A left-handed pitcher, he appeared in all or parts of seven seasons in Major League Baseball for the Milwaukee Braves (1961–1963), San Francisco Giants (1964–1965), Chicago Cubs (1965–1967) and New York Mets (1967).

Born in Macon, Georgia, the 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m), 190 lb (86 kg) Hendley graduated from Lanier High School and attended Mercer University.

He signed with the Braves in 1958, and was in his fourth season in the Milwaukee organization when he made his MLB debut on June 23, 1961, a starting assignment against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

He battled into the eighth inning of a 2–2 tie, but left the game with the bases loaded and one out; two inherited runners then scored (one run was unearned), and Hendley took the 5–3 loss.

[3] Although Hendley would be sent to Triple-A Salt Lake City for seven games, he was able to return to a starting pitcher role for the Cubs upon his recall, leading to his two September matches against Koufax.

[4] But he is perhaps best remembered for his match-ups against Baseball Hall of Fame left-hander Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers for two classic pitchers' duels while Hendley was a member of the 1965 Cubs.