Trey Mancini Homering And Leading The Orioles To A Comeback Win On The One-Year Anniversary Of Baltimore Losing It's Biggest Fan, Mo Gaba, Was Incredible
Quite an emotional day in Baltimore yesterday as it marked the one-year anniversary of the city losing it's biggest sports fan, Mo Gaba. I was lucky enough to become good friends with Mo and his mother over the past few years and even had the chance to write about him a few times and you can see them here, here, and here so check those out if you haven't. The Orioles announced earlier this week that his mother was going to be throwing out the first pitch of tonight's game and there was no better person to catch that pitch than another beloved sports figure in Baltimore and dear, dear friend of Mo, Trey Mancini. Trey and Mo became close a few years back and then became closer as they both battled cancer in 2020.
To honor Mo, Sonsy threw the ball underhand like Mo did when he threw out the first pitch a few years back. It didn't matter that the ball bounced, it was the perfect throw to Trey. I dare you to watch the video of Sonsy and Trey hugging and not tear up, was impossible for me not to yesterday when I saw it. As is tradition the Orioles got walloped early on, but in the third inning Trey laced a ball into deep left for his 19th homer of the year because why wouldn't he homer on the anniversary of us losing a friend. So damn cool to watch that happen and I don't care if you believe in something higher, Mo was the reason that ball went out. Can't tell me otherwise. The best part about the homer was the smile on Trey's face as he got to home. He got into the dugout and came back out and waved to Sonsy as she blew him a kiss. Just unbelievable. I wouldn't expect anything less from Trey to honor Mo with that homer. And the icing on the cake was the Orioles came back from a 5-0 deficit to literally walk it off as the Mariners served up 3 walks, 2 intentional, in the bottom of the 9th with Ryan McKenna drawing the bases loaded walk to finish it.
Mo's favorite saying was "Make Everyday A Win" so when the Orioles tweeted this graphic out after the game it was perfect. I didn't really care if the O's won or lost that game after Trey homered, but them pulling it out and willing a victory with everyone knowing the situation and circumstances was pretty damn cool. That home run by Trey may be one of my favorites. It also may be one of my favorite wins by the Birds this season, who doesn't love a walk off walk?