The Ultimate Comeback

For Orioles infielder Trey Mancini, one of the most challenging days during his battle with stage III colon cancer came in late August 2020, as he neared the end of his six-month chemotherapy treatment. While his fight continued, the fight of another talented young celebrity ended, to the shock and despair of fans around the world.

Chadwick Boseman burst onto the screen in 2013, starring in the biographical film 42 as Hall of Famer and civil rights icon Jackie Robinson, who changed the game of baseball forever when he broke the color barrier in 1947. Boseman’s portrayal of Marvel superhero T'Challa in Black Panther received widespread acclaim and was celebrated as a significant achievement in Black culture.

While his celebrity skyrocketed, Boseman was quietly in the fight for his life. The beloved actor, who had starred in blockbuster after blockbuster, had been waging a four-year battle with an invisible enemy since his stage III colon cancer diagnosis in 2016. Even as the disease progressed to stage IV, Boseman kept his diagnosis private, and continued to act in films such as Marshall, Da 5 Bloods, Ma Rainey, and more while receiving chemotherapy and undergoing numerous surgeries. It wasn’t until August 28, 2020, when his family confirmed his passing, that fans learned of Boseman’s courageous battle with the deadly disease.

Although he’d never met Boseman, news of the actor’s passing hit close to home for Mancini, who was struck by the dramatic differences of their outcomes despite the similarities of their diagnoses.

“That was a really difficult day,” he shared. “You always want to be positive and think that you’re going to be okay, but you realize that the disease does not discriminate against anybody and it’s a hard fight. That day definitely stands out as a tough day for me and I’m sure for everybody else who’s had [colon cancer].”

Prior to his own diagnosis in March 2020, Mancini, like Boseman, had recently seen his career surge to new heights. He was coming off a career year in 2019, in which he was voted the winner of the Louis M. Hatter Most Valuable Oriole Award by members of the local media after leading the club in several offensive categories while notching career-bests in hits (175), doubles (38), home runs (35), runs scored (106), RBI (97), and walks (63). He was named the AL Player of the Week for the period of September 16-22, his first career Player of the Week award. He was also named the Orioles Heart and Hustle Award winner and had become the de facto leader of the team in only his third full season.

The sky appeared to be the limit for the then-27-year-old Mancini when he arrived at Ed Smith Stadium in February 2020 for Spring Training. He was entering the prime of his career and had enjoyed an eventful offseason. In December 2019, he partnered with BMORE Around Town and country duo LoCash to host the Purple Tailgate to support Orioles and Ravens superfan Mo Gaba during his fourth battle with cancer. A week before heading down to Sarasota, he hit the road on the Birdland Caravan, bringing the Oriole Park experience directly to fans throughout the region.

As camp got underway, Mancini realized that something felt different. Spring Training was one of his favorite times of the year, and Ed Smith Stadium in February was a land of opportunity for ballplayers. He was well rested and should have been bursting with energy, but he felt more tired than usual after workouts. With no other symptoms that would have set off any alarms, he assumed his fatigue was just an inevitable byproduct of his age; he was closer to 30 than 25 and had played in at least 147 games in each of the last three seasons.

“Looking back, I really didn’t think it was anything outlandish or crazy at all,” Mancini said on a Zoom call with reporters in April 2020. “I thought it was [because I was] getting a little older. I’m still kind of young, but I’m not 21 anymore. Maybe I’m getting a little more tired when I’m taking 10 swings in the batting cage. I felt a little more lethargic.”

Following a routine physical examination and some blood work, doctors discovered that Mancini’s iron levels were low. A follow-up test revealed that they had dropped even lower. Still, he thought, the worst-case scenario was either celiac disease or a stomach ulcer. But on March 6, doctors confirmed what no one had initially suspected: Mancini had stage III colon cancer.

On Thursday, March 12, the Orioles were scheduled to travel to Fort Myers for a Spring Training matchup against the Minnesota Twins. Mancini was scheduled for surgery to have a malignant tumor removed from his colon, 10 days after playing in what turned out to be his final baseball game of the year. Mancini’s surgery went as planned. The Spring Training contest between the Orioles and Twins did not.

