Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The daily newsletter that loves baseball as much as announcers love catch phrases.

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Today’s story is about one of the strangest playoff games in recent memory.

It was October 5th, 2007, and the stage was set for Game 2 of the ALDS at Jacobs Field.

Cleveland was unusually warm for that time of year, and the combination of the weather and the bright stadium lights drew a massive swarm of midges to the ballpark.

Midges are also known as “lake flies,” and while they’re mostly harmless, having hundreds of them all over you while trying to play baseball can be a bit distracting.

And here’s a fun fact: they’re actually attracted to bug spray.

The Yankees found this out the hard way when Joba Chamberlin came into the eighth innings with a 1-0 lead.

Joba tried to stay focused, but he was no match for the midges.

After walking Grady Sizemore and throwing a wild pitch, they paused the game mid-inning to take a bug spray break.

By that point, the whole infield (including the umpires) was taking turns drenching each other in repellent.

The whole scene was bizarre.

Chamberlin eventually threw another wild pitch and let in the tying run, then the Indians won the game on a walk-off single by Travis Hafner in the 11th.

But Joba went through that so the rest of us wouldn’t have to.

This game was so memorable that Cleveland hotels started using it as an example to warn visitors about the midges.

Thanks, Joba.

ONE QUICK QUESTION

STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

Cletus "Boots" Poffenberger went 10-5 as a rookie, and the Tigers were pretty jazzed about him initially.

Unfortunately, he had a bad drinking habit, and became known for not showing up to work.

Tiger's owner, Walter Briggs Sr., went as far as hiring a private detective to follow Poffenberger and report back on his whereabouts.

In his sophomore season, Boots wasn't nearly as good, and Detroit sent him down to the minors.

In '40, he played with the Nashville Vols, who were voted the 47th best minor league team in MiLB history.

THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE

If you like this story, check out some of our past favorites:

• The Pine Tar Incident: One of the pettiest sagas in baseball history

• The Frozen All-Star: Why is Ted Williams frozen in Scottsdale?

• The Good Luck Charm: How an orphan became the Tiger's mascot