Jim Hendry was fired last week after serving as the Cubs’ GM since 2002. Chicago had a mixture of success and failure under Hendry. In nine full seasons with Hendry as GM, the Cubs reached the playoffs three times and finished with a winning record five times. His most successful season came in 2008 when the team won 97 games in the regular season and ended up swept out of the playoffs by the Dodgers. It was after that season when former governor and noted Cubs fan Rod Blagojevich decided to honor Hendry by turning Northwest Highway to “Jim Hendry Way.” Now, Park Ridge officials want the Illinois Department of Transportation to take down the signs, according to The Chicago Tribune.
Mayor Dave Schmidt says the city never wanted the signs posted in the first place, but admits things would be different if Hendry had more success. “Of course, if he had brought us a World Series, I would have built a monument to him at the intersection. But, alas, all he brought us was Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano,” Schmidt joked in an email.
Sadly for Cubs fans who don’t want to be reminded about Hendry’s tenure as GM, the Department of Transportation reportedly does not have plans to remove the signs.
I always felt like Hendry built a strong team in ’07 and ’08 and that the team’s problem was manager Lou Piniella’s mismanagement of the playoff rotation. More recently however, Hendry’s signing of Milton Bradley was indefensible, the Kosuke Fukudome deal was bad, and the Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano contracts turned out poorly. Hendry did nail it with the Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez trades, as well as the Ryan Dempster and Ted Lilly signings. I must also admit I thought the Zambrano extension was a good one. But after a few horrible seasons in a row, it’s understandable why Cubs fans don’t want to be reminded of him..
