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Recently retired cancer survivor Trey Mancini on Birdland Territory · Foul Territory

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: AOS fans, welcome in.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: A very special edition of Birdland Territory with Steve, Tim, Brad,
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: and Trey. Trey Mancini retired in Oriole on Saturday. What
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: a special day at Oriole Park at Camden Yards and
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: joins us today, still basking in the glow a little bit,
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: I bet, from Saturday, Trey.
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: Man, what a day in your life. What a day
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: in your world. What did it mean to be back
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: in Birdland?
• 0:33
  Speaker 4: Oh, it was one of the greatest honors of my life.
• 0:35
  Speaker 4: It was incredibly incredible to be back. It had been
• 0:38
  Speaker 4: a while since being back in Baltimore and obviously so
• 0:42
  Speaker 4: many emotions and memories come up whenever you go back
• 0:44
  Speaker 4: to a place that's so special to you. So it
• 0:48
  Speaker 4: was just an incredible weekend overall, uh, definitely a little
• 0:52
  Speaker 4: socially draining, but, um, you know, that that's to be
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: expected when, when something like this happens and, um, I
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: was just so honored. I wasn't necessarily expecting this whenever
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: I retired. So I just tried to soak it all
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: in and enjoy it. And I really did.
• 1:09
  Speaker 5: Yeah, Trey, just kind of thinking about you getting called
• 1:13
  Speaker 5: up again with the Angels. Can you kind of talk
• 1:16
  Speaker 5: about you know, getting called up the first time, but
• 1:18
  Speaker 5: then getting called up that last time, were you able
• 1:21
  Speaker 5: to like appreciate it more and just kind of really
• 1:23
  Speaker 5: take it all in? You kind of just talk about
• 1:26
  Speaker 5: maybe the difference between your first original call up and
• 1:28
  Speaker 5: then this last time with the Angels.
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: The emotions that went into the day were honestly exactly
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: the same. I never thought you could replicate the adrenaline
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: rush you get in your major league debut. It was
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: something I had only experienced that one time in September
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: of 2016 when that first game and I somehow was
• 1:48
  Speaker 4: able to experience that again this year whenever the Angels
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: called me up just because I for the large part
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: of the last two and a half three years felt
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: so far removed from baseball most of the time and
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: so far from being a major league baseball player that
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: it felt like I was debuting all over again so
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: the emotions were were really similar and um It's just
• 2:12
  Speaker 4: such a cool feeling to be that focused. Like you're
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: so nervous all day. I know. Yeah, you know this, Brad.
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: It's like you're so nervous all day and you can't eat.
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: You didn't sleep the night before. And then when the
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: game starts, that all just kind of melts away and
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: it turns into this focus that can't be replicated. And
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: to experience that twice was really cool.
• 2:33
  Speaker 6: Trey, take us back to the decision to just keep going.
• 2:36
  Speaker 7: I know Brady Anderson played a big role in that,
• 2:39
  Speaker 7: but to keep going and play three years after the
• 2:43
  Speaker 7: fact of your last major league game.
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: Yeah, something just hadn't sat right with me over the
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: course of the two and a half or basically three
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: years that I didn't play in the majors. I kind
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: of felt like my career was ended for me instead
• 2:59
  Speaker 4: of me ending it. more on my terms. As a
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: baseball player, it's never going to really end directly on
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: your terms unless you're one of a very select few players.
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: So I just really wanted to make it back up.
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: I knew I could do it, but I knew the
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: odds were stacked against me based on my progressing age
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: and the time that had passed since I had been
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: in the majors. There are a lot of things kind
• 3:24
  Speaker 4: of going against it, but I knew that I could
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: do it if a ton of events kind of lined
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: up together and luckily they did. And I got to
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: go up that one more time. And like I said,
• 3:34
  Speaker 4: ended a little bit more on my terms.
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: When somebody is drafted in the eighth round, they're not
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: supposed to have the career you had.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: The odds are long.
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: And I remember sitting with you in Aberdeen back in 2013,
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: not long after that draft, we had a good, good interview.
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: And as Brad and Tim can tell you, Trey, I'll
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: eventually make this about myself. you know, at some point.
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: But we're going to get back to you here because, man,
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: I left that day saying this young kid from Notre Dame,
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: he's got his act together. I don't know how far
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: he'll go in pro ball, but he seems like he's
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: got his act together and it worked out pretty well.
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: What do you remember from the early days being with
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: the Orioles? Were there some people that were really influential
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: with you? What was it like trying to establish yourself
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: as an eighth-round draft pick who could make it one day?
