In 1946 when he was 12 years old, he went to visit his much older sister in New York City. While she was at work one day, he got onto the train and went to Ebbets Field and saw a baseball game. One of his favorite players was Stan Musial, and after the game he bought a baseball and took it to the locker room to ask Stan to sign it. Not only did he get an autograph, but he also got a good half hour of chat and baseball tips! (My dad played catcher at the time, for the church league.) I don't think the autographed baseball was ever worth very much in dollars, but my dad still has that baseball and he still treasures it 75 years later. Even more than that, he treasures the memory of that conversation. Seems like there was something really magical about baseball for boys of that era, which is captured so wonderfully in your stories.
The autograph seeking instantly made me think of Josef getting Mick's card signed, and the way my dad feels about his treasure totally made me think of Mick .... both the ten year Mick from the first story and the much older Mick from the second!
Now I'll just have to read both the stories again, with that in mind.
