Jacques Doucet, the ‘Voice of the Expos’ for 33 seasons, dies at 86

On Oct. 3, 2004, Marc Griffin, an analyst on Montreal Expos radio broadcasts, ended the final report in the baseball club’s history with the words: “Let me remind you of the final score: 1969-2004.”

Griffin’s longtime broadcast partner and mentor Jacques Doucet, known as the “Voice of the Expos” after calling the team’s games for 33 seasons, died Thursday evening at the age of 86.

His daughter Martine confirmed his death on social media Friday. The cause was not disclosed, but Doucet revealed in 2024 that he had Alzheimer’s disease.

“He was certainly a giant, and his loss is immense,” Griffin said in an interview with The Canadian Press on Friday. “His voice was part of our lives for generations. He’s the one who made me fall in love with baseball.”

“His honesty, his frankness, the way he described things (…) He was in everyone’s living room, so when people ran into him on the street, they felt like he was their buddy. He talked to them every night about what was happening with the Expos. There was a unique bond.”

Tributes poured for a broadcaster whose voice became synonymous with baseball for generations of francophone fans in Quebec.

“My teacher and mentor left us today,” broadcaster Denis Casavant, who worked alongside Doucet at CKAC and TVA Sports, wrote on X. “Thank you, Jacques, for your generosity and kindness, and especially for the influence you had on my career as a play-by-play announcer. My condolences to his partner Corrie and the entire family.”

RDS baseball broadcaster Alain Usereau said the entire baseball community was mourning Doucet’s death.

“Anyone who has called baseball in Quebec was influenced in one way or another by Jacques,” Usereau wrote on Facebook. “His was the most-listened-to voice of the summer during the Expos years. Thank you for all those wonderful moments he brought us.”

Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette also paid tribute, saying the province had lost “a voice that left its mark on generations of baseball fans.”

“His legacy will remain very much alive in our memories and in our sporting culture,” she wrote on X.

Born March 8, 1940, in Montreal, Doucet began his career as a sports journalist with The Canadian Press in 1959 and later covered the Expos for Montreal newspaper La Presse when the expansion franchise began playing in 1969.

He initially called about one game a week before becoming the team’s full-time French-language radio play-by-play announcer in 1972, a role he held until the franchise left Montreal after the 2004 season and became the Washington Nationals.

Doucet acknowledged in a 2020 interview with The Canadian Press that he initially wasn’t sure broadcasting was for him.