Major League Baseball Player, Executive, Manager. Born William James Fanning, he was raised in Iowa and served with the United States Army during World War II. Upon his return home, he enrolled at Buena Vista University in Iowa, where he played collegiate baseball while attaining a degree in physical education. He later studied at the University of Illinois and was signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent in 1949. He marked his Major League debut with the Cubs on September 11, 1954 and went on to play parts of three-seasons (1954 to 1957) at the catcher position. He totaled 64 career regular season games. After retiring as a player, he served as a Minor League manager with multiple organizations and in 1968, he turned to scouting. When the Montreal Expos entered the league via Major League expansion in 1969, Fanning was brought in by team president John McHale to serve as their first general manager (1969 to 1976). Among one of his first moves at that capacity was to hire Gene Mauch as manager. During the early years, Fanning was instrumental in acquiring such star players as Rusty Staub, Ken Singleton and Steve Rogers. After a few poor finishes he was placed in another front office position with the team in 1976. Fanning returned to the field as manager of the Expos (1981 to 1982) after Dick Williams was fired during the strike-shortened season of 1981 and guided Montreal to their first post season berth. He returned to helm the Expos for a second stint in 1984 after Bill Virdon was fired during that season. Fanning became a scout for the team and played a role in the signing of Randy Johnson and Larry Walker. He later served as an ambassador with the Toronto Blue Jays. Truly, one of baseball's 'good guys', Fanning earned himself the nickname 'Gentleman Jim'. He was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.