• 4:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I felt at home from the second that I
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: got drafted by the Orioles and entered the organization. It
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: just felt right to me. I wasn't sure what I
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: was going to do when I was drafted in the
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: eighth round. I almost went back to school for my
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: senior year, but something just told me to start my
• 4:41
  Speaker 4: professional career. I was a little worried about losing that
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: camaraderie that you have in college baseball. All of my
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: best friends were my teammates in college, so it was
• 4:50
  Speaker 4: hard to leave that a year early. But I got
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: to pro ball and was really surprised that the team
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: I was on in Aberdeen that year. And honestly, throughout
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: my entire time in the minors kind of had that
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: college feel all the guys were super close and we
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: still are to this day. And I credit a lot
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: of the people that I was drafted with and helping
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: me feel comfortable coming up. And that brought the best
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: out of me. And I also think the staff that
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: the Orioles had on every level, I had such great
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: coaching and developed really well in the organization. And that's,
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: thanks to every coach and manager I have. And there
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: are a lot of former players employed at the time
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: that had big influences on me. Obviously Brady was there.
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: BJ Serhoff was a huge, um, you know, he was
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: a huge help to me over the years. Mike Bordick
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: was around all the time. Like those are just a
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: few guys that always shared their wisdom and you could
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: tell that they loved the organization and being part of it.
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: And that always rubbed off on me.
• 5:49
  Speaker 5: True. I can't help but think about, um, when you
• 5:51
  Speaker 5: first got drafted me and Trey had this connection between
• 5:54
  Speaker 5: my college pitching coach or mom, and he was at
• 5:56
  Speaker 5: Notre Dame with Trey. And I, I had heard about
• 5:58
  Speaker 5: Trey from basically the moment he was drafted and, uh,
• 6:01
  Speaker 5: Chuck Restano, I'd be remiss not to mention he's now
• 6:03
  Speaker 5: the head coach at Navy, but, uh, Long story short,
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: he told me about Trey. I heard about Trey his
• 6:09
  Speaker 5: whole minor league career. And Chuck would always tell me
• 6:11
  Speaker 5: about how good of a person he was, how good
• 6:13
  Speaker 5: of a player, how hard worker he was. But Trey,
• 6:16
  Speaker 5: can you kind of talk about that home run derby?
• 6:17
  Speaker 5: For me, that was an awesome moment to get to
• 6:20
  Speaker 5: watch Chuck throw to you in that home run derby
• 6:22
  Speaker 5: after everything you had been through. But I thought it
• 6:25
  Speaker 5: was awesome that you still brought Chuck back. And I
• 6:27
  Speaker 5: know that was one of the biggest thrills he's ever had.
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it was such a special day to share with him.
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: He was actually there on Saturday, too. He's local at Navy,
• 6:37
  Speaker 4: and that's not the only reason I invited him. We've
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: stayed really close, but it was fun to have him
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: there this past Saturday, he and his family. But yeah,
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: when I was in college, we did the Big East
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: Home Run Derby my sophomore year, I believe it was,
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: and we won. And at the time, just kind of jokingly, tongue-in-cheek,
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: I said, if I'm ever in the Major League Home
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: Run Derby, you can throw to me. You know, we
• 6:58
  Speaker 4: have a good thing going here. I always loved his
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: VP in college, and when I found out I was
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: doing it, I called him right away and asked if
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: he was still ready and willing to do it. And
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: he couldn't believe it. And he, he was money that day.
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: Like that is a really hard situation to go into.
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: I almost think that BP pitcher has more pressure than,
• 7:20
  Speaker 4: than the guy, um, competing in, in the home run derby.
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: So he did an incredible job. It was the thrill
• 7:29
  Speaker 4: of both of our lives. So it was really fun
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: to share that together.
• 7:33
  Speaker 7: What was it like from your perspective, though, Trey? I
• 7:36
  Speaker 7: always wonder that from a batter's perspective. Because baseball, you're
• 7:39
  Speaker 7: the center of the universe there. Everyone's watching the home
• 7:42
  Speaker 7: run derby. And you put on a show. You went
• 7:44
  Speaker 7: to the finals and went up against Pete Alonzo, right?
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: Yes, yeah, I went up against Alonzo. So it was, yeah,
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: I mean, we had a good showing. I felt like
• 7:54
  Speaker 4: the final round I did pretty well and had a chance.
