Consummate Baseball Man Roland Hemond has passed
By Charlie Vascellaro
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Roland Hemond, our chapter namesake, in Colorado today of natural causes. The popular notion that there are six degrees of separation states that any two people have a shared social connection through six or fewer acquaintances in Roland Hemond’s case especially but not limited to the baseball community there is only one degree of separation; everyone knows someone who knows Roland. Universally beloved Major League executive Roland Hemond is revered for his kindness and generosity of spirit as much as his baseball acumen and served as a mentor to multiple generations of future baseball executives.
A consummate “Baseball Man,” Hemond wore many hats (figuratively and literally) during his seven-decade career which included stints as general manager for two teams; the Chicago White Sox (1970 -1985) and the Baltimore Orioles (1988 – 1995) and worked in executive offices for five different teams. He is credited with creating the Arizona Fall League, Major League Baseball’s premier development league. Hemond earned World Series rings with the Diamondbacks in 2001 and the White Sox in 2005 and his first with Milwaukee in 1957. He has received as many awards as have been named in his honor. Hemond was the first front office hire of the D-backs, serving as senior executive vice president form 1996 (two years before the team took the field) – 2000 and again from 2007-2017. A constant presence in Arizona and the state’s Cactus League spring training circuit from his early days with the Angles and during his later stints with Arizona and Chicago, Hemond was inducted into the league’s Hall of Fame in 2019.
Hemond earned World Series rings with the Diamondbacks in 2001 and the White Sox in 2005 and his first with Milwaukee in 1957. He has received as many awards as have been named in his honor. The Hemond AZ Chapter was renamed in his honor in 2017.
Roland Hemond – Society for American Baseball Research (sabr.org)
MLB, Diamondbacks executive Roland Hemond honored on Northeast tour (azcentral.com)
a true gentleman and ambassador of the game. my dear buddy for life, scott geyer, made it possible for my wife and i to listen to his wonderful stories and insight at the pfister bar in Milwaukee and, with baseball buddies, during an AZ fall league game which was made possible because of his genius. thank you roland hemond. the world was a better place because of you.