Trey Mancini’s promotion to the Major League Baltimore Orioles last September proved to be a history-making event.
He debuted as the designated hitter against Boston and hit a home run in his second at bat. That made Mancini only the third player in Orioles’ history to hit a home run for their first Major League hit. Two nights later, Mancini hit a three-run homer off David Price and became the 20th player in Major League history to hit a home run in his first two starts.
Mancini wasn’t done. On September 24, Mancini hit a solo home run in a 6-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, only the third player in Major League history to hit a homer in their first three starts.
This spring, Mancini has been training with the Orioles in Florida, working to find a place in the line-up. He is a first baseman, but that job is already held by Chris Davis. Mancini has been working on transitioning to the right field position, something he has said was not as much of an adjustment as he thought.
You’re on the same side of the field, so the angle at which you see the batter is similar, he said.
Mancini has ties to our area as his sister, Katie, lives in Brockport. She says spring training has been phenomenal for Trey this year. “Probably his best ever,” she observes. “He’s been playing quite a bit of right field, which he hasn’t done in years. Hopefully between right field, first base, DH and pinch hitting, he will have a spot on the roster this year.”
The Mancini family is not from this area, but Katie is married to Giuseppe Pettinari, a Hilton native whose family runs the Pettinari Deli on Roosevelt Highway at the intersection of Hamlin-Parma Townline Road.
The couple met when they were both working for Paychex in Chicago. They moved to Brockport when their first child was almost one to be closer to family.
She says that growing up, baseball was a family affair. “Trey would wait outside for my dad to come home from work every night so they could play catch,” she remembers. “I think they would long toss the ball every night for over an hour. Trey is the only boy between two sisters so he is teased quite a bit about being my mom’s favorite.”
While Katie was working in Chicago, she was able to travel to Notre Dame, two hours away, to visit Trey who was then in college.
She says Trey’s first Major League home run last September was surreal.
“I have a four year old son, and all I could think about was that Trey was his age when he first signed up for baseball. My sister and I grew up at the ball field and my family spent countless weekends on travel baseball trips,” Katie says. “I thought of my parents first when he hit that home run and I thought about every sacrifice and all the time they put into his baseball career and there it was … the big moment and the world saw it. It was pretty incredible.”
A video of Katie and Trey’s mom’s reaction to the first home run went viral, Katie adds. “It was on the Today Show and Good Morning America. There were GIF’s made out of it. It was pretty funny seeing people taking selfies with her after being recognized on the streets of Baltimore.”
After the third homer in his third start, Katie says the family was shocked. “He’s always been a home run hitter,” she says of Trey, “but to string three home runs together in his first big league appearances was something none of us expected.”
The family has connections to Maryland, Katie says, which makes the fact that Trey plays in the Baltimore Orioles organization even more special.
“My mom is from Bowie, Maryland, and Trey was able to live with a family member through most of the minor league teams he’s played on,” she explains. “My mom’s aunt and uncle were five minutes away from the field in Frederick.” Trey and Katie’s grandmother still lives in Bowie as do most of her mom’s siblings, she adds.
Katie and her family make a priority of getting to games to see Trey. “We were in the car the day after his first game, so we were able to see the second and third home runs live,” she says. “My parents make frequent trips to wherever he is playing. We plan to make many trips this summer.”