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: And then I'm pretty sure Alonzo hit, like, 23 straight
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: balls out. I don't think he made one out in it, like–
• 8:03
  Speaker 4: It was the most insane performance I've ever seen.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: I saw Pete mentioned you guys had a chance to
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: talk a little bit on Saturday. I don't know how
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: much you have talked with him over the years, but
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: a couple of Oriole first basemen getting together there.
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: Yeah, he came out and we spoke for a while
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: and it meant a lot that he came out before
• 8:23
  Speaker 4: a game. You know, I always remember what it's like.
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: I mean, I guess I was playing three months ago, so.
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: I feel further removed than that. But before the game,
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: you're just focused on your performance that day. And you're
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: not thinking about pregame ceremonies, who's there at the stadium
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: that day. And he came out and we talked for
• 8:41
  Speaker 4: a while, which is really cool of him. And he
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: told me that after playing there this year, like he
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: just feels at home. And we kind of shared just
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: our love for Baltimore and how comfortable we are playing
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: there and like how much we love the fans. He
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: was basically telling me that he gets it, you know,
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: after being here for a year and he's, he's a
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: perfect fit for that team. He's shown out this year
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: and he's one of the best hitters in the game
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: and has been for a while. And I think he
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: will continue to be. Yeah.
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: I think, you know, I think of your major league debut.
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: That moment to me was awesome.
• 9:19
  Speaker 5: Getting to watch you come in and hit the home
• 9:20
  Speaker 5: run against, I think it was the Red Sox we
• 9:22
  Speaker 5: were playing.
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: Can you kind of talk about like, What were your
• 9:26
  Speaker 5: emotions at that point? Because we were dead smack in
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: the middle of a wild card race. And like you're
• 9:30
  Speaker 5: in the minors, not even probably thinking about maybe you
• 9:33
  Speaker 5: have a shot getting called up. But there's a difference
• 9:35
  Speaker 5: between getting called up, making your major league debut and
• 9:37
  Speaker 5: then getting called up in like a pennant race like
• 9:39
  Speaker 5: we were in 16. You can just go through the
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: emotions of probably a couple of weeks you were thinking
• 9:44
  Speaker 5: there before.
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: You made your debut. Yeah, exactly. And yeah, I was
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: watching you guys. I was at the mini camp in
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: Sarasota because at the time the AAA season ended on
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: Labor Day. and they'd send a bunch of us to
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: Sarasota to just stay in shape in case somebody got hurt.
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: And yeah, I was just like hanging out down there,
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: you know, just going to the beach every day. And
• 10:04
  Speaker 4: then all of a sudden I got a call from
• 10:07
  Speaker 4: Brian Graham that said I was going to get activated
• 10:09
  Speaker 4: the next day. And I was like, all right, let's go. And, um,
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: you know, whenever you debut your like I said, the
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: emotions and adrenaline that go into it are crazy, but
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: I actually think it helps that we were in that
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: playoff race and playoff push. Cause it kind of takes
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: your thoughts off of yourself a little bit more. And
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: you're just trying to think of how do I fit
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: into this team and how can I help them achieve
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: this goal of making the playoffs? And it was the
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: most fun time imaginable to get called up. There are
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: some really, incredible and fun games in that last two
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: and a half weeks of the season. I always remember
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: the game that Hunsu hit the go-ahead homer in Toronto.
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: That was kind of the moment that like, I don't
• 10:53
  Speaker 4: want to say solidified us getting into the playoffs, but
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: that was a huge moment at the end of that season.
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: And I remember just how that was like the most
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: pumped I've ever seen a team be when somebody hit
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: a home run in the regular season. So You know,
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: it was a special few weeks and I think helped
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: give me some confidence going into the rest of my
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: career too.
• 11:15
  Speaker 7: You're playing time was such a unique time in franchise history, right?
• 11:20
  Speaker 7: Like you got called up at the end of 16
• 11:22
  Speaker 7: from 12 through 16, the O's won the most games
• 11:25
  Speaker 7: in the American league. And then, you know, 18, the
• 11:28
  Speaker 7: team got blown up and then you're in the rebuild.
• 11:31
  Speaker 7: And then 22, I feel like was a really fun
• 11:34
  Speaker 7: year with all the walk-off wins.
• 11:35
  Speaker 6: That you guys had.
• 11:36
  Speaker 7: And that was when you ended up getting traded of
• 11:39
  Speaker 7: course at the deadline but to experience the winning go
• 11:43
  Speaker 7: through the rebuild and then get out at the end
• 11:46
  Speaker 7: when they finished with a winning record in 2022 like
• 11:49
  Speaker 7: how would you characterize that that playing time.
