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Randal "Randy" Hendricks (born November 18, 1945, in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American attorney and sports agent. [1] He was raised in Westwood, Kansas and is a 1963 graduate of Shawnee Mission North High School, where he was a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program. He is managing partner of Hendricks Sports Management, L.P., and managing member of Hendricks Interests LLC, both in Houston, Texas.
He practiced law with the Houston firm of Baker Botts out of law school. While there, he represented his first professional athlete in Elmo Wright and became an agent when he was 24. [2] In 1971, he joined with his brother, Alan, to form Hendricks Sports Management. Hendricks was involved in the movement for free agency, a change for professional athletes from the reserve system. Hendricks concentrated on this area until the players earned their free agency in the late 1970s. He continuously represented a significant number of professional athletes for over 40 years. They decided to focus their attention on baseball athletes in the 1980s as opposed to focusing on both baseball and football players. [3] [4]
The Hendricks brothers formed Hendricks Sports Management and built an agency which represented approximately 10% of all major league baseball players for nearly 20 years. In 1999, the Hendricks sold their company to SFX Entertainment for $15.7 million in cash with $5 million in deferred payments and the chance to earn additional bonuses (at the time, SFX was in the market for acquiring several sports agents prior to itself being acquired in 2000). Randy was later named Chairman and CEO of the baseball group. [5] [6] In late 2003, it was announced that the Hendricks brothers would re-form Hendricks Sports Management, which reestablished their profile as leaders in their industry. In 2013 Hendricks transitioned from the representation of active players to advising a number of retired players.
Hendricks is the author of Inside the Strike Zone, published in 1994 and nominated for the Casey Award for best baseball book for that year. Also in that year, alongside Tom Reich and Ron Shapiro, Hendricks was a back-channel negotiator during the league strike that lasted over eight months. [7] Hendricks has negotiated many record contracts, including several for Roger Clemens and his $28 million one-year contract for Roger Clemens was the highest in the history of baseball. The Hendricks brothers negotiated a five-year contract worth over $30 million for pitcher Aroldis Chapman, although the methods in luring him away from being represented by Athletes Premier International led to a lawsuit and a subsequent out-of-court settlement. [8]
On January 10, 2017, Hendricks was busted in a sting operation targeted at soliciting prostitution carried out in Houston. [9]
Hendricks was appointed as a member of the Houston/Harris County Public Sports Advisory Committee in 1995 by Houston Mayor Bob Lanier. Hendricks wrote the election day editorial for the Houston Chronicle in favor of the referendum for new sports stadia in Houston and Harris County, Texas. The measure passed in a close vote and led to the construction of new sports facilities for professional teams, including Minute Maid Park for the Houston Astros, NRG Stadium for the Houston Texans and Toyota Center for the Houston Rockets.
William Roger Clemens, nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably with the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and New York Yankees. He was one of the most dominant pitchers in major league history, tallying 354 wins, a 3.12 earned run average (ERA), and 4,672 strikeouts, the third-most all time. An 11-time MLB All-Star and two-time World Series champion, Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, more than any other pitcher in history. Clemens was known for his fierce competitive nature and hard-throwing pitching style, which he used to intimidate batters.
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Sam Houston State University is a public research university in Huntsville, Texas. Founded in 1879, it is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and the first in Texas. The school is named for Sam Houston, who made his home in the city and is buried there.
A sports agent is a legal representative for professional sports figures such as athletes and coaches. They procure and negotiate employment and endorsement contracts for the athlete or coach whom they represent. In addition to contract negotiations, sports agents may also help their clients with financial planning, legal issues, and marketing. They may work closely with financial advisors, lawyers, and marketing professionals on behalf of their clients.
Koby Aaron Clemens is an American former professional baseball infielder and outfielder. He later served as a coach in the Houston Astros farm system. He is the eldest son of former Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens.
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Albertín Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz is a Cuban-born American professional baseball relief pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, and Texas Rangers and in the Cuban National Series for Holguín. Chapman bats and throws left-handed, and is nicknamed "the Cuban Missile" or "the Cuban Flame Thrower".
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