PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Some sports fans like to collect memorabilia such as cards, bobblehead figurines or signed items.
Damian Ponzio, 54, of Garnet Valley is a hat enthusiast – who says he has 158 ballcaps. He amassed that amount through purchases, gifts and freebies. While he has received some duplicates, he has never bought the same hat twice.
Additionally, some people like to document life moments in scrapbooks. But Ponzio uses his baseball hats.
He wears his collection, which dates back to 1991, in rotating order. From 1996 to about 2018 or 2019, Ponzio would write on a piece of paper — in very, very small handwriting — what he did while wearing each hat. Then, he would tuck those notes, which he also typed out, inside the cap.
“In that span, I met my wife [Jill], got married, had two kids [Josh and Carli],” said Ponzio. “So all of those are recorded in the hats, which is kinda cool.”
In fact, Ponzio’s groomsmen each wore one of his hats at their wedding. Ponzio wore his favorite — a white hat with a maroon throwback Phillies ‘P’ and bill.
The hats are essentially a wearable scrapbook.
Ponzio’s fandom goes beyond the hat collection though. A longtime admirer of the Phillies radio broadcasts dating back years, Ponzio — starting in junior high —- would find a way to sneak an earphone into his ear to listen to the games in places you typically don’t — like Catholic school.
“Trust me, the nun would’ve crushed me [if she found out].”
He would take this level of dedication to events like weddings, baptisms and college parties — earning the reputation as the “Phillies guy.” Today, he finds a way to peek at his phone, watching games on YouTubeTV if he’s at an event. Speaking of phones, Ponzio — one of eight children — is part of a large family text chain during games, which is essentially an homage to his late father, Frank, who Ponzio credits for sparking his fandom back in the ‘70s. And taking things a step further, Ponzio enjoys watching the Phils with his wife and kids. But while watching as a family, the phones are put away, he says.
“We’ll sit there and watch a game … and we’ll just talk. And I don’t know how rare that is anymore, but that’s the stuff I cherish.”
To hear more of Ponzio’s story, check out this week’s edition of KYW Newsradio’s Philadelphia Sports Fan of the Week.