'Joba-The-Not' sentenced for impersonating Yankee

[charlie and algernon]

BELMAR, N.J. (AP) - He signed autographs, sweet-talked star-struck women and even scored free food and drinks at bars and restaurants by claiming he was New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain.

But in reality, he was 30-year-old Ryan Ward, a Toms River man who looks a lot like the Yankees star and claims he was just having fun.

Prosecutors weren't amused and had tried to put him in jail. But under the terms of a plea deal, Ward pleaded guilty Wednesday to reduced charges of disorderly conduct, was fined $2,518 and was placed on two years' probation.

(Snip)

It's apparent that he could be the twin brother of Joba Chamberlain," said Belmar municipal prosecutor Stephen Schueler. "He bears an uncanny physical likeness to him."

And that's where Ward's problems began. People would come up to him and ask if he was Chamberlain. After so many inquiries, it became easy to just say yes and see how far he could go with it, Ward said.


http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9208328/'Joba-The-Not'-sentenced-for-impersonating-Yankee?MSNHPHCP>1=39002

Here's a pic and I can see the similarities

[flvegan]

1. Saying "no" to steroids gave him away.

:popcorn:

[Javaman]

2. Meh, when I was living out in L.A. it was right around the time the

Australian group, "Midnight Oil" was popular.
Well, as it happens, I look A LOT like the lead singer.

During that time, sometimes, I would go to club, not say a word and get ushered into the VIP lounge.

At first I didn't know what was happening. Then I road it for a while. As long as I kept my mouth shut, I was as good as gold.

Lots of free meals, free drinks and...the ladies. :)

It lasted for about 6 months and then society moved on to their next favorite foreign born celebrity. It was nice while it lasted. LOL

[charlie and algernon]

3. yeah, but you weren't going up against the Evil Empire

[Javaman]

4. This is very true. nt

[Roon]

6. When I was in my twenties..

and had long hair,I looked like Meatloaf. Never scored anything with it though.

One time I had a friend who just bought a Mercedes SL. His boyfriend looks just like Boris Becker and we were approached all the time when we traveled. One night in Lubbock we pulled up to a motel in the mercedes and we were all ushered to our rooms for the night..all free..LOL

[Reverend_Smitty]

5. What makes me laugh most about this story...

When I first read of it a few months back, apparently "Joba" was scoring all these drinks and girls from these bars in the middle of summer! Belmar is a solid 2hr drive to Yankee Stadium, so were people dumb enough to believe that he could have been in 2 places at once? Does he have special teleportation devices that allows him to drink down the Jersey shore and miraculously zap himself to the Bronx to pitch the 9th?

Surely there must have been a few people that were familiar with how the baseball season works