Mancini 'almost teared up' during 1st AB since cancer diagnosis

Baltimore Orioles slugger Trey Mancini returned to the diamond for the first time since his colon cancer diagnosis nearly one year ago Sunday.

The Sarasota, Florida crowd at the Orioles' spring-training home treated Mancini to a standing ovation that lasted nearly a minute before his first at-bat. The visiting Pittsburgh Pirates also joined in on the applause.

"It was amazing," Mancini said, according to Jon Meoli of The Baltimore Sun. "I almost teared up a little bit, I'm not going to lie, when I was up there, and everybody gave me a standing ovation, and I saw all the guys on the field clapping on the Pirates, clapping in the dugout, our team, and all our fans.

"It meant the world to me. It was a really, really cool moment and one of the favorite moments of my baseball career. I think it was a huge day for me, personally, getting back in a game. Just another kind of milestone that I can check off here."

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde added that it was a "goosebumps moment."

Mancini was coming off a breakout 2019 campaign, hitting 35 homers over 153 games. When he reported for camp last year, his physical showed an irregularity, and further tests found a malignant tumor in his colon. The 29-year-old wound up missing the entire 2020 season, undergoing surgery in March followed by six months of chemotherapy.