Word came to me on Monday afternoon that Roland Hemond, a friend and former executive with the White Sox, had passed away at the age of 92. I knew Roland had been ill for the past few years, but still to actually find out that he had passed was jarring and sad.
Roland and I had spoken a lot over the years, and as I explain later in this tribute to him, he was always a man of his word.
The role of a general manager cannot be understated. He is the person directly responsible for acquiring and evaluating talent needed to win games at the big-league level.