halfdime
Silver Member
We are planning to put an addition on our house this summer, which means lots of digging at the start. In advance, I'm screening topsoil which I've already detected but which is full of metal debris that covers up good signals (sometimes). Today, in between raindrops, I was working an ash layer below the topsoil when I uncovered what first looked like a clay marble. That wasn't a surprise, given the age of our house, and I started to rub off some dirt. Suddenly, there was a bit of shine to the marble, and the distinct lines of a basketball came into view. Even with my poor eyesight (thank goodness for bifocals), I could see writing on the ball. In one space: COLONIAL; below it: 23-24. We bought our house from a family who had owned it for 50 years; the father was a dentist and had been a football player at Pitt in the '30's. Many athletes, especially back in the day, played multiple sports, so I wondered if this had been Doc Washabaugh's. It seemed, though, that 23-24 would be a little too early for him. There was an inscription in another space: JLDBAUGH. There has to be a connection between this basketball (which once hung on a chain), and the Washabaughs who once owned our house. Fortunately, I have the phone number of one of the daughter's we bought from, so I called her. She was delighted to hear from me, and keenly interested in the story. As it turns out, her grandfather was a basketball coach who coached in the Pittsburgh area and finished his career at Westminster College. The mysteries are: what is the significance of "COLONIAL" and why exactly was the inscription "JLDBAUGH" put on the ball. I'm going to mail this to the daughter, who will forward it on to her brother who was a bit of a hoopster himself and would probably know more of the history. Not an extraordinary find, but certainly interesting enough to liven up a wet Saturday morning!
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