Jacques Doucet: A Pioneer of French Baseball Broadcasting

Jacques Doucet, renowned as the French-language radio voice of the Montreal Expos, passed away on Thursday evening, as announced by his family. He was 86 years old. Doucet had disclosed in 2024 that he was battling Alzheimer’s disease.

Doucet’s journey began in Montreal, where he was born on March 8, 1940. His journalism career started with the Canadian Press before he transitioned to sports reporting. When Montreal was awarded a Major League Baseball franchise in 1968, La Presse chose Doucet to cover the new team, the Expos. He also took on the role of an official scorer at Jarry Park during the team’s inaugural season in 1969, making occasional radio appearances for Expos’ French broadcasts.

In 1972, Doucet’s role evolved into a full-time position as the team’s French-language play-by-play announcer. He remained in that role for 33 seasons, covering over 5,500 major league games until the Expos’ final game in Montreal in 2004. His coverage included postseason and World Series games in French.

He significantly contributed to developing baseball terminology in French, which was pivotal for Quebec fans since much of the sport’s vocabulary originally came from English.

After the Expos relocated to Washington after the 2004 season, Doucet continued his broadcast career. He worked with the Quebec Capitales from 2006 to 2011 and later joined TVA Sports to call Toronto Blue Jays games in French.

Throughout his illustrious career, Doucet received numerous honors. He was inducted into the Quebec Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Montreal Expos Hall of Fame in 2003. He received the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s Jack Graney Award in 2004 and was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020.

Doucet’s passing comes five months after the death of Rodger Brulotte, his long-time broadcast partner. Together, they were central figures in French-language baseball broadcasting for generations of Quebec fans.

The Toronto Blue Jays paid tribute to Doucet, acknowledging his legacy, “We join the MLB community and our colleagues at TVA Sports in extending our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Jacques Doucet. The ‘Voice of Baseball’ in Quebec and a Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer — his impact on the game and the Montreal Expos will be remembered forever.”

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