CHICAGO -- Through his wheeling and dealing, Jim Hendry helped the Chicago Cubs reach the playoffs three times as general manager. He also saddled them with big contracts and underachievers to go with a couple troublemakers, and now, hes out of a job. The Cubs fired Hendry on Friday with another disappointing season that will add to their historic championship drought coming to a close. Assistant GM Randy Bush will serve as interim general manager. "First and foremost, we just didnt win enough games," chairman Tom Ricketts said. "Our teams performance over the last two years is not where it needs to be." Ricketts said its time for a "fresh approach in our baseball leadership" and the search will begin immediately. He said the new general manager will come from the outside, meaning Bush is not in the running, and that he will seek advice from other owners and "industry veterans" on handling this task. Ricketts also said the new GM will report directly to him, and that whoever gets the job will determine whether manager Mike Quade returns for a second full season. Ricketts promised a major emphasis on player development and the minor league system, and that Hendrys replacement will need to be in tune to the newer statistical formulas for analysis. Hendry said he was informed July 22 that he would not be back next season but agreed to stay on through the non-waiver trade deadline and long enough to sign all the draft picks. He did not tell his two children he was being let go until Thursday night. "I could have left that day and Tom would have understood but I didnt think that was the right thing for the group," he said. "I care too much about the people who work under me. It would have been shameful." Ricketts, who took over the Cubs last year and consulted with his siblings on the board in making the decision, said it was a "credit" to Hendrys character "that we were able to operate under that kind of awkward situation and do as well as we have done." But now the Cubs are in for more changes. The Cubs went into the all-star break 18 games under .500 and they werent much better Friday at 55-70, nearly 20 games out of the National League Central after beating the Cardinals 5-4 in 10 innings. Much of the attention has focused on Quade, who got the managers job last October after leading the Cubs to a 24-13 record late last season on an interim basis after Lou Piniella abruptly retired. "Real tough day," Quade said. "As good a guy as Ive worked for in the game and Ive worked for a lot of them. Ill miss him a lot, thats for sure." Asked if hed thought about his own future, Quade responded: "Nothing. This day is not about me. Its the furthest thing from my mind. Everybody lost a good friend today." One-time ace Kerry Wood had similar praise for Hendry, saying, "As a player, you cant ask for a better guy to be around, to go to talk to. You get that feeling from him that you dont get from too many other guys." Alfonso Soriano added: "He was very honest with the players. He did the best for the players and for the team, too." Pitcher Ryan Dempster from Gibsons, B.C., said: "Its a tough day for everyone because a really, really good person and good man gets let go because we didnt do our job on the field." He added he will "always be grateful" for the chance Hendry gave him. The 56-year-old Hendry was named general manager in July 2002 and he spent 17 years overall with the organization. He paused several times to compose himself while talking with reporters. "Not many get to be the GM for nine without a world championship," said Hendry, who had a year left on his contract. "So I got more than my fair chance to do that. Im disappointed in myself that we didnt get it done in the first five to seven years when I thought we could. Im very thankful for the way Ive been treated." Asked about Ricketts, Hendry said: "I think he understood that we probably werent going to be great the way things were set up. Moving forward there are a lot of huge decisions that have to be made this off-season and I think that if I was the one making them and they all didnt work out, then the person after me would have to wear some of those for longer." One name that has surfaced as a potential candidate to replace Hendry is White Sox assistant GM Rick Hahn. He wrote in a text message, "Like everyone else here, my focus is currently on the 2011 White Sox. Questions about my personal future can wait for another time." White Sox GM Ken Williams made it clear he thinks Hahn is the right man for the job, calling him "one of the most qualified men to assume the position moving forward. What Mr. Ricketts does is his own business, though." He also said Hendry is "good at what he does" and "swung for the fences." There were too many misses recently. This season has been particularly tough, and the Cubs search for their first championship since 1908 will continue. Dempster got in a shouting match with his manager, the disabled list has been crowded with Cubs, and Carlos Zambrano -- who criticized his own closer early in the year -- was banished from the team for a month after walking out of the clubhouse on a night he surrendered five home runs. Hendry tried to bolster the lineup and drew some buzz by bringing back Wood with a one-year, $1.5 million deal to be a setup man for closer Carlos Marmol. Yet fat contracts for Zambrano, Soriano and Aramis Ramirez have always had fans wanting more from their stars, and the only move the Cubs made at the trade deadline last month was dealing outfielder Kosuke Fukudome to Cleveland. "Jim, I think he did a great job," Ramirez said. "Its just that lately -- 09, last year and this year -- we havent gotten it done. You cant release 25 guys. Somebody has to pay the price." Hendry was behind deals in 2003 to bring Ramirez, Kenny Lofton and Randall Simon to the Cubs, pushing them into the NLCS. They came within five outs from the World Series, with Hendry and the rest