Joba Chamberlain

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. After retiring from the state penitentiary, he currently works as a substitute teacher and takes tickets at Cornhusker baseball games. Chamberlain still has family living on American Indian reservations.

According to Yankees television sportscaster Michael Kay, 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.

In April 2006 Joba became a father when his son, Karter, was born.

Source: wikipedia.org