Each week, commenter RandBallsStu (branding!) tracks down a former Minnesota sports figure about whom you might have forgotten. This usually ends with laughter, crying and yelling. Stu? ---------
The Hunt Down Name: Tony Fiore Claim to Fame, Minnesota: with the exception of Miles Tarver and Hosea Crittenden, Fiore has been the most requested "What happened to…" guy in this blog's long history. I'm kind of emotional that he finally turned up, I'm not going to lie to you. Fiore was a palmballing vulture for your Minnesota Twins from 2001-2003. He won 10 games in 2002, the most successful Twins season since the 1991, with the aforementioned palmball as his feature pitch. This demands an ESPN 30-for-30, doesn't it? (Yes.) Also, whenever you argue the importance of the win statistic for pitchers too haughtily, a cardboard rain of Tony Fiore baseball cards falls from the sky and gives you terrible paper cuts until you fall silent. Claim to Fame, Everywhere Else: prior to the Twins, Fiore pitched parts of two seasons for the Tampa Bay Rays. He was also on Italy's 2006 World Baseball Classic team along with Mike Piazza, Frank Catalanotto and Jason Grilli. Where He Is Now: he is an Internet New Homes Consultant for Lennar Homes in the Tampa/St. Pete area. Really! (Proprietor note: We imagine when he isn't doing that, he drives past 40-plus town team games and sees if anyone who is trailing 4-3 in the 7th needs him to work for an inning). Is He on Twitter: you can't swing a dead cat on Twitter without hitting a "Tony Fiore" account, but none of them appear to be him. Has He Been in a Twitter Feud with Patrick Reusse: no Glorious Randomness: three Minnesota Twins have attended Triton College in River Grove, Illinois: Fiore, Jarvis Brown and Kirby Puckett.
