Commenter Stu tracks down a former Minnesota sports figure every week. This usually works out well. Stu? -------

THE HUNT DOWN

Name: Ramon Ortiz:

Claim to Fame, Minnesota: one of the precursors to Jason Marquis, Ortiz was the 2007 Minnesota Twins Crafty Veteran Starter model. Like Marquis, Ortiz fell out of the rotation around Memorial Day; unlike Marquis, Ortiz actually stuck around awhile, performing mop-up duty through August before being moved to the Rockies for Matt Macri. Claim to Fame, Everywhere Else: best known for his time with the Anaheim Angels of Anaheim California (Los Angeles Campus [Anaheim]), where he started from 1999 through 2004. Defeated the Twins in Game 2 of the 2002 ALCS. Since 2004, has played for everyone. Where He Is Now: was invited to spring training by the San Francisco Giants this year but didn't make the cut. Is still hanging on in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, a Yankees affiliate and a previously discussed hotbed of former Twins. His pitching coach is fellow former Twins reclamation project Scott Aldred, and the team's hitting coach is late-'70s Twins catching wunderkind Butch Wynegar. (Also: Jack Cust and Russell Branyan!) Is He on Twitter: no. Has He Been in a Twitter Fight with Patrick Reusse: well, no. Glorious Randomness: we haven't done an obscure mascot segment here in a while, so please allow me to introduce you to Buffalo Bull and Buffalo Bell, the cute/terrifying mascots for the Orix Buffaloes, who employed Ortiz in 2008. They are not to be confused with Buffalo Bill, who only asks that you mind the fact that there is lotion, and it is basket-ready. Is that so hard to grasp, lady in the basement pit?