Trey Mancini is coming back to Oriole Park one more time, and this time it’s to close the book where it all began.
The former Orioles first baseman, who announced his retirement from baseball on August 18, will officially retire as an Oriole on September 19. Mancini will be on hand for a ceremony before the team’s 4:05 p.m. game against the Milwaukee Brewers, and he’ll sign a one-day contract with Baltimore a day before the 10th anniversary of his major league debut.
Mancini’s run in Baltimore carried both production and meaning. The Orioles made him an eighth-round draft pick in 2013, and he burst onto the scene in 2016 by homering three times in his first five games.
A year later, he finished third in American League Rookie of the Year voting, then turned in his best season in 2019, when he hit 35 home runs, drove in 97 runs and posted a .291 average with an .899 OPS. That same year, he was voted Most Valuable Oriole.
His career took a far more personal turn after he missed the 2020 season following cancer surgery and chemotherapy. Mancini returned in 2021 and was named American League Comeback Player of the Year after hitting .255 with a .758 OPS, 21 home runs and 71 RBIs.
One of the most memorable moments of his Orioles tenure came on July 28, 2022, in what was his final home game and the anniversary of the death of Mo Gaba, the young cancer patient with whom he had grown close. Mancini hit an inside-the-park home run that day.
Baltimore traded him to Houston on August 1, 2022. He went on to win a World Series with the Astros that season, then played 79 games for the Chicago Cubs in 2023. This year, he made a brief return with the Los Angeles Angels and hit .308 in five games.
Before the game against Milwaukee, Mancini will be joined by former teammates, coaches, medical professionals and others in a pregame ceremony. He will also throw out the first pitch and sign autographs for children 12 and under.
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