At the 2022 MLB trade deadline the Orioles traded first baseman, outfielder and designated hitter Trey Mancini, a pending free agent, to the Houston Astros in a three-team trade that also involved the Tampa Bay Rays.
Mancini left the only franchise he had ever known and headed to a championship contender looking for its missing piece. Since leaving Baltimore, Mancini has had a whirlwind six months. First, Mancini helped the Astros win the World Series in six games against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Though Mancini played sparingly in the postseason he made an impact defensively, especially in Game 5 of the World Series. Mancini secured Phillies left fielder Kyle Schwarber’s low liner to end the eighth inning, tapping on first base with runners on first and third base to preserve the Astros’ 3-2 lead. The Astros held on to win the game, 3-2, and won the World Series in six games.
“You dream it up so much as a kid,” Mancini said on Glenn Clark Radio Jan. 26. “I would say it was pretty similar to how I expected the feeling to be. I had only had that feeling on a baseball field one time before when I was a kid, and we had won a state championship. That’s the only time I felt that pure jubilation.”
During the offseason, Mancini married Sara Perlman, whom he met in Baltimore when Perlman worked for MASN, which covers the Orioles and Washington Nationals. He also found a new baseball home.
Last month, Mancini signed a two-year deal with the Chicago Cubs, returning to a ballpark he attended games at as a child. Mancini played baseball collegiately at Notre Dame and has a lot of friends who are Cubs fans. He will be living close to one of his sisters, who currently lives in the city.
“I love day games and we have a lot of day games there, which is pretty cool,” Mancini said. “It feels right.”
Mancini made his major league debut in September 2016 and blossomed into a fan favorite during his tenure in orange and black. Despite missing the shortened 2020 season, Mancini gained a whole new crop of fans. Mancini was diagnosed with colon cancer at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but beat cancer in inspiring fashion.
Mancini made his return to the diamond in 2021 to standing ovations at Ed Smith Stadium, Fenway Park and Camden Yards, later winning the 2021 American League Comeback Player of the Year award.
Despite the new chapter, Mancini will forever be connected to Baltimore.
“No matter how many years I play and things like that, I’m always going to have a deep connection with Baltimore,” Mancini said. “I was in the organization for 10 years. I was there for a really long time and just felt a strong connection to the city, team and all the guys. That’s not ever going to change.”
Mancini left Camden Yards for the final time as an Oriole with a bang. The Orioles held a 1-0 lead in the eighth inning and had a runner on second base against Tampa Bay in July. Mancini hit a fly ball that Rays right fielder Josh Lowe lost in the sun. The ball bounced off his face and rolled toward the right field corner. Mancini scampered around the bases for an inside-the-park home run for a signature sendoff moment.
“I still can’t believe that happened,” Mancini said. “If I were to guess I’m probably not going to have another inside-the-park home run in my career … but I still can’t believe that happened on that day.”
Appropriately, that game was Mo Gaba Day at Camden Yards.
“I think about him a lot actually, but especially during baseball season,” Mancini said. “… I had to stay the course [in 2022] and that’s something Mo taught me, too — that there’s always something greener on the other side — so he’s always with me and all of us whose lives he touched.”
For more from Mancini, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox