Jacques Doucet (sportscaster)

Jacques Doucet
Doucet in 2018
Born(1940-03-08)March 8, 1940
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
DiedAugust 27, 2026(2026-08-27) (aged 86)
Years active1972–2022
AwardsMontreal Expos Hall of Fame
Sports commentary career
Teams
GenrePlay-by-play
SportBaseball
Employer
Baseball career
Member of the Canadian
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction2020

Jacques Doucet (March 8, 1940 – August 27, 2026) was a Canadian French-language baseball play-by-play sportscaster. He broadcast Montreal Expos games for every year of the team's existence, from 1969 to 2004. After commenting on the Québec Capitales from 2006 to 2010, he became the French play-by-play voice of the Toronto Blue Jays on TVA Sports from 2011 until his retirement in 2022.

Early life and career

Doucet was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on March 8, 1940.[1] He began his career in 1959 as a translator for the Canadian Press news agency.[1] After one year in 1960–1961 as a sports journalist for the short-lived Nouveau Journal daily, he went to La Presse in 1962, still as a sports journalist, where he remained until early 1972.[1]

Sports broadcasting

During a long strike in 1964 at La Presse, Doucet had a brief first experience in sports broadcasting for Montreal Alouettes football games.

Doucet got the assignment as the Montreal Expos beat writer for La Presse as soon as the franchise was awarded to Montreal in 1968,[2] in addition to being the official scorer for games at Jarry Park.

Sometime in the middle of the Expos' first season in 1969, Doucet was asked to occasionally replace Jean-Pierre Roy as colour commentator[1] on the now-defunct CKLM 1570, which held the French radio broadcast rights, as Roy moved to TV broadcasts once a week.

Play-by-play

In 1972, as CKAC 730 became the Expos' new French radio flagship, Doucet was hired by the (now-defunct) Télémédia network to do play-by-play for all Montreal Expos games,[1] in addition to the All-Star game, League Championship Series, and World Series games and a selection of pre-season Expos games.

When Télémédia merged with Radiomutuel on September 30, 1994, creating the new Radiomédia network, Doucet became an Expos employee and continued to do play-by-play but only for Montreal Expos games, which continued to be aired mostly on CKAC 730 until the end of 2003. He was heard for a few games on CKVL 850 (now CINF 690) in 1995, and on CJMS 1040 in 2002 and 2003. CHMP-FM 98.5 took over as the French radio flagship in 2004 for the last season of the Expos in Montreal.

Over his career, Doucet described more than 5,000 Major League Baseball games,[3] including two perfect games, the first by Dennis Martínez in 1991 against the Los Angeles Dodgers and the second by New York Yankees pitcher David Cone against the Expos in 1999.

Later career

In March 2005, Doucet became the official spokesperson for Encore Baseball Montréal, an organization initially created to keep the Expos in Montreal and which is now focused on promoting baseball in Quebec.[4]

In June 2005, Doucet's efforts to create a French-language version of standard baseball terminology were underlined at length in a front-page story by the Wall Street Journal.[5]

Return to commentating

From 2006 to 2011, Doucet was the play-by-play voice for the home games of the Quebec Capitales.[6][7] The Capitales played in the Can-Am League, an eight-team independent baseball league, during Doucet's term there, and their games are heard on CHRC 800 in Quebec City.

In August 2011, Doucet was hired by TVA Sports, a new sports television channel which went on the air a month later, as the play-by-play voice of the Toronto Blue Jays.[3] He retired after the end of the 2022 season.[8]

Death

Doucet died on 27 August 2026, at the age of 86.[9]

Books

In collaboration with Marc Robitaille, Doucet has published a two-volume history of the Montreal Expos titled Il était une fois les Expos. The first volume was published in 2009[10] and the second volume was published in 2011.[11]

Doucet previously published, in collaboration with Claude Raymond, a book titled Les secrets du baseball in 1980.

