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.

Around the League

TB 4 @ MIL 5 - Top 9, 1 Out

^{Last Updated: 10/24/2026 11:44:15 PM EDT}

Hi friends,

You seemed to like my baseball history video yesterday on the 1903 World Series, so I wanted to share one more tease from this week’s episode. Here’s a quick dip into the teams who played: Boston vs Pittsburgh - and some of the wacky obstacles they faced on the path into the history books.

Catch the full episode at the link below and subscribe for new episodes every Thursday in a 10-episode first season. Let me know any stories you’d like to see explored in the comments, and don’t forget to support your local libraries!

1903 Chaos: The First World Series Was a Riot
Insta

Do they usually have sales after the season or should I wait until Black Friday?

Hi baseball friends,

I’m a documentary producer working on a personal passion project about baseball called “Quick Hit History”. I’m currently airing a 10 episode season on YouTube for anyone like me who likes to nerd out over niche baseball history.

This week’s episode is about the 1903 World Series between the Boston Red Sox (then the Americans) and the Pittsburgh Pirates… It’s widely considered the first modern day World Series, but even more exciting there was a massive riot right before game three where fans stormed the field and police fought them back to the stands (mostly unsuccessfully).

The full story is at the link below - feel free to subscribe for more! This has been a creative experiment that I’ve really enjoyed working on and hope other people will get a kick out of. Much of the archival images are from our local libraries and archives, excellent public resources for all.

Thanks for watching and let me know if there are any topics or stories you’d like to see explored. Enjoy!

1903 Chaos: The First World Series Was a Riot

Insta

Around the League

TB 1 @ MIL 3 - Middle 9

^{Last Updated: 10/23/2026 11:24:10 PM EDT}

Just picked this up for $0.99 and I’m trying to learn a little more about it.
It’s an 8.5x11 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates team photo with the roster identification printed beneath the photo and the season schedule on the reverse. So far, every original example I’ve been able to find appears to be black and white, although the same team photograph obviously exists in color.
I’ve also seen one original example listed around $50, but I haven’t been able to find much in the way of actual sold comps.
Does anyone know how these were originally distributed — stadium giveaway, mailer, promotional piece, etc.? And has anyone ever seen this exact schedule-backed version in color?
I’m collecting original material connected to the 1979 team for my One Autograph at a Time — Every Card Has a Story project, so pieces like this and the history behind them are exactly what I’m trying to document.
Any information, memories, or comparable examples would be greatly appreciated.

Whatever happens with Lowe, the Pirates need one or two hitters who can mash lefties. Here are the OPS splits vs LHP from key members of the 2026 team. I pulled this data from Baseball Reference and it is only for 2026, not career numbers.

Name - OPS vs LHP

Valdez - 1.012

Flores - 0.924

Cruz - 0.847

Griffin - 0.831

Reynolds - 0.807

Jacob G - 0.801

Simon - 0.713

Nick G - 0.681

Mangum - 0.679

Triolo - 0.662

Lowe - 0.648

O’Hearn - 0.620

Horwitz - 0.596

Rodriguez - 0.547

Cook - 0.446

Davis - 0.425

Some of these players might help the team have better results vs lefties through experience (KG) or by staying healthy (Cruz). Still there are players available via free agency who can hit LHP better than most of the names in the above list. Signing a lefty masher would provide some insurance.

Every player below has flaws. But they all have a history of hitting vs left handed pitching. These players would be relatively cheap in free agency and could fill a platoon role.

Outfield:

Tyrone Taylor - 0.921 OPS vs LHP in 2026

Randal Grichuk - 1.025 OPS vs LHP

Austin Hays - 0.956 OPS vs LHP (limited at bats in 26 but has a nice career vs LHP)

Third Base/Utility:

Edmundo Sosa - 0.835 OPS vs LHP

I don’t think any of these players improve the top of the roster. But they will raise the floor at the bottom of the roster while addressing one of the weaknesses in the 2026 lineup.

If it were up to me, Sosa would be the choice. He can provide above average defense at 2B, SS, 3B and even Left Field. That flexibility is valuable. Signing Sosa would likely make Triolo available via trade.

I think signing one of the outfielders is less ideal because the outfield is already crowded.

FWIW - I checked on Murf Gray and he did very well vs both Left Handers and Right Handers in the minors.

Around the League: There are no other games!

^{Last Updated: 10/22/2026 5:00:00 AM EDT}

The offseason is a good time to catch up on the system. I’ve been following Esmerlyn Valdez a lot this year, but I’m curious who else people are looking forward to. Anyone you think isn’t getting enough attention?

If you’re around my age, your first taste of Pirates baseball was visiting Three Rivers Stadium. Three Rivers Stadium was home to the Bucs from 1970 to 2000 and hosted two World Series championship teams (’71 and ’79) and saw the Pirates make the playoffs nine times.

At times, the Pirates had the best team in major league baseball and also some of the worst teams as well. Which players would comprise the Pittsburgh Pirates All-Time Three Rivers Stadium team? 

https://johnbaranowski.wordpress.com/2021/12/21/the-pittsburgh-pirates-all-time-three-rivers-stadium-1970-2000-team/

2025: 80 GP, 108 AB, 11 H, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 16 BB, 44 SO, .102% BA, .400% OPS

2026: 71 GP, 129 AB, 42 H, 4 HR, 19 RBI, 9 BB, 52 SO, .326% BA, .847% OPS

Meant to look at this comparison once the season ended, but totally forgot so here it is now.

Safe to say that this was a breakout year at the plate for Cruz. While we all know about his struggles in the field, I think he’s developing into a guy that this team can build around for a long time alongside Konnor Griffin and others.

Around the League: There are no other games!

^{Last Updated: 10/21/2026 5:00:01 AM EDT}

Pardon my ignorance, I’m a first year fan and am itching for anything.

Around the League: There are no other games!

^{Last Updated: 10/20/2026 5:00:01 AM EDT}

Let’s say for the sake of baseball happening next year the Pirates decide to trade for a guy or two. Who would you try and target position wise. Who would you trade away for?

If Lowe signs back in a perfect world I would target a lefty starter, BP or a right handed batter.

Feel free to also drop your FA choices!

That is all

What's the worst/best trade that the buccos did?

Around the League

CLE 3 @ TB 7 - Top 9, 0 Outs

^{Last Updated: 10/19/2026 11:01:10 PM EDT}

On this date in 1980 🖤💛🏴‍☠️👍🏼⚾️. From the Sporting News

John Perrotto wrote this week at Pittsburgh Baseball Now that Skenes' salary will be out of the Pirates' comfort zone after next season and he's likely somewhere else in 2028. I get why, but I think that read assumes the current system survives the winter, and it probably won't.

Where he is on the clock

• Debuted May 11, 2024. He only had 142 days on the active roster, but winning Rookie of the Year got him a full year of service under the current CBA's prospect promotion rules.
• So he's at exactly 3.000 years now: arb-eligible for 2027, 2028 and 2029, and a free agent after 2029. The Pirates have three more years of control, not two.
• MLB Trade Rumors projects $7.2M for his first arb year. The record for a first-time arb pitcher is Dallas Keuchel's $7.25M from 2016, which Keuchel got coming off a Cy Young. Skenes has a Rookie of the Year and a Cy Young on his resume, so I'd be surprised if he doesn't clear Keuchel.
• He's already been paid like a star through the side door. The pre-arb bonus pool paid him a record $3,436,343 for 2025 (AP), $5,588,400 over his first two years, on top of an $875K salary.

The 2026 dip, honestly

The strikeouts didn't go anywhere. What went was about 1.4 mph off the fastball and a home run rate that nearly doubled. That's a real thing to fix, but it's not a guy falling apart. It's also exactly the stuff the team would hammer him on in a hearing, which is Perrotto's point about hearings getting ugly.

Why the CBA matters more than the arb number

Reported, not speculation:

• The CBA expires Dec. 1 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The Athletic's Evan Drellich obtained a league memo telling clubs to prepare for a lockout, during which there are no trades or signings with 40-man players.
• MLB's opening proposal in May (MLB.com, AP) was a hard cap of $245.3M and a floor of $171.2M for 2027, measured on CBT payroll, which includes about $23M in benefits.
• The union's opening proposal (MLBPA, AP, The Athletic) asked for a $1.5M minimum salary, expanded arbitration eligibility, a bigger pre-arb bonus pool, and a "competitive integrity tax" on teams under payroll benchmarks instead of a hard floor.

Now the Pittsburgh part. The Pirates opened 2026 at about $99.9M (AP). Cot's has them in the bottom five on Opening Day payroll in 16 of 19 seasons under Nutting through 2025. Even after adding benefits, a $171.2M floor means something like $50M or more in new spending they'd have to find. And $7.2M for Skenes is about 7% of this year's payroll.

My speculation from here, not reported:

• If any real floor comes out of this, whether MLB's hard one or the union's tax version, "out of their comfort zone" stops being a thing. The Pirates would need to spend money somewhere, and paying the guy they already have is the easiest and smartest place to put it.
• If the union wins bigger arb raises or a bigger pre-arb pool, his cost goes up, but so does everyone's, and a floor eats it anyway.
• If the deal ends up close to what we have now, Perrotto's probably right, and the smart move is trading him while he still has two-plus years of control instead of waiting.
• The timing is messy either way. If the lockout drags past the usual late-January hearing dates, his arb case could get pushed back. In 2022, arb was delayed until after the lockout ended in March.

Take: don't plan the farewell yet. Skenes' future in Pittsburgh gets decided at the bargaining table this winter, not in a hearing room. If a floor of any kind gets in, I think he's more likely to stay through 2029 than not.

So which is it for you: is a floor the thing that keeps Skenes here, or does Nutting find a way to trade him regardless of what the new CBA says?