William J. “Boober” “Mr. Baseball” Parizek, was born in La Crosse, Wis., in 1919. His nickname “Boober” was given to him by an adult and in German it means “little child.” He was known locally as one of the most knowledgeable people when it came to baseball history. He was a statistician and collected numbers and information about La Crosse area baseball players, past and present. Parizek played both baseball and softball and served as a coach over most of his 88 years of life. In 1953 he was honored for playing 25 years in La Crosse softball circles.
His day job was working at the U. S. Post Office in La Crosse, and he enjoyed coming to the La Crosse Public Library to read about players or teams in other areas. Parizek did hope to someday publish a history of La Crosse or at least about baseball in La Crosse which was never realized. Parizek died in a La Crosse, Wis., nursing home in 2008.
