“Why do you collect autographs?” Kevin Keating, a life-long collector and principal autograph authenticator at PSA, asks this simple question at the beginning of his new 301-page book “Waiting for a Sign, Volume Two” (Core Publishing).
Waiting is the second installment of Keating’s books, which chronicle his time getting autographs and building lasting friendships with baseball and Hollywood legends, including Warren Spahn, George Brett, Chuck Connors, Paul Gleason, Don Sutton and Joe and Phil Niekro.
For Keating, collecting autographs was more than just getting an athlete or celebrity to scribble their name on a ball, picture or card; it was a chance to have a one-on-one relationship with them, if only for a brief moment.
“The autograph provided me with a connection to that person. I wanted to be that person,” Keating said. “I mean, whether it was Phil Roof or Reggie Jackson or Willie Stargell or Roberto Clemente, I just wanted to make the big leagues. And so, anybody
