BALTIMORE — He is the former face of the franchise. Now Trey Mancini is a familiar face that is a foe back at Oriole Park.
"It’s pretty crazy coming back. I spent a lot of time here and obviously loved my time here. Yeah, pretty wild being back," he said.
Mancini is back in Baltimore to play his former Orioles team for the first time since being dealt to Houston at last month’s trade deadline.
"You kind want to treat it as just another road trip as much as you can but it was funny, coming in landing at BWI, coming up 295 into the city - a drive I’ve made a thousand times probably for a lot of different reasons - it’s so familiar but you have to remember you are here as a visitor now," he said prior to Thursday's game.
Mancini grew up in the Orioles organization. Drafted in 2013, he was a steady presence for the O's over the last six years during the organization's rebuild. During that time, while shining on the field, he was a community hero and beat stage 3 colon cancer in front of the public eye. He compared tonight to coming back after missing the 2020 season fighting cancer. He called Thursday a homecoming.
Expect another standing ovation from the crowd. Mancini said he is going to let the moment soak in.
"The fans and I have such a good relationship and they are always going to be a special part of my baseball experience. So, I’m definitely looking forward to it more than anything else," said Mancini. "My relationship with the city transcends baseball and it always will."
From a baseball standpoint, Trey said he is proud of how the Orioles have done since the trade.
"I know the personnel over there. I know the guys that they have and the guys that have come up and no, I’m not surprised with what they’ve been able to do."
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