Sarah Langs on a 2021 YouTube broadcast of a Baltimore Orioles-Tampa Bay Rays game. Sarah Langs on a 2021 YouTube broadcast of a Baltimore Orioles-Tampa Bay Rays game. (MLB on YouTube.)
MLBBy Andrew Bucholtz on

One of the largest forces of positivity in the baseball world, if not the entire sports world, is MLB’s Sarah Langs. Langs is constantly using her platform to talk up baseball, ALS awareness, and more. But on Friday, it was the MLB world’s time to talk her up with a number of birthday salutes. Here are a few of those:

Here’s some more from Glanville’s thoughtful “Sarah Is Baseball” tribute, from his “Welcome To Glanville” Substack newsletter:

I met Sarah Langs when she was just starting out at ESPN in 2016. It was immediately clear that she had a passion for baseball, but also clear was her ability to unearth unique insights into a game that we both clearly loved. In many ways, listening to her input during Baseball Tonight meetings reminded me of the feeling I had when I first read Jayson Stark’s Philadelphia Inquirer baseball column in college. It was baseball, yes, but it was more than baseball. It was what baseball does to make you smile.

…It did not take long to realize that Sarah could sit in any of the chairs on our team—including mine—and do a great job. I understand the value that I bring having played the game at a high level, but being so close to it can cause you to miss certain nuances. The denial it takes to keep competing, the lack of self-awareness often required to perform—those necessary traits can also create blind spots. Sarah filled in those blanks, and she did it with a rare and genuine kindness.

I emphasize the word kindness because when we are one step removed from being on the field—whether as analysts who never played in the major leagues or as former players—it is easy to forget just how difficult the game really is at any given time. Research can reduce a player to a single statistic, as if that number captures their entire value. But Sarah has always wanted more than that. She looks for the stories—the person behind the performance, the meaning behind the moment. She loves the numbers, sure, but she leads with humility, awe and appreciation. Her focus is on the positive and the evidence. No judgement, just deep respect and love for the game.

…There are generational baseball players who come around once every 30 to 50 years. They define their era. They are Ohtanic, Gibsonian, Robinson-esque, Ruthian. They are Clemente, in another form. The game continues to talk about them and to be influenced by them long after they are gone.

The same can be said of someone behind the scenes—someone who unites people, who deepens our love for the game. Someone who finds diamonds in data, the kind that can elevate both the best and the worst performers on any given day. 

The work that Sarah Langs has done throughout the baseball world, including with MLB and ESPN before that, is indeed remarkable. And so is the way she’s spoken up about her ALS diagnosis and used her profile to raise awareness of and funds for research into the disease.

Beyond that, Langs has also constantly worked to help other women get into the baseball world. Along those lines, SABR unveiled a scholarship in her name in 2023. And she’s done many amazing things across the MLB world, including finding some of the most remarkable stats out there on a daily basis. Langs has brought a lot of joy to a lot of people, as shown by these tributes and more, and we wish her all the best on her birthday.

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

View all posts by Andrew Bucholtz