'Gibby, meet Freddie' revisited: Joe Davis on broadcasting and calling an epic World Series

Joe Davis isn’t sure if it will ever fully sink in that his voice, much like Vin Scully’s on Kirk Gibson’s iconic blast, will forever be the soundtrack to one of the biggest moments in World Series history.

Even seven months later, it still does not feel real.

“I’m still the kid from Potterville, Michigan, who dreamt of doing this,” the MLB on FOX broadcaster said earlier this week.

But the more time that passes, the more Davis recognizes the magnitude of what transpired in Los Angeles on the evening of Oct. 25, 2024, when Freddie Freeman — 36 years after Gibson made the impossible happen — wrote a new chapter in Dodgers lore with his Game 1 walk-off grand slam.

When people see Davis now, Freeman’s hit and his call — “Gibby, meet Freddie” — are what they want to talk about.

The same way that Freeman grew up dreaming of coming through in a moment like that, Davis grew up dreaming of narrating it.

“The more distance I get from it, the greater appreciation I have for where the moment — and forget what I said or the call or anything — just where the moment stands in baseball history,” Davis said. “It was impossible to fully appreciate that in the immediate aftermath, but the more distance I get from it, the more mind-blowing it is that I got to be in the chair for that moment. I’m, more and more, appreciating what that moment was.”

With the Dodgers and Yankees reuniting this weekend for the first time since the Fall Classic, and with FOX Sports celebrating its 30th season of MLB coverage this year, Davis discussed the call, the aftermath, Gibson’s reaction, how he critiques and learns from his broadcasts, why a picture in his office reminds him that every night could be the one people talk about forever and much more.

(Note: Some questions and answers may be edited for brevity and clarity.)

Has it hit you yet that the same way we associate Vin’s call on the Gibson homer, your voice and your call now will forever be linked to one of the biggest moments in World Series history?

JD:“I don’t know if it ever will. I swear, man. And I think that that’s a good thing. That’s kind of how I want it. I never want, and I talk to my kids about this all the time, too, let’s never take for granted how cool it is to have the things we have and to do the things we do. I think that’s a great example of that, where I can kind of practice what I preach to my kids. I’m still the kid from Potterville, Michigan, who dreamt of doing this.

“In the same way Freddie stepped into the box and might not have thought to himself, ‘This is the moment I’ve prepared my whole life for,’ but you ask him now, yeah, that’s the moment every baseball player dreams of having. I even said that right before he stepped in, on the broadcast, in the same way that that was the moment that he grew up dreaming of, as he stepped into the box, that’s the moment I grew up dreaming of, too. So I don’t lose that perspective. Because of that, it’s hard to really wrap my mind around logically where that moment stands and what it means to be tied to that moment. I don’t allow any of it to feel real. It’s too crazy, too preposterous, for me to really allow it to feel real, even with the distance that we have.”

Experience the excitement of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ unforgettable 2024 postseason journey. From their intense showdown with the San Diego Padres in the NLDS, to their clash with the New York Mets in the NLCS, and culminating in their epic World Series battle against the New York Yankees, the Dodgers’ run is etched in history as one of the most legendary in MLB playoff lore.