Hemond, long-time GM, dies

Roland Hemond, whose 70-year career in baseball included three Executive of the Year awards as general manager of the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles, died Sunday night. He was 92. The Arizona Diamondbacks, with whom he spent 19 seasons, announced Hemond’s death Monday. Hemond was Chicago’s GM from 1970-85 and served in the same role for Baltimore from 1988-95. He won the Sporting News MLB Executive of the Year award in 1972, and then again in 1983 when the White Sox won the American League West. His third Executive of the Year honor came in 1989, when the Orioles nearly won the AL East after losing 107 games the previous season. Hemond is also considered the architect of the Arizona Fall League, and he helped found the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation to provide assistance to longtime scouts needing special support. In 2011, he received the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award, given by the Hall of Fame’s board of directors to a person whose efforts enhanced baseball’s positive impact on society. Hemond was the assistant scouting director for the Milwaukee Braves during the 1950s. Hemond helped assemble the Milwaukee team that won the World Series in 1957, and he became scouting director for the Los Angeles Angels when they began playing in 1961. He joined the White Sox in 1970.