When you think “Joba Chamberlain” and “Cleveland” you think of the then-Yankees phenom being attacked by midges in the 2007 ALDS. If you don’t remember that somehow, the video evidence is below.
But all of that changes now, as the Indians have just announced that they have signed Chamberlain to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league spring training. That’s no promise of a big league job, but the Indians did make at least one promise to him:
We apologize sincerely, @Joba_44, about the bugs. They won't be back, we promise.
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) December 1, 2015
I can vouch for that. The Indians’ Triple-A team is in Columbus and we don’t have midges here.
Chamberlain split time with the Royals and the Tigers in 2015, posting a composite ERA of 4.88 in 36 games of mostly mopup work.