“My surgery took an hour and a half,” shared Mancini. “In the middle of that hour-and-a-half span, Spring Training had gotten shut down. When I went in to get the surgery done, everyone was more aware of [coronavirus], but we didn’t know to what degree until the middle of my surgery. I think the night before was when the NBA game between the Thunder and the [Jazz] had gotten cancelled, so we knew there was a chance that the same was going to happen with baseball. It was just a surreal thing to wake up to.”

Despite the successful removal of the tumor, Mancini still had a long, difficult road ahead of him. He would need to undergo a six-month course of chemotherapy treatment while the healthcare industry grappled with a once-in-a-century pandemic, meaning he’d be going into the hospital alone. He would surely miss the entire regular season (if one even happened), the first time since he was four years old that he wouldn’t play baseball as part of a team. 2020 was a difficult year for everyone, and few people faced more challenges than Mancini. But if you spoke with him, you wouldn’t know it.

Maybe it’s because he felt that a positive attitude was the only way to approach the fight of a lifetime. Maybe it’s because that’s just who he is. Upon learning of his cancer diagnosis, Mancini penned an article in The Players’ Tribune entitled “I Am So Lucky,” focusing not on the bad news, but instead choosing to recount the many ways in which things could be worse.

“The best way to go about it is to have a positive mindset,” he shared. “Things could have been much worse if I didn’t have that blood test to say that my hemoglobin was way down and hematocrit was low, everything was just crazy low, so we knew something was going on. So, I’m lucky that the physical said that something was wrong and then I went in and I was lucky that it was treatable, and it could be removed during surgery. Obviously, having to do chemotherapy after [the surgery] wasn’t ideal and not the news I was hoping for. I was obviously hoping that I had stage II, but again, it could have been stage IV when I got diagnosed. I really did luck out in that sense. I really didn’t have any side effects. I wouldn’t have known for a while that I had colon cancer.”

Maybe it’s because he had an incredible support system. His father, Tony, who was diagnosed with stage II colon cancer in 2011. His mother, Beth, who has always been his biggest fan.. His sisters, Katie and Meredith, who helped launch the Trey Mancini Foundation, which works to support those who are facing illness, empowers those suffering from emotional trauma, and provides assistance to those experiencing hardship. His girlfriend, Sara, who has been by his side every step of the way. His manager, Brandon Hyde, and his teammates and coaches and their families, who rallied around him by proudly wearing #F16HT t-shirts all season long. His oncologist, surgeon, nurses, and nurse practitioners, who have a standing invitation from Mancini whenever they want to catch a game or batting practice at Oriole Park (once fans can be safely welcomed back). His signing scout, Kirk Fredriksson, who took a chance on a young first baseman out of the University of Notre Dame in 2013. The clubhouse staff, including Bunny German, who rallied around him to share their support when Mancini informed his teammates of his diagnosis. And so many others throughout the game of baseball, his hometown of Winter Haven, Fla., and his alma mater of Notre Dame.

Maybe it’s because of his friend, Mo Gaba, whose positivity never wavered as he fought his own battles with cancer, and whose smile and infectious laugh lit up every room. The same Mo Gaba who helped lift Mancini out of a slump in 2019, and who surprised his friend on the field later that year when Mancini was honored as the Most Valuable Oriole. Mo Gaba, the 14-year-old Orioles and Ravens superfan who was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2020, who became the first person in history to announce an NFL draft pick written in Braille in 2019, and who was beloved by listeners of sports radio in Baltimore and across the country. Mo Gaba, whose lifelong fight with cancer ended on July 28, 2020, but whose legacy as one of the most iconic figures in Baltimore sports history will live on. Mo Gaba, who was the first person to call Mancini after his surgery that day in early March.

“He really helped me out and he helped me stay positive throughout a lot of my treatments. Even before I was diagnosed with cancer, I was in awe of the way he handled everything that we went through,” shared Mancini, who still thinks about his friend Mo every day. “After my surgery was over, he was the first person to call me, and he was really concerned at how I was doing. That’s just Mo, being himself and worrying about others. He never once was concerned about himself. Just an amazing kid.”

