SUN CITY, AZ — Ron Yankowski says he's a collector by nature.
"It's more like treasure hunting. I get up in the morning. I have no idea what I'm gonna find," said Yankowski.
Behind each item in his collection is a story.
"I had one guy, had a t-shirt on. I was at a garage sale. He said, 'you got this t-shirt?' I said, 'I don't really know.' He went into the house, took the t-shirt off, comes out, hands it to me and he goes 'It's yours!' and I go 'How much?' 'It's free," said Yankowski.
But the most important story is the one that started his journey of collecting Diamondbacks items.
"I was singing with the Sounds of the Southwest Singers. We sang the national anthem at Chase Field and at that time, they gave out a bobblehead. So, one bobblehead, I can't remember which one, but one bobblehead led to all this," said Yankowski.
Since then, the Arizona transplant has spent nearly a decade scouring valley thrift stores and garage sales searching for D-backs treasures.
"Everything you see in here has either come from Goodwill, a garage sale, or a moving sale. There's nothing I buy on eBay. Nothing. A lot of it is donation," said Yankowski, "Whenever I go into a store or go into a garage sale, first thing I ask, 'Do you have anything Arizona Diamondbacks?'"
In the process, he's created his own personal Diamondbacks museum right inside his Sun City home.
"This section is the inaugural season with the original colors. This particular item is the schedule. The first year of them playing," said Yankowski.
With the team's current postseason run, he's now hoping to add some more championship items, even if he doesn't have the space.
"I'm hoping that with this game today, they're gonna win and they go on to the World Series. And then I'm going to have to figure out a way of moving everything around," added Yankowski, "I'd have to go into the house, but I'm not allowed to bring this stuff in."