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: Yeah it was definitely an interesting yeah like timeline to
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: be there i would say because when i was in
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: the minors and i was watching those guys and i
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: i referenced this a lot this weekend like brad oday
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: britain Trumbo came in 16, but like it was kind
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: of like the 2012 to 16 or actually could even
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: say till like September of 17. It was like that
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: a lot of the same core that had been there
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: and a lot of guys that had been overlooked maybe
• 12:21
  Speaker 4: in other organizations and they all came to the Orioles
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: and really came together and brought winning baseball back to
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: Baltimore finally after a long layoff. So I always looked
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: up to them when I was in the minors and
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: the way that they embrace Baltimore and played every night
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: was inspiring to me. So once I got up there,
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: I never took that for granted. I just wanted to
• 12:41
  Speaker 4: be a part of it. And unfortunately, in 18, when
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: we really had the big sell off and all those guys,
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: you know, a few had left before that, but really
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: 18 was when, you know, that whole team kind of
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: was traded or the contracts expired at the end of
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: the year. It was like a whole nother team starting
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: in 2019. But I wanted to kind of keep that
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: spirit alive in a way. And I knew that we
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: were probably going to go through a few tough years,
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: but you always want to put your best foot forward.
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: for many reasons, and you want to keep the fans
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: engaged and give them something to cheer about. And all
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: I really wanted in those tough years was to be
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: there again when we were winning again, and luckily I
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: got to experience that in 22 before I was traded.
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you mentioned going through tough years. 2019 was one,
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: and you were MVO, Most Valuable Oriole. You had a
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: great year, and of course your cancer diagnosis in 2020,
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: and then Comeback Player of the Year in the American
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: League in 2021. And then after 1,000 days away, you
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: came back, You got a few comebacks in your career.
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: Trey Mancini is with us. What a great day it
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: was Saturday. I want to talk more about that and
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: some other topics with Trey. Coming up on Birdland Territory.
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: Birdland Territory today with Trey Mancini, who retired in Oriole
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: on Saturday and some special moments. Trey, were you able to,
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: as they say, soak it all in or was it
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: kind of a blur on Saturday?
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: I was definitely able to soak it in. I tried
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: to do that. as best as I could just because
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: I knew that the weekend would fly by and go
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: so fast so you try to really soak in those
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: moments but yeah when I look back it's all kind
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: of a blur and blends together too but it was
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: just like I said one of the greatest honors of
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: my life and it was so fun to be back
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: and engage with the fans again and be there with
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: all my family and friends.
• 14:37
  Speaker 5: Trey, I feel like, you know, in 2020, obviously getting
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: your cancer diagnosis, I just, I still remember seeing the
• 14:44
  Speaker 5: headline and I mean, you're just floored. It's hard to
• 14:48
  Speaker 5: describe what it's like as a former teammate to see that.
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: Can't imagine what you.
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: Were going through.
• 14:54
  Speaker 5: After six years, can you look back at it and just,
• 14:58
  Speaker 5: is there anything that new that comes to mind or
• 15:00
  Speaker 5: is it just kind of one of the scariest, craziest
• 15:03
  Speaker 5: moments of your life?
• 15:04
  Speaker 6: And just kind of what, what's your mindset.
• 15:07
  Speaker 5: Now after six years after, and hopefully everything's good now,
• 15:10
  Speaker 5: but do you have any, you know, extra thoughts and
• 15:13
  Speaker 5: just things that bring you back to that point that
• 15:17
  Speaker 5: good or bad, indifferent, just anything along those lines?
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah. Knock on wood. Everything's great
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: health wise, but yeah, thank you. But yeah, I go
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: back to that time and it's so funny before I
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: was diagnosed, the only thing, the only stresses I had
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: in my life in the, the slightest regard where baseball
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: slumps and I, you know, your perspective changes massively. When
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: I was diagnosed, you know, at that time, I was
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: just trying to build on a career year that I
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: had in 2019. And I was, you know, planning on
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: how do I continue to do that or do even
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: better this year. And I was already thinking about opening
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: day facing the Yankees and like thinking of my plan.
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: And then all of a sudden you get diagnosed with,
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: stage three colon cancer and your whole perspective in life
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: view changes. You know, you go from only thinking about
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: baseball to not caring if you're ever going to play
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: it again. And that's something that always stays with you.
