WHAT: The Yankees will honor Sarah Langs as their HOPE Week honoree on Tuesday, July 4 — the 84th anniversary of Lou Gehrig making his famous “Luckiest Man” speech. Langs and approximately eight women from the organization “Her ALS Story” will take a pregame tour of Monument Park and the Yankees Museum presented by Bank of America. The tour will include a “Hands on History” component where the participants will get to hold Yankees artifacts, including game-used Lou Gehrig items. The group will attend Manager Aaron Boone’s morning press conference and Langs will join Boone on the dais. In a video that will be played during the pregame ceremony, Gehrig’s full speech will be recited in interspersed segments by Yankees players and women from “Her ALS Story.” Additionally, the women will be side-by-side on the field with the Yankees starting lineup for the national anthem prior to the 1:05 p.m. game vs. Baltimore. In addition, Yankees Manager Aaron Boone and players Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole will take part in various aspects of the day’s activities.
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Native New Yorker Sarah Langs grew up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and attended the University of Chicago, graduating in 2015 and working all four years for her college newspaper. After internships with SNY and CSN Chicago, she quickly rose through ESPN’s research department and landed a job at MLB Advance Media as a reporter/producer in 2019 at the age of 26, with a focus in finding the statistical nuggets used throughout baseball broadcasts.
She was on top of the world, becoming one of Major League Baseball’s most respected and universally liked statistical analysts in a male- dominated discipline. Yet for the last three years, she has been in a battle with ALS (most commonly diagnosed in individuals between 40 and 70), which has altered every aspect of her day-to-day life.
Despite the challenges of her condition, Sarah continues to make her mark on the game, most recently authoring the official game notes to national media for the recent World Baseball Classic. Her passion, persistence and positive disposition exemplify the kind of fight we all hope resides within us.
“One thing that no disease can take from me is baseball,” Sarah said after publicly announcing her diagnosis on Twitter in October 2022. “I’m still me, no stopping, and so honored and grateful to get to do what I love.”
Her accomplishments in the face of adversity have gained attention throughout the baseball world, including being honored at the 98th annual BBWAA Awards Dinner with the Casey Stengel “You Could Look It Up” Award (click here for her acceptance speech).
“There are a lot of people who are not faced with something like this who are just as loved and appreciated,” Langs said during her acceptance speech. “I want to make sure that those people know it, and I am trying to make them my mission — in addition to making sure that everybody loves baseball.”
Sarah has worked with the top entities in her field, gaining the trust and admiration of broadcasters such as Buster Olney, Jon Sciambi and Karl Ravech, to name a few. She also became a part of MLB TV history by being a member of the first all-female broadcast crew back in 2021.
“I’m so grateful to be part of this baseball community,” said Langs. “And I think it shows just how wonderful baseball is — not just the sport but the people involved — that people rally into a moment like this.”
Her immense reservoir of spirit now has another direction — in raising awareness around ALS.
“Even if I’m gone, even if its 50 years from now, I want to figure out a cure,” Langs said.
Her well-known mantra, “Baseball is the Best!” is featured on T-shirts whose proceeds benefit Project ALS.
Channeling Yankees legend Lou Gehrig, Sarah echoed the gratitude she has for realizing so many of her dreams in such a short amount of time.
“I may have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for,” Langs said.
MORE ABOUT HOPE WEEK (Please also visit hopeweek.com)
At its core, HOPE Week is about people helping people. The one thing everybody has — no matter their background or financial situation — is time. By involving every one of our players and coaches, Manager Aaron Boone, General Manager Brian Cashman, our minor league affiliates and front office staff during the celebration of HOPE Week, the Yankees send the message that everyone can give of themselves to make their community a better place.
Equally significant during HOPE Week is garnering publicity for highlighted causes and organizations. The greatest challenge facing many not-for-profits is generating interest, awareness and funding for their missions.
At the conclusion of every HOPE Week since 2010, the Yankees organization has been honored with the President’s Volunteer Service Award from AmeriCorps, given “in recognition and appreciation of commitment to strengthening the nation and for making a difference through volunteer service.” The awards are bestowed by AmeriCorps, which empowers Americans from all backgrounds to answer the President’s Call to Service.
The Yankees encourage all their fans to get involved ... Give HOPE!
