Sarah Langs

Langs became interested in baseball as a child growing up in New York City and watching the New York Mets.{{cite news |last1=Marchand |first1=Andrew |title=Inside Sarah Langs' inspiring ALS fight — which hasn't slowed her baseball media rise |url=https://nypost.com/2022/12/06/inside-sarah-langs-inspiring-als-fight-which-hasnt-slowed-her-baseball-media-rise/ |access-date=11 May 2023 |work=New York Post |date=6 December 2022}} She gained an affection for the San Francisco Giants from her mother.{{cite news |title=Families & fandom: Multi-generational Giants, A's clans share their stories |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/03/30/families-fandom-multi-generational-giants-as-clans-share-their-stories |access-date=15 June 2023 |work=The Mercury News |date=30 March 2015}} Conversations about sports and statistics were common in her household.{{cite news |last1=Gonzalez |first1=Marcos |title=UChicago Alum Sarah Langs Continues to Inspire Fans Around the Nation |url=https://chicagomaroon.com/38772/sports/uchicago-alum-sarah-langs-continues-to-inspire-fans-around-the-nation/ |access-date=11 May 2023 |work=Chicago Maroon}}

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.{{cite news |title=Meet The College New Media Editors {{!}} The College |url=https://college.uchicago.edu/news/student-stories/meet-college-new-media-editors |access-date=11 May 2023 |work=The University of Chicago |language=en}}

Langs' mother is Liise-anne Pirofski, chief of infectious diseases at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center.{{cite web |title=Liise-anne Pirofski, MD, FACP, FIDSA: A Woman of ID – IDSA Foundation |url=https://idsafoundation.org/liise-anne-pirofski-md-facp-fidsa-a-woman-of-id/ |website=idsafoundation.org |access-date=15 June 2023}} Her father, Charles Langs, is a nephrologist at NYU Langone Health.

After 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.{{cite news |last1=Buchanan |first1=Zach |title=Faced with an ALS diagnosis, Sarah Langs — MLB's research star — keeps going |url=https://theathletic.com/3987985/2022/12/14/sarah-langs-mlb-media-als/ |access-date=11 May 2023 |work=The Athletic |date=14 December 2022 |language=en}}

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.

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.{{cite news |title=All-women broadcast crew makes history |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/orioles-rays-all-women-broadcast-making-history |access-date=13 May 2023 |work=MLB.com |language=en}} Langs, Watney, Gardner, Newman and Rizzo signed a baseball that was sent to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

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.{{cite news |last1=Muratore |first1=Elizabeth |title=Langs' BBWAA honor couldn't be more fitting |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/sarah-langs-honored-at-bbwaa-awards-dinner |access-date=13 May 2023 |work=MLB.com |language=en}}

Langs recorded commentary and filmed studio segments for Road to the Show mode in MLB The Show 24.

Langs is in a relationship with Matt Williams, an NBA researcher for ESPN.

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.{{cite web |title=INTERVIEW With SARAH LANGS | website=YouTube | date=7 April 2023 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6lvrKjYVj8 |access-date=20 May 2023 |language=en}} 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.{{Cite tweet|number=1578041977957933056|user=SlangsOnSports|title=before another sure-to-be-incredible postseason begins, I have something I wanted to share|date=2022-10-06|access-date=2023-09-18|first=Sarah|last=Langs|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511154013/https://twitter.com/SlangsOnSports/status/1578041977957933056|archive-date=2023-05-11|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web |title=Sarah Langs: "Baseball is really part of what has gotten me through all this" - Ben & Woods On Demand |url=https://omny.fm/shows/ben-woods-on-demand/sarah-langs-baseball-is-really-part-of-what-has-go |website=omny.fm |publisher=KWFN-FM |access-date=14 May 2023 |language=en}}

Langs ran three half-marathons while experiencing symptoms of what doctors later determined to be ALS.

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. As of May 20, the effort had raised more than $25,000 from donors including Karl Ravech, Jeff Passan and Jon "Boog" Sciambi.{{cite web |title=#FistBumps4ALS in honor of Sarah Langs |url=https://fundraise.projectals.org/campaign/fistbumps4als-in-honor-of-sarah-langs/c482208 |website=fundraise.projectals.org |access-date=20 May 2023}} Charles Barkley highlighted the fundraising effort during an Inside the NBA broadcast.{{cite news |last1=Heim |first1=Mark |title=Charles Barkley nominates Hugh Freeze, Paul Finebaum, Bruce Pearl for ALS fist bump challenge |url=https://www.al.com/auburnbasketball/2023/05/charles-barkley-nominates-hugh-freeze-paul-finebaum-bruce-pearl-for-als-fist-bump-challenge.html |access-date=20 May 2023 |work=al |date=9 May 2023 |language=en}}

On June 2, 2023, which MLB recognizes as Lou Gehrig Day, the league and its teams recognized Langs.{{cite news |last1=Bucholtz |first1=Andrew |title=Sarah Langs' battle with ALS highlighted by ESPN, MLB teams, and more |url=https://awfulannouncing.com/mlb/sarah-langs-als-lou-gehrig-salutes.html |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=Awful Announcing |date=2 June 2023}}{{cite news |title=MLB Media Celebrates Sarah Langs on Lou Gehrig Day {{!}} Barrett Media |url=https://barrettsportsmedia.com/2023/06/02/mlb-media-celebrate-sarah-langs-on-lou-gehrig-day/ |access-date=3 June 2023 |date=2 June 2023}} 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.{{cite news |last1=Mastracco |first1=Abbey |title=Sarah Langs set to be honored by Mets, broadcast crews around MLB |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-sarah-langs-researcher-honored-20230531-sfq2mv2l5zba3h2i47l7q3v6fy-story.html |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=New York Daily News |date=31 May 2023}} The Arizona Diamondbacks donated $25,000 to Project ALS.{{cite news |last1=Farkas |first1=Brady |title=New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks Make Donations to ALS Research on Lou Gehrig Day |url=https://www.si.com/fannation/mlb/fastball/news/new-york-mets-arizona-diamondbacks-make-donations-to-als-research-on-lou-gehrig-day |access-date=6 June 2023 |work=Fastball |date=2 June 2023 |language=en}}

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.{{cite news |last1=Langs |first1=Sarah |title='Overwhelmed by kindness': Sarah Langs reflects on ALS journey |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/37775605/sarah-langs-als-journey-lou-gehrig-day-mlb |access-date=3 June 2023 |work=ESPN.com |date=2 June 2023 |language=en}}

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.

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.{{cite news |last1=Bucholtz |first1=Andrew |title=Sarah Langs talks support she's received after sharing ALS diagnosis: 'I am so, so eternally grateful for it.' |url=https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/sarah-langs-sunday-night-baseball-support-als.html |access-date=27 June 2024 |work=Awful Announcing |date=3 June 2024}}

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Category:1993 births

Category:Living people

Category:American women podcasters

Category:American sports podcasters

Category:American women sportswriters

Category:Baseball writers

Category:Baseball statisticians

Category:Sportswriters from New York (state)

Category:University of Chicago alumni

Category:American wheelchair users

Category:People with motor neuron disease

Category:Writers from New York City

Category:21st-century American women writers

Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers