Yankees honor Sarah Langs on 84th anniversary of Gehrig's speech

NEW YORK -- Sarah Langs has always been struck by Lou Gehrig’s famous farewell speech to the game of baseball.

On July 4, 1939 -- “Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day” at the original Yankee Stadium -- the Hall of Fame first baseman addressed the Bronx crowd shortly after learning that he had been diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), bringing a premature end to a 17-year MLB career during which “The Iron Horse” played in a then-record 2,130 consecutive games.

“Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break,” he opened. “Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”

On July 4, 2023 -- the second day of the Yankees’ 14th annual HOPE Week and the 84th anniversary of Gehrig’s indelible speech -- those profound words were once again brought to life.

Langs, an MLB.com writer and researcher who was diagnosed with ALS in 2021, found herself on the Yankee Stadium videoboard before the club’s game against the Orioles, explaining how “his thread of luckiness” exemplifies the way she encourages those in her life -- and anyone who will listen -- “to be grateful for people.”

She provided a demonstration of that in January, when she used her acceptance speech at the 98th annual BBWAA Awards dinner -- where she received the Casey Stengel You Could Look It Up Award -- to share a sentiment of her own that has reverberated in the time since.

“There are a lot of people who are not faced with something like this who are just as loved and appreciated,” she said. “I want to make sure that those people know it, and I am trying to make that my mission.”

The tape then rolled to Gehrig, reciting his first two lines. But after the screen faded to black, on came images from the present day.

A group of Yankees players -- Gerrit Cole, Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, Nestor Cortes and Jose Trevino -- and manager Aaron Boone took over Gehrig’s speech from there, as did Langs and six individuals from Her ALS Story, a group of women who were diagnosed with the disease before they turned 35 and are challenging the perception that ALS only affects a predominately older and male demographic.

As the Yankees’ HOPE Week honoree, it was Langs who requested that they celebrate others as well. And so, all the women were lined up behind home plate for the pregame ceremony, during which several Yanks players emerged from the dugout to present them with flowers, while the women took in the video of themselves from the field.

“[It’s] powerful. I mean, I’ve been here so many times, but I’ve never been under these circumstances, knowing I’m with so many others who are fighting this disease,” Langs said. “That we’re here on the 84th anniversary of the speech is just so, so impactful, and I’m so grateful.”

Langs has established herself within the industry as one of baseball’s brightest statistical minds, but ever since she publicly announced her diagnosis in October 2022, she has taken on the mantle of bringing more attention to an illness that is tied so closely to the game that it is commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

On her 30th birthday in May, Langs launched the #FistBumps4ALS challenge, which has already raised more than $75,000 for Project ALS. And on the third annual Lou Gehrig Day on June 2, when MLB launched an auction featuring a signed, game-used bat from all 30 clubs to benefit the Healey & AMG Center for ALS, Langs chose each player.

The baseball community has responded in kind, from close friend and fellow MLB.com writer Mandy Bell’s $105,000 GoFundMe to RotoWear’s “Baseball Is The Best” T-shirts to the (A) (L)angs (S)tar initiative -- all in support of Project ALS.

“The outpouring of it is because that’s who she is,” Boone said at his pregame press conference, where he was joined on the dais by Langs. “She has a talent for this game of skill, but more importantly, a love and a passion for it. And that was very evident to me when I got to work with her at ESPN. I knew in short order, if I needed to know something, Sarah threw it at me in the moment on a broadcast, and I knew it was right and I knew I could go with it.”

It was a unique position for Langs, who quipped that, “I’m not used to being on this side of it. I’ve been in those seats looking at Boonie, trying not to laugh while covering a Yankees game because I know him.”

Instead, on Tuesday morning, those front-row seats were occupied by the six Her ALS Story women and their families and caregivers. It was part of a full day of festivities for the special guests, as the Yankees invited them to visit Monument Park and take a tour of the Yankees Museum as well. They saw Gehrig’s plaque in the middle of the display, one of the original three monuments -- alongside his slugging partner Babe Ruth and their Hall of Fame manager Miller Huggins. They saw Gehrig’s No. 4 hanging on the wall; it was the first number to be retired in MLB history, and it happened on that Fourth of July in 1939.

They were able to interact with game-used artifacts from Gehrig’s career, namely a cap made of heavy felt and a 36.75-ounce Hanna Batrite bat, both from the 1930s. Museum curator Brian Richards and coordinator Chris Verdi, who donned white gloves to hold the items, even put the cap on Langs’ head and let her hold the bat.

While the group was exploring Monument Park on their first stop of the day, Boone made a surprise appearance to welcome them to Yankee Stadium.

“It is an honor to be here with you,” he said. “I know Sarah; I think the world is getting to see Sarah be an inspiration about how to live your life, and hopefully inspiring others to live with joy. I think what stands out to me about Sarah is something my dad told me while I was very little and instilled in me forever and I tried to live by: ‘Find something that you’re passionate about and do it to the best of your ability.’ And that’s what Sarah has embodied, right?

“And getting to meet you guys here, it is humbling being in your presence. I’m so thankful that you guys came out here. I can’t even imagine how [hard] it is. But to see the smiles on your face, the love in your heart and the joy that you guys are living your life with -- you are inspiring thousands and even millions of people.”

It was one of several surprises the Yankees had in store. During Boone’s press conference, Cole -- who Langs chose as the Yanks’ representative for the Lou Gehrig Day auction -- emerged from the clubhouse and joined them on the dais to present Langs with a Baseball Is The Best T-shirt that was signed by the whole team. He then brought out a second autographed T-shirt and announced that it will be auctioned off, with the proceeds benefitting Project ALS. Finally, he addressed Sarah’s parents -- Charles Langs and Liise-anne Pirofski -- and told them that they were going to be throwing out the ceremonial first pitches.

The Yankees also presented Project ALS co-founder and director of research Valerie Estess with a $10,000 check to support their scientific research toward effective medicines for the underfunded disease.

“We’re really getting closer to medicine for people to take soon, and a lot of that has to do with Sarah Langs, because I think people are starting to understand that the only way through ALS is fighting it,” Estess said. “It’s showing up, it’s showing joy and gratitude, but it’s also a fight. … We’ve gathered the best scientists in the world and people who are moving us closer, which is where we need to be.”

For Langs, that’s where the focus has always been. Rather than making her diagnosis about her alone, she has taken every opportunity at her disposal to bring awareness to the disease itself, allowing the light that is being shined on her to reflect out into the world.

It’s what Gehrig did in his speech, and it’s what she has chosen to do with her life.