Trey Mancini, the 2021 American League Comeback Player of the Year after beating cancer, announced his retirement Tuesday.
Mancini, 34, played five games for the Los Angeles Angels this season before being designated for assignment on June 17.
Mancini missed the 2020 season while defeating Stage 3 colon cancer before making his return in 2021, hitting 21 homers and driving in 71 runs in 147 games for the Baltimore Orioles.
He received the cancer news in March 2020 after a routine blood test during spring training. He credited his wife, Sara, trainers with the Orioles and doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital for making it through the situation.
“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.”
In 2022, the Orioles traded Mancini to the Houston Astros. Though he struggled in the postseason (1-for-21), he ended up winning a World Series ring as Houston beat 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, “and 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 registered a .263 batting average with 129 homers and 404 RBIs in 836 games for the Orioles (2016-22), Astros (2022), Chicago Cubs (2023) and Angels. He had career bests of 35 homers and 97 RBIs for the Orioles in 2019.
Mancini went 3-for-4 in his first game for the Angels on June 8. He struck out as a pinch hitter on June 14 in his final big league game.
Mancini also played 52 games at Triple-A Salt Lake this season and batted .273 with six homers and 29 RBIs.
