Rodger Brulotte, a beloved voice of baseball in Quebec, has died. He was 79.
Recognized for his signature home-run name “Bonsoir, elle est partie!” — which interprets to “Good night, it’s gone!” — Brulotte was a famend broadcaster and columnist who might nonetheless be heard calling MLB video games in French final summer season on TVA Sports activities.
The Montreal-born Brulotte underwent surgical procedure final September to take away a cancerous tumour from his again, however the illness returned in current months.
He started working for the Montreal Expos as a scout in 1969 and later helped create the mascot “Youppi!” as a member of the membership’s public relations and advertising and marketing employees.
The charismatic Brulotte went on to take pleasure in a protracted media profession in radio and tv, calling Expos and MLB video games on CKAC — alongside legendary play-by-play announcer Jacques Doucet — in addition to RDS and TVA Sports activities. He additionally wrote columns for the Journal de Montréal through the years.
“Rodger’s authenticity and kindness made him a beloved determine within the hearts of Quebecers,” stated Québecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau in an announcement. “He introduced ardour to his work and a uncommon capacity to attach with individuals. Rodger helped form the Journal de Montréal’s id. He was — and all the time can be — one among its most iconic voices.
“It was a privilege to have the ability to rely on him throughout all these years — as a revered columnist for the Journal, a gifted broadcaster on TVA Sports activities, and above all a good friend. On behalf of everybody at Quebecor, I lengthen our deepest sympathies to his spouse Pascale Vallée and to all his family members and colleagues. He can be profoundly missed.”
Brulotte joined TVA Sports activities’ Toronto Blue Jays broadcasts in 2011. He famously shouted “Vladimir! Vladimir! Bonsoir!” when then-rising star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — whose father starred for the Expos — hit a walk-off residence run in an exhibition sport at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium in 2018.
“We be part of the MLB neighborhood and our colleagues at @TVASports in extending our honest condolences to the household and associates of Rodger Brulotte,” the Blue Jays wrote on social media. “Rodger’s impression on the game and the Montreal Expos can be remembered ceaselessly. He can be missed dearly.”
Tributes poured in from throughout Quebec and the baseball neighborhood.
“My condolences to the household of Rodger Brulotte,” wrote Corridor of Fame Expos left-fielder Tim Raines on X.
“What an exquisite man! And what a pleasure it was to take heed to baseball video games with him,” wrote Quebec Premier François Legault. “I already miss these “Bonsoir, elle est partie!” — a line that may stay etched in our collective reminiscence.”
The Montreal Canadiens, who adopted “Youppi!” as their mascot after the Expos moved to Washington in 2004, known as Brulotte a “larger-than-life character.”
“Rodger left a long-lasting impression on sports activities followers throughout Quebec, being on the coronary heart of many memorable moments. His notorious ‘Bonsoir, elle est partie’ will stay etched within the collective reminiscence for a few years to come back,” the NHL staff stated. “With a profession within the sports activities world spanning greater than 55 years, Rodger was in a position to contact the hearts of many generations together with his authenticity behind the microphone.”
Along with his work within the media, Brulotte was additionally on the coronary heart of efforts to convey the Expos again to Montreal, working alongside former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre.
“My good friend has left us. Considered one of Quebec’s biggest voices. Rodger Brulotte embodied ‘nos Z’amours.’ Montreal, all of Quebec, is in mourning. He was an inspiration to me, an unwavering ally in each good instances and dangerous,” Coderre wrote on his Fb web page. “The least we will do is decrease all flags to half-mast. My pricey Rodger, I tip my hat to you for all the things you achieved. My ideas and prayers are with you.”
Brulotte additionally served as president of the Ligue de baseball junior élite du Québec for greater than 10 years and was inducted into the Quebec Baseball Corridor of Fame as a journalist in 2014.
In 2024, he obtained the Jacques-Beauchamp Tribute Award from Sports activities Québec as a builder.
“Rodger had an enormous coronary heart, and he used it to serve others with out hesitation,” stated Baseball Québec government director Maxime Lamarche. “His generosity touched generations of gamers, coaches and volunteers. We are going to bear in mind him as a unifying and deeply human particular person.”