Sarah Langs (born May 2, 1993)[1][2] is an American sportswriter and podcaster. She currently writes for MLB.com and is known for her command of baseball history and statistics. She co-hosts the podcast Ballpark Dimensions with colleague Mandy Bell.[3]
Sarah Langs | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 2, 1993 |
| Employer | MLB.com |
Early life
editLangs became interested in baseball as a child growing up in New York City and watching the New York Mets.[4] She gained an affection for the San Francisco Giants from her mother.[5] Conversations about sports and statistics were common in her household.[6]
Langs studied comparative human development at the University of Chicago and wrote about sports for The Chicago Maroon. She interned at the New York Post, Newsweek and The Daily Beast before an internship with Sportsnet New York gave her the opportunity to pitch and write research-based sports stories about the Mets.[6][7]
Langs' mother is Liise-anne Pirofski, chief of infectious diseases at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center.[8] Her father, Charles Langs, is a nephrologist at NYU Langone Health.[4]
Career
editAfter graduating in 2015, Langs remained in Chicago, writing research pieces about the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox for NBC Sports Chicago. ESPN soon hired her as a researcher. She supported the hosts of Baseball Tonight with statistics and other historical information.[9]
In 2017, Buster Olney urged Langs to appear on the Baseball Tonight podcast, which led to regular appearances on the podcast and on air. MLB.com hired Langs in 2019, though she continues to work behind the scenes on ESPN broadcasts and appear on Olney's podcast.[9]
In 2021, she served as an on-air analyst as part of Major League Baseball's first all-female broadcast crew, alongside Heidi Watney, Lauren Gardner, Melanie Newman and Alanna Rizzo, calling a YouTube Game of the Week featuring the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.[10] Langs, Watney, Gardner, Newman and Rizzo signed a baseball that was sent to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.[6]
In January 2023, the Baseball Writers' Association of America honored Langs with the Casey Stengel "You Could Look It Up" Award, which is typically presented to someone the group has not otherwise recognized.[11]
Langs recorded commentary and filmed studio segments for Road to the Show mode in MLB The Show 24.
Personal life
editLangs is in a relationship with Matt Williams, an NBA researcher for ESPN.[4]
Illness
editLangs, an avid runner, first noticed an unexplained limp in 2019. In early 2020, she saw an orthopedist, believing that it was an ankle injury.[12] In 2021, Langs was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive and terminal illness affecting motor function, often now referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease. She revealed her diagnosis just before the 2022 Major League Baseball postseason.[13] She has continued to work for MLB.com and record podcasts, doing so mostly from home. She has credited her work and the baseball community with helping her to cope with her diagnosis.[14]
Langs ran three half-marathons while experiencing symptoms of what doctors later determined to be ALS.[9]
Since announcing her diagnosis, Langs has highlighted nonprofits and research efforts related to ALS. On her birthday in May 2023, she launched #FistBumps4ALS, a fundraising effort for Project ALS similar to the Ice Bucket Challenge.[2] As of May 20, the effort had raised more than $25,000 from donors including Karl Ravech, Jeff Passan and Jon "Boog" Sciambi.[15] Charles Barkley highlighted the fundraising effort during an Inside the NBA broadcast.[16]
On June 2, 2023, which MLB recognizes as Lou Gehrig Day, the league and its teams recognized Langs.[17][18] The league and its teams partnered with Project ALS, and the league auctioned 30 bats signed by players selected by Langs, with proceeds to benefit the Healey Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital. The Mets honored Langs at a pregame ceremony and, through their foundation, donated $10,000 to Project ALS in her name.[19] The Arizona Diamondbacks donated $25,000 to Project ALS.[20]
ESPN published a commentary in which Langs reflected on all the love she had been shown since she made her diagnosis public, and reflected on what Gehrig told fans in the famous speech he delivered as he left baseball.[21]
The New York Yankees honored her on July 4, 2023, the anniversary of Lou Gehrig's "Luckiest Man" speech. She tried on a cap worn by Gehrig and held his bat. Her parents threw out ceremonial first pitches.[1]
She was honored by the Philadelphia Phillies on Lou Gehrig Day in 2024, and told ESPN during the game broadcast that she is overwhelmed with the support she has received.[22]
References
edit- ^ a b "MLB's Sarah Langs, who has ALS, honored at Yankees game on anniversary of Lou Gehrig's famous speech". AP News. 4 July 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- ^ a b Bushak, Lecia (5 May 2023). "MLB Network's Sarah Langs pitches fans on #FistBumps4ALS campaign". MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ "Ballpark Dimensions on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
- ^ a b c Marchand, Andrew (6 December 2022). "Inside Sarah Langs' inspiring ALS fight — which hasn't slowed her baseball media rise". New York Post. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- ^ "Families & fandom: Multi-generational Giants, A's clans share their stories". The Mercury News. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
- ^ a b c Gonzalez, Marcos. "UChicago Alum Sarah Langs Continues to Inspire Fans Around the Nation". Chicago Maroon. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- ^ "Meet The College New Media Editors | The College". The University of Chicago. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- ^ "Liise-anne Pirofski, MD, FACP, FIDSA: A Woman of ID – IDSA Foundation". idsafoundation.org. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
- ^ a b c Buchanan, Zach (14 December 2022). "Faced with an ALS diagnosis, Sarah Langs — MLB's research star — keeps going". The Athletic. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- ^ "All-women broadcast crew makes history". MLB.com. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
- ^ Muratore, Elizabeth. "Langs' BBWAA honor couldn't be more fitting". MLB.com. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
- ^ "INTERVIEW With SARAH LANGS". YouTube. 7 April 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ Langs, Sarah [@SlangsOnSports] (2022-10-06). "before another sure-to-be-incredible postseason begins, I have something I wanted to share" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2023-05-11. Retrieved 2023-09-18 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Sarah Langs: "Baseball is really part of what has gotten me through all this" - Ben & Woods On Demand". omny.fm. KWFN-FM. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
- ^ "#FistBumps4ALS in honor of Sarah Langs". fundraise.projectals.org. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ Heim, Mark (9 May 2023). "Charles Barkley nominates Hugh Freeze, Paul Finebaum, Bruce Pearl for ALS fist bump challenge". al. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ Bucholtz, Andrew (2 June 2023). "Sarah Langs' battle with ALS highlighted by ESPN, MLB teams, and more". Awful Announcing. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- ^ "MLB Media Celebrates Sarah Langs on Lou Gehrig Day | Barrett Media". 2 June 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- ^ Mastracco, Abbey (31 May 2023). "Sarah Langs set to be honored by Mets, broadcast crews around MLB". New York Daily News. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- ^ Farkas, Brady (2 June 2023). "New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks Make Donations to ALS Research on Lou Gehrig Day". Fastball. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
- ^ Langs, Sarah (2 June 2023). "'Overwhelmed by kindness': Sarah Langs reflects on ALS journey". ESPN.com. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- ^ Bucholtz, Andrew (3 June 2024). "Sarah Langs talks support she's received after sharing ALS diagnosis: 'I am so, so eternally grateful for it.'". Awful Announcing. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
