Today’s Cubs Birthdays (April 11)

~Hank Schenz 1919–1988 (Cubs 1946-1949)
Hank was mainly a backup infielder during his time in Chicago, but he did get one shot at starting in 1948. That season, a really bad one for the team, Schenz hit .261 and played a serviceable second base. The Cubs traded him to the Dodgers the following year for Bob Ramazzotti. Hank’s final big league at-bat came in the 1951 World Series, as a member of the New York Giants.

~Andres Blanco 1984– (Cubs 2009)
Blanco was backup infielder for the Royals before joining the Cubs. He got quite a bit of playing time with the Cubs, filling in for the oft-injured Aramis Ramirez. The Cubs traded him to the Rangers during spring training of 2010, and he played the next two seasons for Texas.

~Todd Dunwoody 1975– (Cubs 2001)
Todd was one of the top prospects in baseball coming up in the Marlins organization, but he lacked the plate discipline to stay in the starting lineup. After a fairly uneventful rookie season in Florida, he bounced around to the Royals, and then to the Cubs. In the 2001 season, Dunwoody backed up all three Cubs outfielders (Gary Matthews Jr, Sammy Sosa, and Rondell White), but he hit only .213 and was allowed to leave via free agency after the season.

~Robin Jennings 1972– (Cubs 1996-1999)
Jennings holds the distinction of being the only person born in Singapore to play Major League Baseball. Unfortunately for Robin, he didn’t play much. In parts of three seasons with the Cubs, he never had more than 62 at bats, and didn’t tally a single home run. He later got similar tastes of the big time with Oakland, Colorado, and Cincinnati.