BALTIMORE — Trey Mancini signed a one-day contract with the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday and retired with the team that drafted him, one day short of the 10th anniversary of his major-league debut at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
The Orioles honored him in a pregame ceremony before Saturday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers. Mancini threw out the ceremonial first pitch, and the club unveiled a permanent “F16HT” sign in the dugout — the slogan adopted during his 2020 colon cancer fight, which had hung in the home dugout tunnel every season since. The original was moved to the ballpark’s Club Level archives.
Mancini, 34, announced his retirement on Instagram on Aug. 18. He finished with a .263 average, 129 home runs and 404 RBIs in 836 games over eight seasons with the Orioles, Astros, Cubs and Angels.
Baltimore drafted him in the eighth round in 2013 out of Notre Dame. He homered three times in his first five games in 2016 and finished third in American League Rookie of the Year voting the next season.
By 2019, at 27, he had become the Orioles’ best hitter. Mancini batted .291/.364/.535 with 35 home runs, 38 doubles, 106 runs and 97 RBIs, led the club in eight offensive categories, and set career highs in hits, doubles, home runs, runs, RBIs and walks. He was the 10th different player in franchise history to post a season with at least 30 doubles, 30 home runs and 100 runs scored, and was voted Most Valuable Oriole.
The following March, routine spring training blood work led to a Stage 3 colon cancer diagnosis. Mancini had surgery and six months of chemotherapy and missed the entire 2020 season. The cancer went into remission that year.
He returned in 2021 and played 147 games, hitting .255 with 21 home runs, 71 RBIs and a .758 OPS. Voters named him American League Comeback Player of the Year. Traded to Houston at the 2022 deadline, he appeared in 51 games for the Astros and won a World Series ring.
The last comeback took longer. The Cubs released him in 2023. He did not appear in the majors in 2024 or 2025, spending last season at Triple-A Reno in the Arizona system, where he hit .308. He signed a minor-league deal with the Angels in February and returned to the majors on June 8, more than 1,000 days after his previous big-league game, going 3-for-4. He played five games and was designated for assignment on June 17.
Shirts bearing the F16HT logo raised more than $80,000 for the Colorectal Cancer Alliance. Mancini started his own foundation in 2021.