Do you think Grayson liked Telling Maniac his baseball's stories?

Chapter 25 is not exactly a happy chapter in this book. Most of the chapter is taken up with Grayson telling Maniac Magee stories from his earlier days as a minor league pitcher. Some of the stories are sad, some are happy, and some are funny. The chapter ends on a big downer because the final story that Grayson tells is how he pitched the worst game of his life in front of a scout and blew his chance at playing major league baseball. The question seems to indicate that it is looking for a specific thing that Maniac does to make Grayson feel better. I think that occurs early in the chapter. This is when Maniac begins probing Grayson for some details about his baseball career. When Grayson admits that he was a minor league pitcher, Maniac is in awe of Grayson and tells Grayson that he must have been a great pitcher to make it in the minors:
"You wanted to be a baseball player."
"That ain't no story."
"Well, did you become one!" Grayson drank half his orange juice. "Just the minors," he muttered.
Maniac yelped, "The minors!"
"Couldn't never make it to the majors." There was a frayed weariness in the old man's words, as though they had long since worn out.
"Grayson—the minors. Man, you must have been good."
Grayson probably is not used to this kind of flattery anymore, but Maniac's encouraging words are enough to warm Grayson up to tell more baseball stories.
Please correct me for any mistakes! THANK YOU AND MERRY CHRISTMAS OR HAVE A GOOD DAY