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: I definitely changed a lot after that. And I would
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: say the first two years, especially after were tough, like
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: 2021 in a lot of ways was tougher than 2020
• 16:28
  Speaker 4: was for me, just because whenever you're diagnosed with and
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: you're going through chemo, it's it's fight or flight mode.
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: So you're just in the moment, you want to get
• 16:37
  Speaker 4: through it. And then when you're finally done, you're kind
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: of left to pick up all the pieces. But in
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: September 2020, when I finished chemotherapy, I had a few
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: months to get ready for the season. And that was
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: all I was thinking about. So I finally get to
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: the season. And I'm expecting to be the same player
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: that I had been two years ago. And it was
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: just kind of an unrealistic expectation of myself. So when
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: I look back, I think I was really hard on
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: myself that year and, and the following years too, and
• 17:07
  Speaker 4: not giving enough thought. And I don't know if I'd
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: say credit to what I went through, but like it
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: was a massive life event and physically, mentally, like it
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: just changed me. And, um, looking back on 21, I'm
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: really proud of what I was able to do that year,
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: but I didn't really look at it that way at
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: the time. Uh, so, you know, I wish I could
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: change my perspective on that, but as the years go by, uh,
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: your perspective does change and everything that you go through
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: good and bad forms you into who you are today.
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: So I wouldn't change a thing that happened, but it
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: was definitely the scariest and craziest thing I've ever gone through.
• 17:43
  Speaker 7: I think what's even crazier, Trey, and obviously it's just
• 17:48
  Speaker 7: unbelievable what you went through and then playing 374 games
• 17:52
  Speaker 7: after the fact, you know, coming back from cancer, but.
• 17:56
  Speaker 6: All of this happened right at the beginning of the pandemic, right?
• 18:00
  Speaker 6: Like that was on top of it. Like I, geez,
• 18:03
  Speaker 6: I can't even imagine.
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: Yeah. So I woke up from my surgery and in
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: that hour and a half time period, they had shut
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: down spring training. They shut the NBA season down. It
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: was like the day, I don't know if you guys
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: remember when like Rudy Gobert, like touched all the microphones
• 18:19
  Speaker 4: and like got diagnosed with COVID the next day. And
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: then like everybody started freaking out. Like that was that
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: day of my surgery. So I woke up, Sarah and
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: my sisters like told me that the sports world shut
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: down and, you know, the world was about to shut down.
• 18:36
  Speaker 4: And I woke up in like an alternate reality. It
• 18:39
  Speaker 4: was the weirdest experience ever, you know, you know, after
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: being under anesthesia and waking up to this like new world.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: Crazy.
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Wow.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Probably disbelief a little bit.
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: Like, am I still dreaming here?
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I was like, you know, I didn't know if
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: I was in another life or like what had happened.
• 19:01
  Speaker 4: You know, it was just a new alternate reality kind of.
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: What was so amazing is you came back to play
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: well in that amazing night with the Derby. And in 2022,
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: this player, beloved by Oriole fans who love them back,
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: is traded while the team has a chance to, to
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: make the postseason.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: That rocked some worlds in Birdland, including yours, of course.
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: I mean, what do you remember from that day? Was
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: it as much as you love this team and now
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: you're traded? That had to take some adjusting of your thoughts.
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: Absolutely. I mean, it was the only organization I had
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: ever been in. It was my 10th season with the Orioles.
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: I was so comfortable and I never wanted to leave.
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: You know I never before the deadline approached that year
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: I never gave thought to being anywhere else I was
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: always so happy to be there although like when the
• 19:57
  Speaker 4: deadline did approach that year I knew that there was
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: a shot that I'd be traded so I tried to
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: mentally prepare myself but you can never fully do that
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: either so it was the day before the deadline and
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: I remember I We were in Texas about to start
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: a series and Heider called me in the office and
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: I knew then that I had been traded. So it's
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: the most, you know, bittersweet feeling in the world. At
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: the time, I'd almost say more bitter. But, you know,
• 20:23
  Speaker 4: I knew I was going to a great team in
• 20:25
  Speaker 4: the Astros and I absolutely loved my experience there and
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: won a World Series. And it was so cool being
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: part of that team and experiencing a different team. But
• 20:34
  Speaker 4: it was definitely tough to leave the place that I
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: had loved, too.
• 20:40
  Speaker 5: I was thinking about anytime we went to Chicago, being
• 20:43
  Speaker 5: a Notre Dame guy, it felt like it was a
• 20:45
  Speaker 5: home game for you.
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: You had all your.
