Jim Hendry has spent most of his life on ballfields or in dugouts and might seem out of place among the Tribune Co. “suits” he answers to in his role as general manager of the Cubs.
But there he was, hanging by the Cubs’ dugout at Turner Field earlier this week, looking sharp in a well-tailored gray pinstriped number with light blue shirt and dark blue tie.
“New?” someone asked, aware of Hendry’s preference for more casual attire.
“Had it for a while,” he said. “Wore it Opening Day and we scored 15 runs against the Mets, so what the heck.”
Hendry’s gaze moved toward the field, where the Cubs were stretching, playing catch and getting ready for batting practice.
Well turned out as he was, his body language and demeanor suggested a few innings at shortstop or behind the plate might have been a suitable outlet for his manic energy.
But at 48, Hendry is a realist. And his energy and his realism help account for the Cubs’ presence in the National League playoffs a year after they lost 95 games.
He realized he had inherited a mess when he took over as general manager 15 months ago, and he had the energy and the drive to fix it.
“It wasn’t as bad as some people made it out to be,” Hendry said of the bottoming-out sensation that accompanied his promotion and Don Baylor’s dismissal as manager on July 5, 2002.
“I’d worked in scouting and player development and I knew we had some guys coming, but I also knew there were some areas we had to address. The first thing was to get the right manager.”
That was accomplished with the hiring of Dusty Baker.
Mike Remlinger, Dave Veres and Mark Guthrie were signed to beef up the bullpen, which had been an embarrassment in 2002.
Damian Miller and Paul Bako arrived in trade, creating an upgrade at catcher.
And in a masterstroke, Hendry persuaded the Dodgers to take Todd Hundley and his onerous contract and clueless personality for Eric Karros and Mark Grudzielanek.
Throw in the makings of a quality starting rotation, which Hendry had a hand in drafting and signing, and the Cubs were at least respectable, which was a vast improvement over what they had been in 2002.
“The way baseball is now, you can get better quickly,” Hendry said.
“I’m not saying I expected us to be here–St. Louis was good, Houston’s always good. . . . But I thought if we could hang in there early, add a player here and there, have our pitching come around. . . . “
All that occurred, but other things happened–Mark Bellhorn’s flameout, Corey Patterson’s knee injury, Grudzielanek’s broken wrist–and Hendry never stopped working. Tom Goodwin was off to a decent start as Patterson’s replacement when he pulled a hamstring at Turner Field in late July.
Hendry’s talks with Pittsburgh took on a new urgency–he had to give up a little more than he intended, but he came away with Kenny Lofton and Aramis Ramirez, who filled yawning holes in center field and at third base, respectively.
When Rafael Palmeiro said no thanks to joining the Cubs, he unearthed Randall Simon. Doug Glanville, Tony Womack . . . the reinforcements kept coming.
“I had assurances all along that if the opportunity was there and it made sense, we’d add people even if it meant taking on payroll,” Hendry said. “When you’re in contention, it makes sense.”
And now they’re in the playoffs. In a way it’s vindication for Hendry, who left a comfortable college coaching job at Creighton to try professional baseball.
“The country club, the cars . . . I even took a pay cut,” he said. “But if I hadn’t done it, I’d always be wondering if I could have.”
He joined the expansion Florida Marlins, who were putting together an organization “and didn’t look down their noses at college guys,” Hendry said.
He did “a lot of grunt work,” but helped deliver the talent that won the World Series in 1997 and learned a lot about the process of team-building along the way.
The Cubs hired him in 1994 and he served as scouting director, farm director and assistant general manager before succeeding team President Andy MacPhail as GM last year.
“He has a tremendous passion to make things better and a great work ethic,” MacPhail said. “Plus he knows everybody in baseball.”
Indeed, Hendry’s cell-phone bill might rival Sammy Sosa’s salary. The payoff is the one division title in the books already, but to Hendry it’s only Step 1.
He looked across the field to where the Braves were wrapping up their pregame session. Working on an unprecedented string of 12 division titles, the Braves are the model.
“You want to be good for a long time,” Hendry said. “And we will be.”
