Joba Chamberlain (born Justin Chamberlain, September
23, 1985, in Lincoln, Nebraska) is a baseball
pitcher for the New York Yankees.
Chamberlain grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. At age 3,
his parents divorced, and his father Harlan, a
counselor at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, took
custody of Joba and his older sister Tasha. The
family lived in poverty, with Harlan often selling
his possessions for cash to buy things for the
children. Joba served as a ball boy for Lincoln
Northeast High School's state championship
basketball team, and eventually graduated from
Northeast. He did not jump straight to college; to
help pay the bills, Joba briefly worked for the city
of Lincoln's maintenance department.
Chamberlain's father was born on a reservation for
the Winnebago American Indian Tribe, but had to
leave to be treated for polio. Harlan spent his
childhood in hospitals and foster homes and now uses
a motor scooter to get around. Now retired from the
state penitentiary, he works as a substitute teacher
and takes tickets at Cornhuskers' games. Chamberlain
still has family living on American Indian
reservations.
Joba's niece was unable to pronounce the name Justin
correctly, pronouncing it as Joba instead and he
grew to prefer this name. He eventually had his name
legally changed to Joba.
