The Dodgers season just wrapped, and while the action on the field is what most folks remember, the broadcast booth definitely made some waves too. Seventeen of the team’s games were exclusively on national TV or streaming platforms like NBC, Fox, ESPN, and Apple TV this year. The team went 9-8 in those big-stage matchups, showing they could hang when the whole country was watching. But for the loyal fan base, it was the 145 games on SportsNet LA that really delivered the goods, and this season, those local broadcasts brought something truly special to the table.
The Local Grind and Joe Davis’s Iron Man Efforts
SportsNet LA, now in its thirteenth season of televising Dodgers games locally and its seventh year of wider availability across the Los Angeles area, carried the bulk of the broadcast load. Joe Davis, the voice we all know, was right there for 88 of those games. That’s consistent, man, he’s been hitting around 87 games annually since 2023, so you know he’s putting in the work. He even picked up an extra local game on July 19 at Yankee Stadium when a Fox-scheduled broadcast got rained out. That makeup game, a Sunday daytime affair, went to SportsNet LA with Davis and Orel Hershiser on the call, before NBC took over for the nightcap. Don’t forget, Davis is also pulling double duty, helming Fox’s No. 1 MLB team and their No. 2 NFL broadcast team. He called five regular season Dodgers games for Fox and even handled six of their eight postseason games, though he did miss Games 3 and 4 of the National League Division Series in Atlanta after losing his voice. Talk about dedication, right?
Bringing Back the Old School Magic
But what really stood out this season, according to Davis himself, was the in-game profiles of former Dodgers players. These deep dives gave fans a peek into the lives of sometimes obscure players, telling stories the audience might not have known. Picture this: on August 28, during a game against the Tigers in Detroit, Davis came back from a break to start the top of the sixth inning. While Tommy Edman was at the plate, Davis launched into the story of Goodwin “Goody” Rosen. This guy, from Canada, played center field for the Dodgers from 1937 to 1939, then disappeared from the big leagues for five years, grinding in the minors before World War II opened up roster spots. He came back in 1945 and absolutely raked, hitting .345 for the Dodgers! Even though he was in his mid-30s and played only one more season in the bigs, Goody kept balling, playing semi-pro and fast-pitch softball for the Canadian national team, living to 81. Davis wove that entire narrative into the first three pitches of the inning. It was pure old-school baseball storytelling, a real throwback that we just don’t hear enough of these days. Stephen Nelson was also a workhorse, doing play-by-play for 57 SportsNet LA games, 59 games on AM 570 radio, and even four more postseason radio games when the team was on the road. Plus, he called all three exhibition Freeway Series games back in March. Orel Hershiser was the analyst for 85 games, keeping things consistent in the booth.
So, while the final scores grab the headlines, the Dodgers broadcast team, led by Davis’s commitment and that awesome storytelling angle, really kept fans engaged all season long. It makes you wonder what historical gems they’ll dig up next year.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by True Blue LA.
Leave a Reply