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Jacques Doucet, former voice of the Montreal Expos, died at the age of 86, his family announced Friday.
He was the team’s commentator starting in 1969, during its first season in Major League Baseball (MLB).
After providing commentary for about one game a week, Doucet, who covered the team’s activities for La Presse, made the leap to full-time commentary in 1972 until the club moved to Washington in 2004.
He was not sure he would like the job, a concern he had shared with then-president, John McHale, who had hired him.
But his worries quickly dissipated, because as soon as he went on the air, he became inseparable from the Montreal baseball team. He voiced more than 5,500 games during his career, including Dennis Martinez’s perfect game on July 28, 1991, as well as several playoff and World Series games.
Just when he thought his career behind the microphone was over, he received a surprise call from the Québec Capitales of the Can-Am League, who invited him to become their commentator — a position he held from 2006 to 2011.
He then accepted an offer from TVA Sports, where he provided commentary on Toronto Blue Jays games and MLB playoffs until September 2022. He commentated on his final games alongside his former colleagues Rodger Brulotte and Denis Casavant.
Jacques Doucet was inducted into the Quebec Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002 and into the Expos Hall of Fame a year later. In 2004, he received the Jack Graney Award, presented annually to a media professional who has made an outstanding contribution to Canadian baseball.
On February 4, 2020, he became the first Francophone who did not play baseball and who had never held a management position on a team to be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
