(Image credits: Kenya Allen / PressBox)
There are few players as likable in baseball right now as Trey Mancini, and even if you're not an Orioles fan, he's one guy we should all be rooting for.
Mancini arrived early to the Orioles' spring training facility in Florida this week, a week before even pitchers and catchers report. "I decided to come a little early since I had an extended amount of time off last year and wanted to get the ball rolling. I feel great and I'm excited to be back," Baltimore's slugger told MLB Network Radio Tuesday. Mancini missed all of the 2020 season after a scary diagnosis in the midst of the spring training chaos last year: Stage 3 colon cancer.
The morning spring training was shut down, Mancini was in the hospital having a malignant tumor removed from his colon. For the first time in a long time in his life, baseball was on the back burner. He knew he wouldn't play in 2020 and thus in an already crazy year for everyone, his road to recovery began.
"From the second I got the diagnosis, I knew I had to accept it pretty quickly and I think that's helped me a lot. I didn't really mope around too much," Mancini told the Baltimore media back in April. "Don't get me wrong, it was really tough, especially the first few days. And talking to the team was really tough too, and telling them what was going on. I think accepting it pretty quickly, knowing this is what's going to happen, that helped me a lot."
Beloved in Birdland both by his teammates and fans, the clubhouse and fanbase rallied around Mancini throughout the 2020 season. His teammates established a rallying cry last season in honor of him, coining the phrase #F16GHT. Mancini's absence on the field certainly was felt. Just the season before, he was Baltimore's MVP, leading in nearly every offensive category, in what was a career-best year for him (also should've been an All-Star season for him, just saying).
However, it was not just his baseball talents that were missed. It's no secret Baltimore's in the midst of a rather lengthy rebuilding period. When organizations undergo rebuilds like the Orioles', it can really take a toll on the clubhouse, making those guys who step up to lead the team's spirits all the more important. For the Orioles, Mancini is that guy. "You see him, and you hear from him, and he's so upbeat, and you see his strength and his youth and his health, and we all know this is going to be a matter of time," general manager Mike Elias told the media in April. "But it's tough for our organization; it's tough for our team. We’re going through a really tough period and now we’re going to be out for a while without our best player and a big heartbeat in our clubhouse. But he’s still going to be around and I think it’s going to make it all the more special when he gets back, and it’s going to mean a lot for us and the progress that we’re making as an organization when Trey Mancini comes back to us."
Mancini finished chemotherapy back in September after a long six months and got back to swinging in October. Once he was declared cancer-free officially in November, his sights shifted to the 2021 season. While the Orioles finished the 2020 season with a 25-35 record, finishing just ahead of the last-place Red Sox in the AL East division, for the first time in a while, watching the Orioles play baseball was actually kind of fun, even if the numbers might not reflect it. With their star player back and more motivated than ever, it's as if Baltimore's lineup just got a new life to it.
Baltimore fan or not, Trey Mancini's return might be one of the most exciting storylines coming into this 2021 season to watch.