Dodgers Pitcher Honors ALS Advocate Sarah Langs on Birthday

Every time Dodgers pitcher Emmet Sheehan steps onto the mound, his glove carries a powerful message: "K ALS." This weekend, he's giving one of those special gloves to someone who's become a champion in the fight against the disease.

Saturday marks the birthday of Sarah Langs, an MLB.com journalist who has been living with ALS since 2021. Sheehan surprised her with a heartfelt video message, promising to gift her one of his embroidered gloves as thanks for her advocacy work.

"I wanted to give you one of these gloves for your birthday and make sure you had one," Sheehan said in the video. "Thanks for everything, and happy birthday."

The gesture carries deep meaning that stretches back to Sheehan's college days at Boston College. There, he met Pete Frates, a former baseball captain at the school who was diagnosed with ALS at age 27 in 2012.

Frates became a powerful voice for ALS awareness, co-founding the Ice Bucket Challenge that swept across social media in 2014 and raised millions for research. He regularly visited the Boston College baseball team, inspiring players like Sheehan to wear "K ALS" gloves in his honor.

"Pete was still around when I was at BC, and it was a huge inspiration for all of us," Sheehan explained. "And I just decided to keep it going after."

Before college, Sheehan knew little about the progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks the nervous system and affects voluntary muscle control. Meeting Frates and his family changed that forever.

"He would come around the team, and the Frates family is just a really special family," Sheehan said. "They have the Frates Foundation, which supports ALS research."

Why This Inspires

Sheehan's dedication shows how one person's courage can create ripples of hope across generations. Frates passed away in 2019 after living with ALS for seven years, but his legacy lives on through young athletes who refuse to let his message fade.

Now Langs continues that tradition of advocacy, using her platform to raise awareness while facing her own battle. Sheehan wears his message year round, not just during May's ALS Awareness Month, because some causes matter every single day.

The connection between baseball and ALS runs deep, dating back to Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig, who gave the disease its common name after it ended his life in 1941. MLB observes Lou Gehrig Day each June 2, but advocates like Langs and athletes like Sheehan keep the conversation alive all year long.

From a college team honoring their captain to a major league pitcher honoring a journalist, the message stays the same: some things are bigger than baseball.