Having really bad flashbacks. Joba Chamberlain, to his credit, still talks about this incident with a great sense of humor whenever someone brings it up to him (at least in his Twitter/X feed anyway).
He sure does. I wanted to get into some of that stuff but had to cut it for time. I am sympathetic to anyone who had this unfortunate moment become a big part of their legacy. A simple case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Did you know that Chamberlain's real name is Justin? I didn't. This is the smart move, come into baseball with a childhood nickname set in stone, leaving nothing to chance. "Sorry, I already have a nickname."
If I’m not mistaken I think George was past owner of the Indians so losing to them hurts even more. Dangerous conditions with them bugs so why not delay? They delay for rain, right?
We had bugs in the Poconos for 2 weeks every year too coming from Lake Wallenpaupack but nothing like Cleveland. Kinda surprised they weren’t aware. Main concern is nobody got hurt. Ending a career is not worth one game.
Living in north Jersey I’m familiar with the Record. My brother used to deliver it 60 years ago & I helped. I knew people that worked for them & my child support went to the county building across the street. Unfortunately like all papers their circulation has diminished. I don’t know if that building is even open anymore but it was Jersey’s largest at the time.
George was part of a failed bid to buy the Indians and was certainly familiar with the club and the conditions. It seems like midges are in fact a regular feature of life next to Lake Erie, and anyone playing there regularly should have been familiar, certainly on the Cleveland side. But that didn't really seem to be the case in people's comments from 2007. In any case I agree with you, it should have been a delay--the team and the umpires should have been aware this was a thing that happened sometimes and as severe as it was and given the stakes, pausing made sense.
It was interesting to me that at a time when Steinbrenner was giving very few actual interviews it was someone at a New Jersey paper that got the interview. It must have been a journalist he'd known for a long time who was still in the business and someone he trusted.
Having really bad flashbacks. Joba Chamberlain, to his credit, still talks about this incident with a great sense of humor whenever someone brings it up to him (at least in his Twitter/X feed anyway).
He sure does. I wanted to get into some of that stuff but had to cut it for time. I am sympathetic to anyone who had this unfortunate moment become a big part of their legacy. A simple case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This one is quite quirky, Paul. I’m as surprised as you are that this game didn’t earn Chamberlain the nickname “Buggsy.”
Did you know that Chamberlain's real name is Justin? I didn't. This is the smart move, come into baseball with a childhood nickname set in stone, leaving nothing to chance. "Sorry, I already have a nickname."
If I’m not mistaken I think George was past owner of the Indians so losing to them hurts even more. Dangerous conditions with them bugs so why not delay? They delay for rain, right?
We had bugs in the Poconos for 2 weeks every year too coming from Lake Wallenpaupack but nothing like Cleveland. Kinda surprised they weren’t aware. Main concern is nobody got hurt. Ending a career is not worth one game.
Living in north Jersey I’m familiar with the Record. My brother used to deliver it 60 years ago & I helped. I knew people that worked for them & my child support went to the county building across the street. Unfortunately like all papers their circulation has diminished. I don’t know if that building is even open anymore but it was Jersey’s largest at the time.
Another interesting story Paul, ty.
George was part of a failed bid to buy the Indians and was certainly familiar with the club and the conditions. It seems like midges are in fact a regular feature of life next to Lake Erie, and anyone playing there regularly should have been familiar, certainly on the Cleveland side. But that didn't really seem to be the case in people's comments from 2007. In any case I agree with you, it should have been a delay--the team and the umpires should have been aware this was a thing that happened sometimes and as severe as it was and given the stakes, pausing made sense.
It was interesting to me that at a time when Steinbrenner was giving very few actual interviews it was someone at a New Jersey paper that got the interview. It must have been a journalist he'd known for a long time who was still in the business and someone he trusted.