Sarah Langs | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1993-05-02)May 2, 1993 (age 32) |
| Employer | MLB.com |
Sarah Langs (born May 2, 1993)[1][2] is an American sportswriter and podcaster. She currently writes forMLB.com and is known for her command of baseball history and statistics. She co-hosts the podcast Ballpark Dimensions with colleague Mandy Bell.[3]
Langs became interested in baseball as a child growing up inNew York City and watching theNew York Mets.[4] She gained an affection for theSan Francisco Giants from her mother.[5] Conversations about sports and statistics were common in her household.[6]
Langs studied comparative human development at theUniversity of Chicago and wrote about sports forThe Chicago Maroon. She interned at theNew York Post,Newsweek andThe Daily Beast before an internship withSportsnet 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 atAlbert Einstein College of Medicine andMontefiore Medical Center.[8] Her father, Charles Langs, is anephrologist atNYU Langone Health.[4]
After graduating in 2015, Langs remained in Chicago, writing research pieces about theChicago Cubs andChicago White Sox forNBC Sports Chicago.ESPN soon hired her as a researcher. She supported the hosts ofBaseball Tonight with statistics and other historical information.[9]
In 2017,Buster Olney urged Langs to appear on theBaseball 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, alongsideHeidi Watney,Lauren Gardner,Melanie Newman andAlanna Rizzo, calling aYouTube Game of the Week featuring theBaltimore Orioles andTampa Bay Rays atTropicana Field.[10] Langs, Watney, Gardner, Newman and Rizzo signed a baseball that was sent to theNational Baseball Hall of Fame.[6]
In January 2023, theBaseball 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 inMLB The Show 24.
Langs is in a relationship with Matt Williams, anNBA researcher for ESPN.[4]
Langs, 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 withamyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive and terminal illness affecting motor function, often now referred to asLou Gehrig's Disease. She revealed her diagnosis just before the2022 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 forProject ALS similar to theIce Bucket Challenge.[2] As of May 20, the effort had raised more than $25,000 from donors includingKarl Ravech,Jeff Passan andJon "Boog" Sciambi.[15]Charles Barkley highlighted the fundraising effort during anInside the NBA broadcast.[16]
On June 2, 2023, which MLB recognizes asLou 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 atMassachusetts General Hospital. The Mets honored Langs at a pregame ceremony and, through their foundation, donated $10,000 to Project ALS in her name.[19] TheArizona 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]
TheNew 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 thePhiladelphia Phillies on Lou Gehrig Day on June 2, 2024 and told ESPN during the game broadcast that she is overwhelmed with the support she has received.[22]
