told TSN that in the fall of 2014, his agent told him the Dodgers were starting to look at who would replace Vin Scully when the Hall of Fame broadcaster retired, and that Davis was mentioned as a candidate.
"I was like, 'Oh, that's flattering,'" Davis told TSN. "I’m surprised they know who I am, but let me get my tape updated, and sure, let’s see what’s there."
Davis said he met with Dodgers CMO Lon Rosen and was told he was on a short list of candidates. He was later told in November 2015 he would be hired for the job with SportsNet LA, starting in 2016 with part-time duties, before taking over for Scully in 2017 as the full-time voice.
For me, it wasn't gonna be something where I didn’t take the job out of fear of failing, because I wasn't Vin. I wasn't gonna go about my life that way and look back in 10 years and say, "What if I hadn’t scared myself out of taking it?” So I went into it saying, “I don’t look at it as a pressure-packed thing where I’m doomed. I look at it as a wonderful responsibility, and what makes it so special is that I get to be the guy to follow him. I’m gonna be in myself and hopefully, over time — and I was realistic that it wasn't gonna happen right away — but hopefully, over time, people can learn to at least tolerate me. And I jumped in.
Is Joe Davis still announcing for the Dodgers?
Davis has taken on a larger role with Fox, stepping up to be the network's No. 2 NFL play-by-play voice behind Kevin Burkhardt, and he has called prominent MLB games as the full-time voice of MLB on Fox since Buck's departure.
But that hasn't changed his role in Los Angeles. He is still the voice of the Dodgers on SportsNet LA throughout the year.
