Former Montreal Expos broadcaster Jacques Doucet named finalists for Hall of Fame's Frick Award

Jacques Doucet speaks at the 2023 Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony in St. Marys, Ont., on Saturday, June 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nicole Osborne.

Canada's Dan Shulman and Jacques Doucet are among the finalists for the Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting.

Joe Buck, Gary Cohen, Joe Castiglione, Tom Hamilton, Ernie Johnson Sr., Ken Korach, Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper are also finalists, the Hall said Wednesday.

"I'm just tremendously honoured to be even mentioned in the company of all of these great broadcasters," Shulman said Wednesday. "It's a very nice feeling."

Shulman, 56, was the voice of ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball from 2011-17 and now calls Toronto Blue Jays games on Sportsnet. He also called Blue Jays games on TSN from 1995-2001.

Doucet, 83, spent 33 years broadcasting for the Montreal Expos (1969-2004) as the play-by-play radio voice on their French network. He called Blue Jays games in French for TVA Sports from 2012-22.

The ballot is the second of four consecutive elections involving broadcasters whose careers extend into the wild card era, which started in 1995. The pre-wild card era will be considered for the 2027 award.

The winner will be announced Dec. 6 at the winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn.

A broadcaster must have 10 continuous years of experience with a network or team to be considered, and the ballot was picked by a subcommittee of past winners that includes Marty Brennaman, Bob Costas and Pat Hughes plus historians David J. Halberstam and Curt Smith.

Voters are 12 past winners -- Brennaman, Costas, Ken Harrelson, Hughes, Jaime Jarrin, Tony Kubek, Denny Matthews, Al Michaels, Jon Miller, Eric Nadel, Bob Uecker and Dave Van Horne -- plus historians Halberstam, Smith and former Dallas Morning News writer Barry Horn.

This report from the Associated Press was first published on Oct. 25, 2023

With files from The Canadian Press