Each week, when he's not otherwise busy exposing the seedy underbelly of the luxury condo boom, commenter RandBallsStu (branding!) tracks down a former Minnesota sports figure about whom you might have otherwise forgotten. This usually works out pretty well, except when it gets us in a Twitter fight with newsmaker Rashad McCants. #hirestu. Stu? ------

The Hunt Down

Name: Randy Ruiz

Claim to Fame, Minnesota: if Chris Colabello's story seems familiar, it's because Randy Ruiz already lived it. Ruiz was called up in 2008 as a 30-year-old rookie (along with Francisco Liriano) when the Twins released Livan Hernandez and Craig Monroe. In 22 games with the team, he hit one dinger and had an OPS of .693. He was released in December of that year.

Claim to Fame, Everywhere Else: he was quite literally all over the place prior to his 2008 MLB debut, playing for eight different organizations, including the Phillies twice. Had the decidedly weird stat line of 10 homers and 17 RBI for the Blue Jays in 2009

Most Noteworthy Minor League Accomplishment, in a Good Way: was the International League Rookie of the Year in 2008 for Rochester. Again, he was 30!

Most Noteworthy Minor League Accomplishment, in a Less Good Way: failed two drug tests in the Phillies system in 2005 and served a 30-day suspension.

Where He Is Now: after playing for the Tijuana Toros earlier this year, Ruiz is now a member of your Long Island Ducks, who also employ Brendan Harris and Lew Ford as of this writing, with Lew being a player/coach! If there are any RandBall readers in the Long Island area, please attend a game and get back to us. Thank you.

Is He on Twitter: it appears so.

Has He Ever Been in a Twitter Feud with Patrick Reusse: no.

Glorious Randomness: if you were wondering, AND YOU WERE, Lew Ford was at Madison Square Garden for the Gophers' NIT run.