Awards

Doucet was inducted into the Quebec Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002,[1][12], the Montreal Expos Hall of Fame in 2003[12] and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004.[12]

While fans had hoped for many years Doucet would be recognized by the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame via the Ford C. Frick Award,[13] this has as yet not occurred (although he has been a finalist five times, including in 2011).[6][14] Doucet has been described as "the French-Canadian equivalent of Jaime Jarrín"[13] and even as "Canada's Vin Scully",[13] however it has been noted "because he broadcast games in French, few of the people who cast final votes for admission to Cooperstown have heard Doucet work",[15] where the language barrier might keep Doucet out of Cooperstown;[15] at least one observer has suggested Doucet has failed to win the Award because he is not an American.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Les intronisés Jacques Doucet (Bâtisseur)" [Inductees Jacques Doucet (Builder)]. Réseau des sports (in French). Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2026.
  2. ↑ Myles, Stephanie (30 May 2007). "Former voice of Expos finds new calling". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. p. C4. Retrieved 16 November 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 Gendron-Martin, Raphaël (18 August 2011). "Doucet et Brulotte de nouveau réunis" [Doucet and Brulotte reunited]. Le Journal de Québec (in French). Retrieved 28 August 2026.
  4. ↑ Filion, Maryse (21 March 2005). "Jacques Doucet becomes the official spokesman for Encore Baseball Montreal" (Press release). Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Encore Baseball Montréal. Archived from the original on 20 April 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2026.
  5. ↑ Chipello, Christopher J. (3 June 2005). "Expos' move marks end of baseball era in French". The Wall Street Journal. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Archived from the original on 28 August 2026. Retrieved 28 August 2026 – via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  6. 1 2 Lachance, Gabrielle (4 September 2011). "Jacques Doucet parmi les grands du baseball" [Jacques Doucet among baseball's greats]. Rive-Sud Express (in French). Archived from the original on 2 December 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2026.
  7. ↑ "Merci Jacques!". Capitales de Québec. 9 September 2011. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2026.
  8. ↑ "Howarth, Doucet named finalists for Ford C. Frick Award". The Sports Network. 5 October 2022. Archived from the original on 28 August 2026. Retrieved 28 August 2026.
  9. ↑ Rouleau, François-David (28 August 2026). "Jacques Doucet (1940-2026): la voix des Expos n'est plus" [Jacques Doucet (1940–2026): the voice of the Expos has died]. Le Journal de Québec (in French). Retrieved 28 August 2026.
  10. ↑ Myles, Stephanie (6 December 2009). "Nos Amours finally get their due". The Gazette. p. B23. Retrieved 28 August 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Rioux, Benoît (8 November 2011). "L'histoire des Expos: suite et fin" [The Expos' history: later years and conclusion]. TVA Sports (in French). Retrieved 28 August 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 "Jacques Doucet wins Graney Award" (Press release). St. Mary's, Ontario, Canada: Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. 16 June 2004. Archived from the original on 28 August 2026. Retrieved 28 August 2026 – via Canadian Baseball News.
  13. 1 2 3 Schwarz, Alan (19 June 2010). "Voice of Expos Is Still Heard in Quebec, in French". The New York Times. Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. ISSN 1553-8095. Retrieved 28 August 2026.
  14. ↑ Frisaro, Joe (5 October 2011). "Ford C. Frick Award finalists announced. Winner will be unveiled on Dec. 6 at Winter Meetings". Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2026.
  15. 1 2 Perreaux, Les (28 June 2007). "Monsieur Baseball finds minor league home". The Globe and Mail. Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Archived from the original on 28 August 2026. Retrieved 28 August 2026.
  16. ↑ Trudel, Pierre (5 April 2004). "Si vous n'aimez pas le hockey, fuyez ce pays d'ici mercredi" [If you don't like hockey, avoid this country between now and Wednesday]. La Presse (in French). p. S8. Retrieved 28 August 2026 – via Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.
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