Baseball standout Trey Mancini, the American League’s 2021 Comeback Player of the Year after overcoming cancer, announced his retirement Tuesday at age 34.
Mancini appeared in five games for the Los Angeles Angels this season before being designated for assignment June 17.
He missed the entire 2020 season while undergoing treatment for Stage 3 colon cancer. After completing his recovery, Mancini returned in 2021 and hit 21 home runs with 71 RBIs in 147 games for the Baltimore Orioles, earning Comeback Player of the Year honors.
Mancini was diagnosed in March 2020 after a routine blood test during spring training. He later credited his wife, Sara, Orioles trainers and doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital for supporting him throughout his battle with the disease.
"We have been through a lifetime’s worth of experiences together for the last seven years,” Mancini wrote to his wife on Instagram. "You have stood by my side through both unimaginably difficult and incredibly euphoric times.”
"I would also like to give a special thank you to both the athletic trainers during my time as an Oriole and my doctors at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Simply put, your proactivity and expertise saved my life, and I am forever indebted to you all.”
The Orioles traded Mancini to the Houston Astros in 2022. He struggled during the postseason, going 1-for-21, but won his first World Series ring as Houston defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in six games.
"This game has been the focal point of my life since my parents signed me up for T-ball 30 years ago,” Mancini wrote.
"I have immense gratitude for everything it has given me. Thank you to everyone along the way who made it the journey of a lifetime.”
Mancini finished his major league career with a .263 batting average, 129 home runs and 404 RBIs in 836 games with the Orioles from 2016-22, the Astros, Chicago Cubs and Angels. His best season came in 2019, when he hit a career-high 35 homers and drove in 97 runs for Baltimore.
Mancini went 3-for-4 in his Angels debut June 8. He struck out as a pinch hitter June 14 in what became his final major league appearance.
He also played 52 games for Triple-A Salt Lake this season, batting .273 with six home runs and 29 RBIs.