I Thought I Was Helping a Radio Station…Then I Accidentally Joined a Sandcastle Team With The Joba Chamberlain Imposter

Did I just win third place in a sandcastle contest in Ocean City, Maryland, with the Joba Chamberlain imposter that many restaurants are talking about? Yes. Yes, I did.

But Let Me Back Up...

Like many people in Ocean City, I ride my bike on the Boardwalk. One Friday morning, I happened to stumble upon 101.7 promoting road safety, using crosswalks and generally reminding everyone to watch out for one another. Even Cheswick the Crab was there. Naturally, I stopped to take a few photos for our social media.

That's when a guy in the middle of building an horseshoe crab sand sculpture, surrounded by two other team members, asked me if I could do him a favor. "Can you run and grab four T-shirts from Cabanas for us?"I honestly thought he was part of the radio station crew.

Sure. Why not?

He handed me $40 cash, and off I went.I returned with the shirts, delivered them and figured my job was done. I could get back on my bike and continue with my morning.

Not so fast.

"Hey, can we use your bike as a prop with our sand sculpture?"Eh. OK. I had a few minutes. I'll hang out. I'll see who wins. Apparently, I wasn't just hanging out. Before I knew it, I was officially part of the team and competing for a chance to win $500.

And Then Things Got Even More Official.

Our newly formed sandcastle team was actually interviewed live on the radio about our sand sculpture and our message about road safety at the beach. There we were, standing on the boardwalk, talking about using crosswalks, watching for pedestrians and staying safe while enjoying Ocean City's busy summer streets.

I Still Stupidly Had No Idea

While we were chatting, my new sandcastle teammate casually mentioned that he was a former Yankees pitcher. He even showed me a tattoo on his arm that he claimed was from when he "had Tommy John surgery." That's when I started thinking... Wait a minute. As my parents would say, this guy might be "full of bologna skins." However celebrities do frequent our beautiful town so...perhaps...

My husband is an avid baseball fan, so I sent him a selfie of me and my new teammate. "Do you know this guy?" His response? "I do not." OK.

The Math Was Definitely Not Mathing

Eventually, the mystery was solved. My new teammate came clean. He wasn't actually a former Yankees pitcher. He frequently pretends to be Joba Chamberlain. He even showed me a photo of the real Joba. And suddenly, everything made a lot more sense....but still not really.

Apparently, I'm not the only person who has crossed paths with Ocean City's Fake Joba. One local told me that the imposter has been frequenting local Ocean City bars, buying rounds of drinks and leaving some pretty lavish tips. So if you've been out in OCMD lately and a guy claiming to be a former Yankees pitcher buys your table a round, you might want to double-check who you're talking to. Although, if he's picking up the tab, maybe just enjoy the story. Honestly, I'm still confused.

We Took 3rd Place

Somehow, despite my complete lack of sandcastle-building experience and the fact that I had literally just met these people, our team managed to take third place. The prize? A $100 gift card to Playland. And because this whole morning had already gone completely off the rails, Fake Joba gave the gift card away to another sandcastle team who had worked tremendously hard. I grabbed my bike, headed out and rushed off to check my email because, of course, I was now late for work...and yet there's even more!

And Then I Saw It

The very first email sitting in my inbox had the subject line:"Imposter." At that point, I was speechless. I had just come face to face with the fake Joba that so many people had been all a buzz about. And I had no idea...because I was too busy building a sand castle. Do I feel foolish? Absolutely. Maybe I should learn to just mind my own business.