Latest / Birdland Territory / An interview with Trey Mancini

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An interview with Trey Mancini · Birdland Territory

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