The Final Score

The bugs landed on Chamberlain’s neck and face, causing the hard-throwing righthander to constantly swipe at them.

Yankees trainer Gene Monahan even sprayed bug repellent on Chamberlain, to no avail.

Chamberlain walked two and threw two wild pitches, allowing the Indians to tie the score before eventually winning it in the 11th. The Indians won the series in four games, and Joe Torre said he regretted not putting up a fight against the midges.

But that’s obviously now history.

As far as this weekend’s four-game series against the Indians is concerned, Brown insisted the midges won't be visiting the ballpark. That's because this year's version of the Lake Erie midges aren’t even born yet.

"Here in Cleveland there are parts of the lake that are still frozen and that’s where the midges do a lot of their hatching," Brown said before today’s evening newscast. "So we don’t have any real problems with the midges until the summer time when we get into some heat."

The midges typically appear a few times during the summer months during stretches of 90-degree heat. As annoying as they are, Clevelanders have learned the best method is to just ignore them because they don’t bite.

"They’re all downtown," Brown said. "They’re all over your car, all over the sidewalk, buildings and walls."

The midges don’t usually show up until late May at the earliest and they’re gone for the season by the end of the summer. But last year Cleveland had an unusual heat spell leading up to the division series, which was why the midges were still around.

And, hey, if you could fly, wouldn't you take in a playoff game for free, too?