A Collection of Memories

John Yoniak is an advid collector of everything sports. His passion for sports started nearly fifty years ago. Much like any suburban child growing up in America, he played little league baseball, football in the back-yard and street hockey. One afternoon John’s older brother and a few friends decided to venture into Manhattan to the Roosevelt Hotel to try and obtain signatures from players of the New York Mets who were staying there. Eight-year-old John tagged along. John got his first signatures, including from Joe Toree, Sandy Alomar, Wood Woodward, Rico Carty and Hank Aaron… He was hooked. The experience launched him into, well some would say, an obsession for sports memorabilia. Many say John has become a magnet for “bumping into” and befriending some of the greats of the sports world. John’s collection of signatures and memorabilia is extensive… In A Collection of Memories, John shares not only some of the photos, signatures and memorabilia, but also his memories of the players, games and friendships he collected along the way.