David Hess Recalls How Former Orioles Teammate Trey Mancini Helped Him With Cancer Battle
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- After he was diagnosed with cancer, David Hess, a pitcher in the Tampa Bay Rays organization, said he thought of his former teammate on the Baltimore Orioles, Trey Mancini.
The Orioles first baseman returned for the 2021 season after battling colon cancer, and not only did Mancini play in 147 games, he hit 21 home runs and reached the finals of the Home Run Derby during the mid-season All Star Game festivities.
Mancini, 29, was awarded American League Comeback Player of the Year honors by both his fellow players and the league.
"That was -- and still is -- a big motivating factor, just to see how he handled it and to see that it's possible, and to try and follow in those footsteps and hopefully have the same type of story," Hess said in a video recounting his cancer battle.
In a video shared by the Major League Baseball Players Association on Tuesday, Hess recalled struggling at the end of the baseball season and getting winded more easily. He thought it might be an asymptomatic case of COVID-19.
A short run in the offseason left him completely winded, and the next day, he coughed up blood in the shower.
"That's what really kickstarted the whole thing," he said.
An oncologist found a cantaloupe-sized tumor in Hess' chest pushing down his heart and pressing against his lungs and arteries, the latter resulting in blood clots. Hess was diagnosed a germ cell tumor, a rare form of cancer.
Doctors told Hess the run he went on probably should have killed him, he recalled.
Five days after he shared the news of his diagnosis on Twitter, Hess was receiving his first treatment.
Mancini recalled speaking with Hess shortly after the diagnosis.
"I know it's scary, I know this feeling that you're feeling right now," he told Hess. "There's no doubt in my mind that you're going to get through it. If I could've, then you certainly will."
Drafted by the Orioles one year apart, Mancini and Hess were teammates in Baltimore from 2018-2019.
Hess pitched three games with the Orioles in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, when Mancini was sidelined with cancer.
In 2021, Hess had stints with the Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins organizations. The Rays signed him to a minor-league contract in November.
After the diagnosis, the 28-year-old underwent three three-week cycles of chemotherapy, eventually losing his hair.
"As everybody knows with chemo, it was rough at times," he said. "Every day you get done with treatment and you're just exhausted. And it was really weird to look in the mirror and see a completely different reflection looking at me."
During a follow-up appointment, Hess' oncologist asked him, "Are you ready to get back to work?" The cancer was almost completely gone.
Hess sent a text to his former teammate a short time later.
"He texted me the next day or two after and told me that he was cleared and everything was gone and in complete remission, and he was able to restart his life again," Mancini recalled. "I was really happy about that."
On Jan. 28, the right-hander tweeted he was "cured" and had been cleared for all physical activity.
"I can't thank everyone enough for the prayers, support, and love through this," he said. "Time to get back to work and on a mound hopefully soon."
He's set to report to Rays camp this month.