of Cubs Nation foiled in part by fan Steve Bartmans foul ball attempt in Game 6 of the NLCS against the Marlins. The next year, Hendry landed pitcher Greg Maddux and traded for Nomar Garciaparra to set the Cubs up for another playoffs run -- only to watch them blow the wildcard lead in the final week of the season. Over the years, Hendry hired veteran managers Dusty Baker and Piniella, hoping to mould the perennial losers into regular contender, but handed out big contracts to underperformers and at one point brought in Milton Bradley (three years, $30 million) for a brief, explosive stay in Chicago. Hendrys clubs went 749-748 during his time as general manager. He joined the Cubs in November 1994 as the clubs director of player development and later served as scouting director before being promoted to assistant general manager. Before that, Hendry spent three seasons with the Marlins and eight seasons as head coach of the Creighton Blue Jays, where he was named the 1991 National Coach of the Year after leading Creighton to a third-place finish in the College World Series. Bush, 52, has been the assistant general manager with the Cubs for the five seasons. He played 12 seasons with the Twins and won two championships (1987 and 1991). "I would love to stay on in some capacity," Bush said. "Im very realistic. I understand that the new GM will come in and evaluate who fits where and how it all fits going forward. But this has been a great opportunity for me. Ive learned a lot." Ricketts indicated he would like to retain player development executives Oneri Fleita and Tim Wilkin, but said that ultimately will be up to the new general manager. He also said team president Crane Kenney was doing "a good job" with the business side, and that there is "a really great win-win solution out there" that will spur economic growth as the team tries to secure public funding to renovate Wrigley Field. Cavaliers Finals Jersey . The 26-year-old from Calgary, who won the bronze medal at the season-opener in Norway, could not break Germanys domination of the podium and was forced into fourth with a two-run time of one minute 54. . According to various reports, centre Alexei Yashin is mulling over a return to the National Hockey League with an offer from the New York Islanders. Agent Mark Gandler and Islanders general manager Garth Snow both confirmed to Newsday on Friday that the two sides have had discussions about Yashin returning with the team. [url=http://www.basketballcavaliersshop.com/Cavaliers-Timofey-Mozgov-Finals-Jers... . Shane Victorino got another game-turning hit. Nice way for the Philadelphia Phillies to return from two unexpected days off. [url=http://www.basketballcavaliersshop.com/Cavaliers-Shawn-Marion-Finals-Jersey... Marion Cavaliers Jersey . The international police agency says in a statement Thursday that it signed a deal with the International Olympic Committee to co-operate on security. . Sizemore, who turned 29 on Jan. 4, has been limited to six games over the past two seasons because of an injured left knee that twice required surgery. He originally got hurt on Feb. 25, 2012, during a fielding drill in Oaklands first full-squad spring training workout and had surgery that March 21 to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament.MANCHESTER, England -- Samir Nasri scored twice as Manchester City maintained its 100 per cent home record and moved to third place in the Premier League with a 3-0 win over Swansea on Sunday. In-form striker Alvaro Negredo put City in front after eight minutes with a free kick into the bottom left corner. Nasri then exploited Yaya Toures through ball to double his teams lead in the 58th and the French international sealed the win with a brilliant finish in the 77th. The result lifted City to third place in the standings after Liverpool lost to Hull, but the team is still six points behind leader Arsenal. City is the only team in the Premier League with a perfect home record this season -- seven wins in seven matches. Swansea had a good chance to equalize just before halftime but Jonathan de Guzman shot over. City goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon, again preferred to Joe Hart, had earlier saved twice from Jonjo Shelvey. Hart might have hoped to feature after playing in the Champions League in midweek but, aside from Joleon Lescott replacing the injured Matija Nastasic, City fielded the side that thrashed Tottenham 6-0. City again raced out of the blocks with Sergio Aguero charging through and shooting at Gerhard Tremmel inside the first minute. Tremmel was quickly in action again as Negredo forced him to tip around the post with a long-rangee shot.dddddddddddd Negredo was fouled outside the area shortly afterward and stepped up to clip home the resulting free kick in the eight minute. Swansea then enjoyed a spell of dominating possession and creating a couple of chances, with Shelvey twice forcing Pantilimon to save with shots from distance. Both sides had penalty appeals as Pablo Hernandez claimed to be pulled back by Martin Demichelis and Aguero went down under a Jose Canas challenge but referee Mark Clattenburg was convinced by neither. De Guzman shot at Pantilimon and spurned an even better chance to equalize when he fired over just before the interval Citys second finally came just before the hour as Yaya Toure strode forward in trademark fashion to find Nasri inside the area. The Frenchman still had much to do but the defence could not touch him as he ran across goal and fired low into the bottom left corner. City almost had a third when Toure found Aguero and Swanseas half-clearance fell to the inrushing Pablo Zabaleta but the fullback shot over. But there was little respite for the Swans and Zabaleta instead turned to a creators role by rushing onto a James Milner throughball and pulling back for Nasri to tuck home after 77 minutes. 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