Jim Hendry

They then came within five outs from their first World Series appearance since 1945.

They were up three games to one on the Florida Marlins in the NLCS and ended up losing the last three games, including the infamous Game 6 involving fan Steve Bartman followed by an error by Alex Gonzalez on a routine double play ball that would have ended the inning with the score 3-1 in favor of the Cubs.

James Hendry (born July 27, 1955) is an American baseball coach and executive.

He is a special assistant for New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, and is a former general manager of the Chicago Cubs.

This led to a job at Creighton University in 1983, and he was promoted to head coach in the middle of the 1984 season.

He was a coach for the Creighton Bluejays of Creighton University from 1984 to 1991.

Hendry graduated from Spring Hill College, where he majored in communications and journalism.

He could not find a job in broadcasting and took a job as a high school teacher and baseball coach in Miami.

Following Creighton's 1991 College World Series appearance, Hendry was named National Coach of the Year.

He left Creighton later that year to become special assistant to then Florida Marlins GM Dave Dombrowski, and also coached minor league teams in 1993 and 1994.

Jim has two kids, Lauren and John.

Hendry's tenure as general manager produced mixed results.

He worked for the Cubs from 1995 to 2011.

Prior to his promotion to GM, he was named assistant GM and player personnel director on October 12, 2001, and previously the director of player development, in charge of both scouting and minor league operations.

One veteran, Todd Hundley, a free agent acquisition before the 2001 season, struggled on the field, feuded with fans, and had even begun to tarnish the image of his father Randy Hundley, a member of the Cubs teams of the 1960s and 1970s.

Hundley's large contract would have made trading him difficult, so the only way that he could leave the team would be if Hendry released him.

Nevertheless, former Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Dan Evans, offered second baseman Mark Grudzielanek and first baseman Eric Karros.

Grudzielanek and Karros were also high-priced veterans with their careers waning.

Hendry was promoted to Cubs general manager on July 5, 2002, by former Cubs president/CEO Andy MacPhail.

One of his first moves provided fodder for critics and boosters alike: late in spring training 2002, he dealt Julián Tavárez and Dontrelle Willis to the Florida Marlins for pitchers Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca.

The deal produced mixed results; Clement was the Cubs' most consistent pitcher in 2002 and continued to be valuable in 2003, while Tavarez's volatile behavior was a distraction to the Cubs in 2001.

The Cubs did not contend in 2002, and Hendry fired manager Don Baylor in July, replacing him with Iowa Cubs manager Bruce Kimm on an interim basis.

The Cubs staggered to the end of the season in 2002, and Hendry purged several veterans from the roster.

Hendry made his biggest splash in the 2002–03 offseason when he hired former San Francisco Giants manager Dusty Baker to manage the club just days after Baker's Giants lost in seven games to the Anaheim Angels in the World Series.

In 2003, the Cubs made their first playoff appearance in the Hendry era, but just three years later, Hendry's Cubs had the worst record in the National League.

On the downside, Alfonseca struggled while a Cub, and the minor league pitcher traded to the Marlins was Dontrelle Willis, the 2003 Rookie of the Year.

But the two players managed productive seasons in 2003, also providing veteran leadership.

The Cubs started 2003 well but stumbled after center fielder Corey Patterson injured his knee in June.

A little more than two weeks after his injury, Hendry sent prospect Bobby Hill and veteran José Hernández to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a center fielder who could replace Patterson for the remainder of the season, Kenny Lofton.

The Cubs also received third baseman Aramis Ramírez in the trade, ending the revolving door that had been at 3B ever since Ron Santo was traded to the White Sox.

Ramirez blossomed into a star with the Cubs, and Lofton provided the spark at the top of the lineup that the Cubs needed.

The Cubs won the National League Central Division title in 2003, and beat Atlanta in the National League Division Series, their first postseason series victory since 1908.

After failing to close out the 2003 NLCS against the Florida Marlins, Hendry made several acquisitions, picking up first baseman Derrek Lee for Hee-seop Choi in a trade with the Marlins, acquiring catcher Michael Barrett in a three-way trade with the Oakland Athletics, giving up Damian Miller in the process and Montreal Expos, signing free agents LaTroy Hawkins, Todd Walker and Greg Maddux.

On March 25, 2004, he sent prospect pitchers Juan Cruz and Steve Smyth to the Atlanta Braves for two minor leaguers, pitcher Andy Pratt and infielder Richard Lewis.

The Cubs were Sports Illustrated's preseason choice to win the World Series in 2004.

Injuries to key players like Mark Prior, Sammy Sosa, Kerry Wood, Joe Borowski, and Alex Gonzalez hindered the Cubs during the early part of the season.

On July 31, Hendry made a four-team deal with the Montreal Expos, Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox, sending Gonzalez and prospects Brendan Harris and Francis Beltrán to the Expos and prospect Justin Jones to the Minnesota Twins.

In return, the Cubs received All-Star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra from Boston, along with prospect Matt Murton.

Garciaparra missed several games down the stretch because of an injury to his groin, forcing Hendry to sign Neifi Pérez off of waivers.

Meanwhile, the Cubs' bullpen became a bigger and bigger source of concern.