He played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball as an outfielder, but is best known as the manager of the Cincinnati Reds from 1924 to 1929.

In the 1924 season, the Reds had reported to spring training in Orlando, Florida when their manager Pat Moran died of Bright's disease.

Hendricks, who had resigned his post as athletic director of the Knights of Columbus to become a Reds coach that year, took over the club.

[1] Hendricks was one of a select group of major league managers to hold a law degree or pass a state bar.

Other include James Henry O'Rourke, Miller Huggins, Branch Rickey (his successor in St. Louis), John Montgomery Ward, Hughie Jennings, Muddy Ruel, and Tony La Russa.