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Today I am highlighting the man who got me started in the sports collecting hobby by getting me my first autographs, my dad Frank. He had no idea what he started.
I remember him coming from from a neighborhood athletic banquet. Back in those days, it was common for Chicago athletes to make extra cash by doing the banquet circuit. This was also well before the autograph boom.
He handed me the program and pointed out 2 signatures. One was from Billy Williams of the Cubs and one was Tom Bradley from the Sox. I studied those signatures. They fascinated me. I was hooked. It was the middle of winter, but I made my dad promise that we could go to a baseball game early so I could try to get more of these magical signatures.
Anyway, fast forwarding about 30 years, my dad met NFL journeyman James Parrish. Parrish played for a few NFL teams in the 90's. Parrish was a member of two Super Bowl teams -- the 1994 Cowboys who beat Buffalo, and the 1996 Steelers who lost to Dallas. Parrish also played in the World League and in the Canadian League.
My dad got a kick out of trying on Parrish's large Super Bowl ring. He also got a kick out of finally appearing in a picture with an athlete, putting him only a couple hundred behind me!
Frank Wroblewski and James Parrish in Chicago, IL-mid 90's.