NYP: "Fake Joba Bedded 100 Girls"

From the Post.

September 4:

A New Jersey screwball who is a dead ringer for Joba Chamberlain impersonated the Yankees pitcher in order to improve his stats with the ladies while scoring free food and drinks along the way, police said yesterday.

Ryan Ward, 29, of Asbury Park, was taken out of the game on Aug. 13, his two-week run of free drinks, Jersey-girl phone numbers, and autographs allegedly cut short by a failed attempt to snag free bagels.

September 5:

Ward said he first started getting mistaken for the corn-fed Nebraska native last fall.

"Ever since the playoffs last year, where [Joba] was attacked by the bugs in Cleveland, people started insisting I was him on the street," he said. "It got to the point where my clothes were getting ripped off when I went out to bars."

But it wasn't until June that he started to play along - even wearing a Joba-style flat-brimmed hat and sunglasses.

September 6:

[Ward] says he used the striking resemblance to reach home plate with women as many as 100 times since he began stealing the fireballer's identity in June.

"Well, I hooked up with over 62 at least," he said, making reference to Chamberlain's number. ...

The real Joba, meanwhile, told The Post he'd "like to meet" Ward.

According to what Ward told Howard Stern, he'll meet JtC on Friday.