• 20:46
  Speaker 5: Buddies from college living there.
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: You got a chance to play there. I know it
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: didn't work out.
• 20:50
  Speaker 5: I know the experience. I did the same thing with
• 20:53
  Speaker 5: the Cubs. But did you enjoy your time in Chicago?
• 20:55
  Speaker 5: Were you glad to get to go? Because I know
• 20:57
  Speaker 5: that was like the city to you. And whenever we
• 21:00
  Speaker 5: had a chance to talk about it, being a Notre
• 21:01
  Speaker 5: Dame guy. So did you enjoy your time with the
• 21:03
  Speaker 5: Cubs and the experience you had there? I know the
• 21:05
  Speaker 5: playing side. might not have gone.
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: As well, but you enjoyed it.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: Didn't go back to like kind of your roots.
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah. It was so cool. Cause yeah, I guess Chicago
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: is definitely considered the biggest city near Notre Dame and,
• 21:18
  Speaker 4: and half of my friends that graduated from Notre Dame
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: moved to Chicago right after college. So yeah, every time
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: we played there, like everybody would come out to the
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: games at Sox park. And then when we played the
• 21:31
  Speaker 4: Cubs and, In 2022, finally, like they all were there.
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: So it was always like one of my favorite cities
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: to go through there in New York, because that's where
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: basically all my friends live going like out of college.
• 21:42
  Speaker 4: So yeah, Chicago is an incredible city, had such a
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: great experience, you know, it's such a good organization. So
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: other than me not playing well, yeah, I really enjoyed
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: it there.
• 21:54
  Speaker 6: Trey, I want to go back to 2022.
• 21:56
  Speaker 7: And one of the cooler moments that I've had in radio,
• 22:00
  Speaker 7: it was your final home game, you know, Mo Gabbaday,
• 22:04
  Speaker 7: the inside the park home run.
• 22:06
  Speaker 6: I mean, it was such a storybook moment, right?
• 22:10
  Speaker 7: Like, it's not like you're known for the wheels or
• 22:14
  Speaker 7: anything like.
• 22:14
  Speaker 4: Inside hits off the outfielder's head.
• 22:19
  Speaker 6: Like, it was just so crazy. Take us, take us
• 22:23
  Speaker 6: through that play.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 22:25
  Speaker 4: I mean, I, I, right when I hit the ball,
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: I was like, Oh my, like I wanted to pitch back.
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: It was exactly what I was looking for. So I
• 22:33
  Speaker 4: was like frustrated. I kind of like shook my head
• 22:36
  Speaker 4: for a second and like put my back down and
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: then started running thinking, you know, it was a routine
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: fly ball. He didn't see it the whole time. I
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: played with Josh Lowe this year and that's who the
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: outfielder was in the play. And he every day would
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: just say, you're welcome to me. You know, I gave
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: you like the best moment ever. And yeah, he forgot
• 22:54
  Speaker 4: to put the sunglasses on his eyes and he did
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: not see the ball the entire time, he said. And yeah,
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: for it to happen on Mo Gabaday was crazy. It
• 23:04
  Speaker 4: was just like a goosebumps moment. I couldn't believe that
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: it had happened at the time. And I also remember
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: just when I was running between second and third, in
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: my head, I was praying. I was like, please let
• 23:14
  Speaker 4: the scorekeeper make this a hit.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: No way that was going to not be a hit.
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah, they appealed it.
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: I played with R.E.
• 23:29
  Speaker 4: Armstrong, who was a pitcher, and I probably would have
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: appealed it to if I were him. Yeah, luckily they
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: upheld it.
• 23:36
  Speaker 7: But Trey, continuing with that, though, you can't tell me
• 23:39
  Speaker 7: that Mo wasn't looking out in that moment.
• 23:43
  Speaker 6: And you and him just had such a special bond.
• 23:46
  Speaker 7: Like, what was it like when you first met him?
• 23:49
  Speaker 7: And just talk about your relationship with Mo in general.
• 23:53
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I met him in 2018 originally when he came
• 23:57
  Speaker 4: to the stadium and he just always was so wise
• 24:00
  Speaker 4: beyond his years and so positive, especially given the cards
• 24:05
  Speaker 4: that were handed to him. And he really, at the
• 24:09
  Speaker 4: time too, like this is before I was ever diagnosed
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: with cancer or anything. Like I just always felt so
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: connected to Mo and I hung out with him during
• 24:16
  Speaker 4: the All-Star break in 2018. And I really credit him with,
• 24:23
  Speaker 4: helping me turn my season around that year. I was
• 24:25
  Speaker 4: having a really, really rough time and I wanted to
• 24:29
  Speaker 4: hang out with him away from the cameras and, and
• 24:33
  Speaker 4: everything like that at the stadium. And actually like, and
• 24:36
  Speaker 4: we went to Dave and Buster's, uh, me, him and
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: his mom. And it was like such a fun day.
