Topic: Joba Chamberlain

Justin Louis "Joba" Chamberlain (pronounced /ˈdʒɒbə/ job-ə; born Justin Louis Heath; September 23, 1985) is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees.

Chamberlain was born and grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chamberlain's parents, Harlan Chamberlain and Jackie Standley, were never married and split up when Joba was 18 months old. Some sources say that Harlan obtained full custody of Joba when Joba was 3 years old, but Standley claims that Joba lived with her most of the time until Joba was 10 when she had Joba's surname legally changed from Heath, her maiden name, to Chamberlain. Standley began abusing drugs when Joba was 4 or 5 and says that she and Joba currently speak to each other only rarely.

Chamberlain's father was born on the Winnebago Indian Reservation, but had to leave to be treated for polio. Harlan spent his childhood in hospitals and foster homes and now uses a motor scooter (which he has named "Humphrey") to get around. Now retired from his job as a supervisor at the state penitentiary, he works as a substitute teacher and takes tickets at University of Nebraska Cornhuskers' games. Chamberlain still has family living on American Indian reservations. As of 2008, he is one of only three active non-Hispanic Native American players in Major League Baseball, with the others being Kyle Lohse of the St. Louis Cardinals and Jacoby Ellsbury of the Boston Red Sox.