(TheLastPatriotNews.com) – In a startling discovery, a woman in Manchester, New Hampshire, has unearthed an exceptional collection of baseball cards within the confines of her barn.
See a video of the discovery in the YouTube post below!
The renovation of her residence was underway, with friends and contractors at the helm, when the remarkable find was made, as reported by WMUR, cited by The Daily Caller.
It was during these renovations that 52 vintage baseball cards, dating from the late 1930s to the 1940s, were discovered hidden away. Among this collection was a highly coveted Ted Williams rookie card, which stands out as a significant piece of sports history.
“Right away, I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, those were Billy’s cards,” Pappas recounted to the news outlet, a statement reflecting her immediate recognition of the collection’s personal significance.
The excitement of the find was palpable, as described by Ron Piecuch, one of the contractors working on the renovations.
“All of a sudden, I look in there, about a foot down. There’s 51 more cards. I start pulling them out, pulling them out, pulling them out. We have 52 cards total, and we’re going through them, and we just recognize Ted Williams right off the bat,” he detailed in his interaction with the news outlet.
The collection was nestled within the walls of the barn, a structure that held more than just agricultural tools but also precious memories of past times spent there with her now-deceased husband.
The barn itself, through its hidden treasures, revealed a slice of personal and sports history intertwined within its aged beams.
Despite the potential to sell the collection for a substantial sum, Pappas is leaning towards retaining the cards due to their sentimental value.
The cards evoke poignant memories of her husband as a youth, engaged in the simple joys of childhood.
“I can reminisce and imagine my husband at 10 or 12 years old. He was looking at all these cards, playing with them, trading them off with other kids, and probably dreaming that he’d be a great athlete someday,” she shared, her words painting a vivid picture of her late husband’s early connection to the sport.
Her husband, Billy Pappas, was not only a cherished figure in her life but also a recognized athlete, having been inducted into the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Baseball Hall of Fame.
His passing in 2023 was recorded in a UNH Athletics obituary, marking the end of a life deeply intertwined with the sport.
In reflection of the unexpected joy the discovery brought, Toni Pappas expressed a heartfelt sentiment regarding her late husband’s probable reaction.
“I think he’s smiling down at us. I really think he’s laughing and happy that we found them,” she said.
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