Rodger\u00a0Brulotte, a beloved voice of baseball in Quebec, has died. He was 79.<\/p>\n
Known for his signature home-run call \u201cBonsoir, elle est partie!\u201d \u2014 which translates to \u201cGood evening, it\u2019s gone!\u201d \u2014 Brulotte was a renowned broadcaster and columnist who could still be heard calling MLB games in French last summer on TVA Sports.<\/p>\n
The Montreal-born Brulotte underwent surgery last September to remove a cancerous tumour from his back, but the disease returned in recent months.<\/p>\n
He began working for the Montreal Expos as a scout in 1969 and later helped create the mascot \u201cYouppi!\u201d as a member of the club\u2019s public relations and marketing staff.<\/p>\n
The charismatic Brulotte went on to enjoy a long media career in radio and television, calling Expos and MLB games on CKAC \u2014 alongside legendary play-by-play announcer Jacques Doucet \u2014 as well as RDS and TVA Sports. He also wrote columns for the Journal de Montr\u00e9al over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cRodger\u2019s authenticity and kindness made him a beloved figure in the hearts of Quebecers,\u201d said Qu\u00e9becor president and CEO Pierre Karl P\u00e9ladeau in a statement. \u201cHe brought passion to his work and a rare ability to connect with people.\u00a0Rodger\u00a0helped shape the Journal de Montr\u00e9al\u2019s identity. He was \u2014 and always will be \u2014 one of its most iconic voices.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a privilege to be able to count on him during all these years \u2014 as a respected columnist for the Journal, a gifted broadcaster on TVA Sports, and above all a friend. On behalf of everyone at Quebecor, I extend our deepest sympathies to his wife Pascale Vall\u00e9e and to all his loved ones and colleagues. He will be profoundly missed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brulotte joined TVA Sports\u2019 Toronto Blue Jays broadcasts in 2011. He famously shouted \u201cVladimir! Vladimir! Bonsoir!\u201d when then-rising star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. \u2014 whose father starred for the Expos \u2014 hit a walk-off home run in an exhibition game at Montreal\u2019s Olympic Stadium in 2018.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe join the MLB community and our colleagues at @TVASports in extending our sincere condolences to the family and friends of\u00a0Rodger\u00a0Brulotte,\u201d the Blue Jays wrote on social media. \u201cRodger\u2019s impact on the sport and the Montreal Expos will be remembered forever. He will be missed dearly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tributes poured in from across Quebec and the baseball community.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy condolences to the family of\u00a0Rodger\u00a0Brulotte,\u201d wrote Hall of Fame Expos left-fielder Tim Raines on X.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a wonderful man! And what a joy it was to listen to baseball games with him,\u201d wrote Quebec Premier Fran\u00e7ois Legault. \u201cI already miss those \u201cBonsoir, elle est partie!\u201d \u2014 a line that will remain etched in our collective memory.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Montreal Canadiens, who adopted \u201cYouppi!\u201d as their mascot after the Expos moved to Washington in 2004, called Brulotte a \u201clarger-than-life character.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRodger\u00a0left a lasting impression on sports fans across Quebec, being at the heart of many memorable moments. His infamous \u2018Bonsoir, elle est partie\u2019 will remain etched in the collective memory for many years to come,\u201d the NHL team said. \u201cWith a career in the sports world spanning more than 55 years,\u00a0Rodger\u00a0was able to touch the hearts of many generations with his authenticity behind the microphone.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to his work in the media, Brulotte was also at the heart of efforts to bring the Expos back to Montreal, working alongside former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy friend has left us. One of Quebec\u2019s greatest voices.\u00a0Rodger\u00a0Brulotte embodied \u2018nos Z\u2019amours.\u2019 Montreal, all of Quebec, is in mourning. He was an inspiration to me, an unwavering ally in both good times and bad,\u201d Coderre wrote on his Facebook page. \u201cThe least we can do is lower all flags to half-mast. My dear\u00a0Rodger, I tip my hat to you for everything you accomplished. My thoughts and prayers are with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brulotte also served as president of the Ligue de baseball junior \u00e9lite du Qu\u00e9bec for more than 10 years and was inducted into the Quebec Baseball Hall of Fame as a journalist in 2014.<\/p>\n
In 2024, he received the Jacques-Beauchamp Tribute Award from Sports Qu\u00e9bec as a builder.<\/p>\n
\u201cRodger\u00a0had a huge heart, and he used it to serve others without hesitation,\u201d said Baseball Qu\u00e9bec executive director Maxime Lamarche. \u201cHis generosity touched generations of players, coaches and volunteers. We will remember him as a unifying and deeply human individual.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rodger\u00a0Brulotte, a beloved voice of baseball in Quebec, has died. He was 79. Known for his signature home-run…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551883,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-551882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}