Roland Hemond, 3-Time MLB Executive of Year with Orioles, White Sox, Dies at Age 92

Mike Chiari @@mikechiariFeatured Columnist IVDecember 14, 2021

FILE - Roland Hemond speaks after receiving the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award during a Baseball Hall of Fame ceremony at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y., July 23, 2011. 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, has died. He was 92. The Arizona Diamondbacks announced Hemond’s death Monday, Dec. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)

AP Photo/Mike Groll, File

Former Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles general manager Roland Hemond died Sunday at the age of 92.

Hemond also spent 19 years in the Arizona Diamondbacks' front office, and per Noah Trister of the Associated Press, the organization released the following statement from Hemond's family: "He passed peacefully in his son Jay's arms. The Hemond family shared many laughs with him until the end, and we appreciate the love and support of all his baseball family."

Hemond was GM of the White Sox from 1970-85 and of the Orioles from 1988-95. His time in Chicago saw him win the Sporting News Executive of the Year award in 1972 and the United Press International Executive of the Year award in 1983. He won the Sporting News Executive of the Year award for a second time in 1989 with the Orioles.

While neither the White Sox nor Orioles won a World Series during his tenure, Chicago made it to the American League Championship Series in 1983, and a Baltimore team he largely constructed reached the ALCS in each of the two seasons after he departed in 1996 and 1997.

The Rhode Island native's Major League Baseball career began with the Boston Braves in 1952, and he won his first World Series in 1957 while serving as the assistant scouting director for the relocated Milwaukee Braves.

Hemond also had a stint in the California Angels front office from 1961-70 before his run as a GM with the White Sox and Orioles.

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The Diamondbacks didn't officially enter the league until 1998, but Hemond was part of their front office beginning in 1996 until 2000, and he later returned for another stint from 2007-17.

In between, Hemond returned to the White Sox from 2001-07 as an executive adviser and was on the staff when they won the World Series in 2005.

Along with being a two-time World Series champion and three-time Executive of the Year, Hemond won the Branch Rickey Award in 2003 in recognition of his community service, and he won the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award in conjunction with the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011.