Categories: Phillies Nuggets with Tim Kelly

Back at Citizens Bank Park, FOX’s Joe Davis reflects on postseason of his life in 2022

PHILADELPHIA, PA – OCTOBER 14: Philadelphia Phillies Designated Hitter Bryce Harper (3) reacts to hitting a home run during the third inning of Game 3 of the NLDS between the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies on October 14, 2022, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA. (Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire)

“Fastball, hit to left — it is long gone!”

“Rhys Hoskins, owning October!”

“Bryce Harper, the swing of his life!”

“Lightning strikes, 2-0, Phils!”

If you followed the Philadelphia Phillies 2022 run to the World Series, those calls are likely forever etched in your mind. They were delivered by Joe Davis, who succeeded Joe Buck as the No. 1 MLB play-by-player at FOX during 2022.

That was just enough time for Davis’ voice to become forever intertwined with some of the greatest moments in Phillies history, something he reflected on before calling Saturday’s St. Louis Cardinals-Phillies game for FOX.

“That’s so cool to hear,” Davis told Phillies Nation. “It was special for me because it was my first World Series, and extra special because of what it was like here. And I don’t just say that to pander. For the Division Series here, it was the best environment that I had been in. And it only got better from there.

“So yeah, no matter how long I do this — hopefully I get to do this job for a really long time — it’ll be hard to beat that first one here,” Davis added.

Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez called the Phillies’ NLWCS sweep over the Cardinals in 2022 on ESPN, but Davis and John Smoltz were on the call for Phillies games in the NLDS, NLCS and World Series that year.

Obviously, Davis’ aforementioned call of Harper’s Game 5 NLCS home run against the San Diego Padres that sent the Phillies to the World Series is the most notable call from that playoff run. But it was hardly the only memorable moment that he feels fortunate enough to have called during the 2022 postseason at Citizens Bank Park.

“The Division Series homer from Rhys Hoskins where he had the bat slam,” Davis said when asked about some of the moments that stand out to him outside of Harper’s home run. “I mean, just every single game it was such an incredible environment in here. I guess not a good one for Phillies fans, but the combined no-hitter here was a tremendous historical moment. Yeah, a lot of good memories here.”

Less than a month after Davis called Harper’s “swing of his life,” he used the phrase “catch of his life” to describe a fourth-and-18 reception by Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson in Buffalo. As you can imagine, social media noticed.

“Yeah, I actually felt badly about it. I did,” Davis admitted. “And it was not like an intentional thing like ‘I’m gonna use the Harper call on this.’ It’s just a crappy job of coming up with something.”

In Davis’ defense, Jefferson is a receiver on a Hall of Fame trajectory, and there’s a very real chance that if the wideout is eventually inducted at Canton, the “catch of his life” will be the first play shown on his highlight reel.

“It was amazing, but I wish that I had given it something unique,” Davis said of Jefferson’s catch. “But hopefully by no means does it detract from my favorite of the two, which is the original, the Harper call.”

So is the phrase “of his life” now retired by Davis?

“It’s gotta be, I think,” Davis said with a smile. “I think so. Two and done.”

A year ago, Davis and Smoltz did the American League playoffs. The Phillies were on TBS for the NLDS and NLCS, with Brian Anderson doing play-by-play. But Davis and Smoltz do the NL every other year, which means if the Phillies make another deep playoff run in 2024, the 36-year-old announcer will have the opportunity to make more calls of legendary Phillies moments.

Davis is the TV voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who will have something to say about that. But don’t think it hasn’t crossed his mind that he could be back at Citizens Bank Park quite a bit this Fall.

“I was just talking to Frankie ‘Two Scoops’ about it,” Davis said. “We want the Phillies in the playoffs because it’s so great coming here, but I don’t know if it’s going to be good for my diet with all that ice cream.

“But yeah, we’ll have the National League and the way it looks like it’s going, that may be here.”