The most famous moment of Joba Chamberlain’s baseball career came against the Cleveland Indians in the postseason. Now he hopes to help the franchise return to the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
The team announced it signed the relief pitcher to a minor league deal Tuesday with an invitation to big league spring camp. Normally, a minor league deal would fly under the radar during the MLB offseason, especially on the same day the Boston Red Sox agreed to a deal with superstar ace David Price, per the Boston Globe's Peter Abraham. But Chamberlain has a memorable history with the Indians.
Chris Cwik of Yahoo Sports detailed the pitcher’s unfortunate experience in Game 2 of the 2007 American League Division Series. Chamberlain took the mound in the eighth inning for the New York Yankees but was swarmed by a group of midges. The game was delayed, and he needed bug spray to remove the midges.
It visibly bothered Chamberlain, and Cleveland scored a run off him to tie the game. The Indians eventually won in the 11th inning.
The Indians also addressed the incident after Tuesday’s signing:
The Yankees replied with a humorous response of their own:
Craig Calcaterra of NBCSports.com pointed out Chamberlain may not have to worry about the midges if he is pitching for the Indians’ Triple-A affiliate, the Columbus Clippers:
Calcaterra’s assessment comes after a disappointing 2015 season for Chamberlain. The former Yankee pitched for the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals and finished with a 4.88 ERA, 1.70 WHIP and minus-0.7 WAR in 27.2 innings, per Baseball-Reference.com. It was the worst statistical season of a career that started in 2007 with the Yankees, and similar numbers would keep him in the minors in 2016.
At his best, Chamberlain was a shutdown option in the back end of the bullpen who bridged the gap from the middle innings to the closer. He finished with a 0.38 ERA in his rookie season and followed that up with a 2.60 ERA and 118 strikeouts in 100.1 innings pitched in his second campaign.
While he has struggled to reach that level of effectiveness since (he posted an ERA above 4.00 in five of the next seven seasons), Cleveland at least knows there is a track record of success in place.
Still, Chamberlain is 30 years old and a number of seasons removed from his best performances. He must prove himself with this minor league deal if he hopes to get another shot at pitching in Cleveland.
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