Despite all the positivity and all the support in the world, cancer is still a formidable foe. There were good days, bad days, and worse days.

“I had to be public about what I was going through because I missed the season,” Mancini said. “But Sara is the only one who really saw me every day during chemotherapy. I’m not going to lie, there were some days where it was just really tough on me. I mostly wouldn’t eat from the day I got treatment on a Monday until that Thursday. I looked weak. I looked really pale. Luckily, I’d bounce back by the weekend. And on top of it, we had a puppy that we got in April. The puppy and I always seemed to be sick at the same time. Sara had double duty with the two of us. She learned how to take out my port when it was time for my take-home drip to come out. She had to bathe me for those couple days because I couldn’t get in the shower and couldn’t get any of the take-home stuff wet. She saw me a lot weaker than anybody’s ever seen me before. She just was amazing throughout the whole thing. She was so strong.”

***

“I love baseball.” It was a common refrain in Mancini’s The Players’ Tribune article last April. After completing his chemotherapy treatments in September and being officially declared cancer-free in November, it didn’t take him long to set his sights to the future and get back to playing the game he loves.

From doing some light cardio and weight-training workouts between chemotherapy treatments to performing improvised squats with his and Sara’s puppy, Olympia, Mancini made sure he maintained some of his strength and athleticism in anticipation of gearing up for the 2021 season. Prior to reporting to Spring Training, he had essentially been preparing as he would have in a normal offseason, one not disrupted by the twin crises of his bout with colon cancer and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“Baseball definitely took a back seat until I finished with chemotherapy, then all my focus shifted back [to it]. When you’re going through that, baseball is the last thing on your mind. You just want to get healthy and you think about wanting to live a long life. You just go into fight mode and power through during that time,” shared Mancini.

At the midway point of the 2021 regular season, baseball is once again front and center for Mancini, who has slashed .256/.331/.460 with 16 home runs, 18 doubles, and 55 RBI in 86 games since returning to the lineup for the O’s. Statistically, it hasn’t been the best season of his career, but it’s far and away been the most impressive after the challenges he faced in 2020, and it’s been filled with special moments.

When he made his return to Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 8, he received a thundering ovation from the Birdland faithful.

In July, the Orioles welcomed Dr. Nilofer Azad (Nee–low–fer Ah-Zahd), professor of oncology and leader of the Colorectal Cancer Research Center of Excellence at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, to throw out the ceremonial first pitch to Mancini before a home game. Dr. Azad has a special tie to the Orioles, as the oncologist who worked with Mancini during his battle against stage III colon cancer last year.

The 29-year-old slugger hit career home runs No. 99 and 100 on June 20, becoming the fastest player in Orioles history, who began their career with Baltimore, to reach 100 career home runs (531 games), and just the 28th player in franchise history (since 1954) to hit 100 career home runs in an O’s uniform.

As his comeback continues, Mancini was selected to participate in his first career MLB Home Run Derby in Denver, where he’ll face off against some of the most prolific long-ball hitters in the game.

It won’t be his first derby experience though; Mancini won the 2012 BIG EAST Home Run Derby while at Notre Dame in 2012. And tonight, when he steps up to the plate, he’ll have a familiar pitcher throwing to him.

“He’s the pitching coach at Notre Dame. His name’s Chuck Ristano,” said Mancini. “He was the pitching coach when I was there [and] he’s been there since 2011, which was my freshman season. He threw to me in the BIG EAST Home Run Derby when I was in that back in 2012. We jokingly said after I won that if I was ever in the real Home Run Derby, I made a promise to him that he could throw to me, so I’m keeping that promise.”

Throughout the entire first half, Mancini has inspired fans throughout Birdland and across the country. Tonight, he takes the national stage in the latest triumph of his impressive comeback story, an experience he will never take for granted.

Fans can tune in and cheer on Mancini in the Home Run Derby tonight, Monday, July 12, at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.