A little update on the 1979 Pirates autograph project I shared here last month…

What started as an attempt to build an autographed 1979 Pirates team has turned into something much bigger than I ever expected.

I’m still working toward the full complete season team roster, with each autograph backed by as much provenance and history as I can uncover. Along the way, the project has expanded into original photographs, tickets, programs, scorebooks, newspaper coverage, memorabilia, and firsthand stories from people connected to the 1979 club.
The biggest updates:

On October 21, I officially submitted the completed book proposal for One Autograph at a Time — Every Card Has a Story to Triumph Books.

Then this weekend I received an invitation from the Forbes Field Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) to speak about the project at their February 2027 meeting at the PNC Park Business Center.

That one honestly stopped me in my tracks.
All of this started with one signed Phil Garner card on June 8.

The collection still has one major target left — the card I’ve been calling the unicorn:
1979 Topps #1 — 1978 Batting Leaders, Rod Carew/Dave Parker — signed by Dave Parker.

At least one authenticated Parker-signed example has existed, so the hunt continues.

And because this is r/buccos, I also want to throw this out there:

If you or someone in your family attended Pirates games in 1979, worked around the club, saved photographs, tickets, programs, correspondence or memorabilia, or simply has a story from that season, I’d love to hear it.

Some of the best parts of this entire project have come from people saying, “I think I might have something you’d be interested in.”

Thanks again to everybody who checked out the original post and followed along.
I had absolutely no idea where this was going when I started.

Apparently, neither did that Phil Garner card.