Lansing area native Joe Davis travels as Major League Baseball, Dodgers and NFL sportscaster

I caught up with television sportscaster Joe Davis, the 36-year-old Potterville prodigy who calls 90 Dodgers baseball games each season, plus Fox Network national Major League Baseball and NFL games. As he picked through a salad at Dodger Stadium before a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he told me he has loved traveling to, by now, every professional ballpark and football stadium – sometimes three in one weekend.

“During the football and baseball overlap in September, I will call Thursday night Fox games, Sunday NFL games, and the Dodgers in between, so it gets a little hairy. But I remind myself I would have killed for this deal when I was a kid. It still feels like a dream, I swear. I just told my wife the other day that I cannot believe how lucky we are,” the dark-haired Davis insisted.

That “kid,” who admits he annoyed his teammates and coaches by “calling” the action of his high school scrimmage games from his shortstop position during practices, travels back to Potterville to see his parents as often as he can.

His 31-year-old brother, documentary filmmaker Sam Davis, who also lives in L.A., won an Academy Award, in 2019. “But if we sat around slamming Oscars and Emmys onto the holiday table, our parents would kick us out. They would never let us become ‘those people.’”

Due to Joe’s role calling this summer’s All-Star Game, he was not be able to come to Detroit in mid-July to call the Dodgers vs. Tigers series, a singular assignment he experienced only in 2017 shortly after succeeding the legendary, longtime broadcaster Vin Scully.

Davis, when he was in sixth-grade, happened to get a photo with MSU star Magic Johnson at the Final Four – a photo he was sure to reveal to management when he found himself in the running for the Dodgers' broadcasting job.

“Look, here I am with maybe my future boss?” Davis suggested. After Johnson’s championship NBA career playing for the Lakers, his prodigious business portfolio includes co-ownership of the Dodgers.

“My Dad is a die-hard MSU and Tigers fan, so I also grew up knowing about Kirk Gibson. It’s amazing to know what a warrior he was as a player for the Tigers and Dodgers and to now experience what an impressive, gentle, respectful man he is.”

Adjusting to life in L.A. meant choosing a home in the pocket of town that most suited his family: South Pasadena.

“It feels like home, like the Midwest, with the tree-lined streets and sidewalks. The beauty of L.A. is you can find whatever little distinct pocket you are looking for, and a lot of times it is going to be next door to what you’re not looking for.”

Davis offered tips for other business travelers. “Maintain healthy habits. Prioritize your sleep. Make sure you get a workout in. Eat right. Travel is taxing, so build your body up. Traveling for pleasure will feel better then, too.”

Davis, when he gets off the road, still makes family vacations a priority.

“The best way to spend money is to invest in experiences with family. In California, we have come to love Ojai and Napa, since we like to learn about wine.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts owns a label called Red Stitch, in homage to the threads of a baseball. “We did Cabo this winter for the first time and we found it family-friendly. And we are going to take the scenic train ride down the coast to San Diego, stay in a nice hotel for one night, and come back. The train will be the attraction for the kids.”

Ironically, when I mentioned Lansing to the sweet, smiling, yellow-shorted greeter who guards Dodger Stadium’s Vin Scully Press Box, where Davis works, she vividly recalled taking a vacation there 40 years ago!

“I met a man from Lansing and his family when I was on vacation with my mother in Hawaii. We stayed in touch and the guy invited me to come visit him,” said Stacy Richardson. “My mother wanted me to see more of the world so she encouraged me to go.

’When are you ever going to get invited to Lansing, Michigan again?’ she asked me.”

Richardson’s mother even took her shopping to be sure she had nice clothes for the trip. “This ‘L.A. Girl’ got off the plane in all white: Guess overalls, a t-shirt and tennis shoes…but I saw lots of plaid, flannel shirts,” Richardson laughed. “The guy took me to see saxophonist David Sanborn perform at an outdoor venue and it was amazing, but Lansing was otherwise quiet with the MSU students away on summer break, so he got anxious about finding ways to entertain me.”

Her host told Richardson he had a radio disc jockey friend in Chicago.

“How far is Chicago from here?” she asked.

When he told her it was a four-hour drive, she immediately asked, “Then what are we still doing here?!”

And the travel adventures continued.

Contact Michael Patrick Shiels at MShiels@aol.com His new book: Travel Tattler – Not So Torrid Tales, may be purchased via Amazon.com