Lou Gehrig Day is being celebrated across Major League Baseball today – Friday, June 2 – aligning with the date Gehrig was named the Yankees’ starting first baseman, along with the date he passed away at the age of 37 after a six-year battle with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Baseball researcher and on-air personality Sarah Langs made her battle with the same disease public last fall, and was diagnosed at the age of 29. She has worked through the challenges it presents, continuing to find esoteric information and intriguing metrics to enhance coverage of the game. Langs also contributes to ESPN and MLB Network and also writes articles for MLB.com, seeking to channel her love of baseball as she battles this circumstance.
Cleveland Guardians beat reporter for MLB.com, Mandy Bell, penned a written piece and concomitant video essay about Langs and the impact she has had on her life. Throughout the day, sports media personalities and baseball fans have taken to social media to share their support for the initiative, and teams and broadcasts around the league will honor Langs.
The New York Mets in particular are making a $10,000 donation in Langs’ name to Project ALS through the organization’s “Amazin’ Mets Foundation.” Langs grew up as a fan of the team on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and watched baseball from a young age. She remained loyal to the team as she attended games for a 10-year stretch where she saw nothing but losses, but that streak was finally broken in May 2007. Langs quickly became enamored with the game in her youth and pursued a career in research pertaining to the sport. She subsequently attended the University of Chicago and expeditiously landed an entry-level job at ESPN.
A person is diagnosed with the fatal disease every 90 minutes, and a 70% increase of the disease is predicted worldwide by 2040. According to the University of Michigan, those diagnosed have a two- to four-year life expectancy. It is a progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, and deprives people the chance to walk, talk and breathe. Researchers are working tirelessly to discover the cause of the disease and subsequently find a cure.
The league is partaking in a variety of initiatives to raise awareness about the disease and funding for research, including holding an autographed bat auction featuring signed equipment from one player on all 30 teams. The auction will benefit the Expanded Access Protocol program at the Healey and AMG Center for ALS, with all players being personally selected by Langs. Additionally, one “A Langs Star” will be displayed in each broadcast booth around the major leagues in support of Langs’ fight, an effort spearheaded by ESPN Sunday Night Baseball broadcaster Karl Ravech and woodworker Christopher Owens.
MLB Network personalities will don 4-ALS shirts and pints throughout the day, and the channel will re-air the Iron Knight: Lou Gehrig documentary Friday at 1 p.m. EST and Saturday at 12 p.m. EST. All players, managers and coaches will wear a Lou Gehrig Day patch on their uniforms, and there will be red wristbands available to wear during games. In Langs’ own words, “Baseball is the best,” and the game is showing her immense love back.