• 24:40
  Speaker 4: And I remember going home that day and I was like,
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: I'm not going to feel sorry for myself anymore. I'm
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: going to get up and make this a great second half.
• 24:47
  Speaker 4: Cause Mo is the most positive person I've ever met
• 24:50
  Speaker 4: in my life. And, If he has that attitude every day,
• 24:54
  Speaker 4: there's no reason for me to ever feel sorry for myself.
• 24:57
  Speaker 4: And that's something that I always took with me from that.
• 25:01
  Speaker 4: And he just always has that effect on people. And obviously,
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: Arbonne got even closer when I was diagnosed with cancer, too.
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: And I got to see him some in 2020 before
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: he unfortunately passed away. But he's somebody that I considered
• 25:15
  Speaker 4: a friend and, you know, just an incredible person.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: Wow. Great stuff there.
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: No doubt lessons he taught everybody, including you, you put
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: to use this year because after a thousand days, you
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: made it back to Major League Baseball. Oriole fans were
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: cheering you from afar when you joined the Angels in June.
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: What I want to know is you go four for 13,
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: four RBIs in five games.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: I'm thinking this guy is back and then you're cut loose.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: What in the world? I mean, The Rangers are not
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: exactly running away with the division.
• 25:50
  Speaker 6: What's going on?
• 25:51
  Speaker 4: You know, I was feeling really good, but I also
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: knew I was probably on borrowed time. Just given my age,
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: you know, I'm not going to take priority over young
• 26:04
  Speaker 4: guys in any organization. So my goal was to make
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: it back up to the majors and hopefully do well,
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: and I accomplished that. But I knew that if I
• 26:14
  Speaker 4: kept going, playing, it was going to be, you know,
• 26:17
  Speaker 4: go to AAA, hope for an injury, which you don't
• 26:21
  Speaker 4: want to hope for, and then get called up for
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: another week or so, and then do it all over again.
• 26:27
  Speaker 4: I didn't want to keep riding that wave. And Sarah
• 26:33
  Speaker 4: and I have a baby at home now. She's 11
• 26:34
  Speaker 4: months old. I had been away from them for three months,
• 26:37
  Speaker 4: and it was a no-brainer for me to be done
• 26:40
  Speaker 4: after that, just because even though I knew that I
• 26:42
  Speaker 4: could still play and do it, It had been such
• 26:45
  Speaker 4: a long time since I'd been in the majors. It's
• 26:48
  Speaker 4: hard to kind of reestablish yourself at age 34 as
• 26:52
  Speaker 4: a right hand and first baseman. And I knew that
• 26:55
  Speaker 4: and I was totally fine being done. I just wanted
• 26:58
  Speaker 4: to ride out being there as long as I could.
• 27:02
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it takes such a mental toll on you that
• 27:05
  Speaker 5: it's like at some point you just got to be like, uncle,
• 27:07
  Speaker 5: I'm good with it.
• 27:08
  Speaker 4: So I'm glad you got to go.
• 27:09
  Speaker 6: I'm glad you got to go out.
• 27:11
  Speaker 5: On your terms, but I'm sure this weekend kind of
• 27:13
  Speaker 5: gives you a chance to kind of reflect on your
• 27:15
  Speaker 5: time in Baltimore. Is there like a moment or two
• 27:18
  Speaker 5: that maybe stands out the most, or is there like
• 27:20
  Speaker 5: an overall theme that you really got to look back
• 27:23
  Speaker 5: on and kind of just reflect on this past weekend?
• 27:27
  Speaker 4: Yeah. And I'd say that overall theme is I, I
• 27:30
  Speaker 4: really don't think I would have had the career or
• 27:35
  Speaker 4: start to their career that I had anywhere else other
• 27:38
  Speaker 4: than Baltimore. I felt comfortable from day one in the organization.
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: It felt like home. It felt right. Um, and, and
• 27:46
  Speaker 4: the way the city embraced me and embraced our team
• 27:50
  Speaker 4: is something that I never took for granted and is
• 27:54
  Speaker 4: just something that I hold so near and dear to
• 27:57
  Speaker 4: my heart. So, um, you know, a lot of things
• 28:02
  Speaker 4: happened in the middle of my career, you know, that,
• 28:05
  Speaker 4: that changed the trajectory of it maybe, but, but that's okay. Like,
• 28:11
  Speaker 4: I think if I was anywhere else, it wouldn't have
• 28:14
  Speaker 4: gone so well. And I just am so appreciative for
• 28:17
  Speaker 4: my time there and for everybody that I had met
• 28:19
  Speaker 4: and for everybody that it brought into my life. Great.
• 28:23
  Speaker 7: I'd love to just end with here in what do
• 28:26
  Speaker 7: you think of Orioles fans? Because they definitely embraced you from,
• 28:30
  Speaker 7: from the jump and, and the fight, uh, uh, poster,
• 28:35
  Speaker 7: if you will, in, in the dugout that they just redid,
• 28:38
  Speaker 7: that's always going to be, there's really cool. Everyone still
• 28:40
  Speaker 7: wears the shirts and everything. Just what do you think
• 28:44
  Speaker 7: of Orioles fans in general?
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: They're the best man. I, uh, you know, it, doesn't
• 28:51
  Speaker 4: escape me that I know I'm not the best player
• 28:54
  Speaker 4: to get this treatment I'm far from it you know
• 28:56
  Speaker 4: I played really well there and I'm proud of what
• 28:58
  Speaker 4: I was able to do on the field but there
• 29:00
  Speaker 4: are definitely guys that were better players than me that
• 29:04
  Speaker 4: that um don't get to retire like this so I'm
• 29:08
  Speaker 4: just so honored that that they think that highly of
• 29:12
  Speaker 4: me and and I it is reciprocated for me. I
• 29:16
  Speaker 4: think so highly of them. So it's always, it's so
• 29:18
  Speaker 4: nice to have a place that feels like home to
• 29:20
  Speaker 4: always go back to. And, you know, the fans are
• 29:23
  Speaker 4: the main driver of that.
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: Well, as we wrap it up, man, what a, what a,
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: it came full circle for you. This young kid from
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: Notre Dame ends his career with the Orioles. Now a
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: family man with Sarah, who of course we all got
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: to know. and did such a great job at Mass
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: and was a wonderful colleague and now a little one
• 29:42
  Speaker 3: so Trey now what comes next will we see you
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: more in Birdland what's the next few years going to
• 29:47
  Speaker 3: look like for you.
• 29:49
  Speaker 4: Yeah I hope so in some capacity I'm not sure
• 29:51
  Speaker 4: yet uh You know, Sadie, our little one, keeps us
• 29:55
  Speaker 4: very busy every day. So I haven't had a ton
• 29:58
  Speaker 4: of time to think about what's next. But at the
• 30:01
  Speaker 4: same time, you know, I'm 34. So I can't just
• 30:05
  Speaker 4: play tennis all day. You know, I definitely want to
• 30:08
  Speaker 4: do something and do something pretty soon. So the decision
• 30:12
  Speaker 4: will probably be made sooner rather than later. But I'm
• 30:14
  Speaker 4: not quite sure. I want to make sure I like
• 30:16
  Speaker 4: take the time, the proper time to think about it.
• 30:19
  Speaker 4: But I'll definitely be doing something.
• 30:23
  Speaker 3: We can't wait to see what that is. Make sure
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: you say hello to the girls for both for all
• 30:27
  Speaker 3: three of us. And I can't wait to see in
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: person again. I know we're going to see more of
• 30:33
  Speaker 3: you in Birdland at some point, some way. So that's
• 30:35
  Speaker 3: going to be fantastic. Thank you for being a great guy.
• 30:39
  Speaker 3: Thank you for being a great Oriole. And thank you
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: for being a great guest today.
• 30:44
  Speaker 4: Appreciate you guys. I really enjoyed it. It's great to
• 30:49
  Speaker 4: see you guys all again. Yeah.
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: Trey, great to see you and continued success for whatever
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: you got going.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: We'll see you soon.
• 30:58
  Speaker 4: All right. Thanks, guys.
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: Trey Mancini joining us today, O's fans, and we'll talk
• 31:03
  Speaker 3: to you next time on Birdland Territory.
• 31:07
  Speaker 5: If you made it this far, you'll love this next video.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: Check it out right here.
• 31:11
  Speaker 5: And make sure you subscribe to Birdland Territory for more
• 31:13
  Speaker 5: Orioles coverage like this multiple times a week.