Budding LSU star Alex Lange thrives because of strong foundation that began at home under unique circumstances By Randy Rosetta, NOLA.com Mama's boy. Throw that label at most teenage/20-something guys and you might be asking for trouble. Hang that tag on LSU freshman Alex Lange, though, and he's unlikely to squabble about it. In fact, the strapping right-handed pitcher will probably proudly tell you that it couldn't be more spot-on. The Tigers' ultra-talented rookie makes no qualms about where his emotional roots are firmly grounded and that, it turns out, is a two-way street for his mom, Renee Lange. When the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Alex Lange goes to the mound Saturday night against Louisiana-Lafayette in a Super Regional series opener (7 p.m. | ESPN2), he will go through the same routine he always does before the first pitch. That includes taking off his cap, looking upward for a brief moment of reflection and thanks. At the top on that list of people Lange gives thanks for is Renee, who adopted him nearly 20 years ago and has filled every role imaginable for her son, especially when she became a single parent when he was in the 1st grade. Alex Lange and his mom Renee Lange.Photo courtesy of Renee Lange When her son talks about Renee Lange, he doesn't attach any accompanying descriptions that you might hear from adopted children. No references to a biological mom. No burning wonder about the woman who brought him into the world. "In my heart and in my mind, Renee is my mom and I've never thought of it any other way," Lange said. "Honestly, she has been the most important person to me every day of my life." Indeed, this is a mother-and-son love story with unique ripples included and one that magnifies how Lange has gotten where he has and a big part of the why as well. It hasn't hurt, of course, to have a powerful right arm capable of firing a baseball in the mid-90 mph range along with the ability to snap off power curve balls that evaporate from the strike zone right when a batter thinks he has things figured out. There are a lot of college pitchers who fit that mold. Very few are exactly like Lange, though, whose maturity and even-keeled mound presence give him a rareness that goes hand-in-hand with how unique his path to college baseball has been. Accurately or not, college baseball has become known as a sport for kids and families that are well-off financially. The emergence and explosion of summer travel ball teams and the costs involved with that, plus the fact that the numbers of African-Americans and other minorities playing the sport have drastically dropped off for a few generations, etc. Tied into that, most -- not all, but most -- college baseball players come from households with two parents in place to both supply a strong emotional foundation and help cover the burgeoning costs of summer baseball.
Not Lange. His story is different than most. For him, Renee has been the one-woman beacon in his life. "She has been the biggest influence on my life," Lange said. "She adopted me and raised me by herself for most of my life. She has helped me through everything. ... She had to play the bad guy at times. Everything I've accomplished I attribute to her." That hasn't gone unnoticed. "Alex's mother is an amazing person," LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. "She's strong, she's loving, her world revolves around her son. She's a great person and you can see why Alex is the way he is. "When you are in this profession, you really try hard to judge the kid for who he is and not for what his upbringing was, and that works in both directions. With a young man like Alex, after you get to know him and you see the influence his mother has had on him and you see how he developed the way he did." Understandably, Renee Lange was humbled by the words of her son and one of the men who has taken the baton from her for the next phase of Alex Lange's evolution as a person. What she wasn't surprised by was how well-spoken her sidekick for the last 20 years has been -- how the impression he has made on coaches, teammates and media is that he has an uncharacteristic maturity level. After all, she helped plant those seeds and has had a front-row seat all along. Married in 1988, Renee Lange was told she couldn't have children of her own. So when she was 31, she and her husband adopted Alex the day after he was born. Six years later, Renee Lange and her husband divorced, leaving her and growing-quickly young Alex as an inseperable mother-son team. Because she thought their adopted hometown in Lee's Summit, Mo., was the best place to raise her son, Renee went about establishing some roots and she dove headfirst into her two jobs -- as a teacher and single mom. Alex Lange had already showed an affinity for baseball by then, and his mom wanted to make sure he had an avenue to chase his dreams. "When his dad and I got divorced, I knew Alex had talent and wanted to make sure he had a chance to play ball," Renee Lange said. "I took him for a lesson and the instructor watched him for about 5 minutes and asked me why I didn't bring him for tryouts. So we came back a few days later and they placed him on a team pretty quickly and that was the beginning of competitive baseball for us. "To me it was an easy decision and something I didn't mind making sacrifices for. I saw how much he loved baseball and how he thrived when he was on the field. Being a single parent, I also saw it as an avenue to make sure he had really great male role models in his life." Other avenues opened as well.
More on Lange, First start in Omaha? No big deal.. Just throw a complete game and become the third player in school history to go 12-0 in a season. He is just a freshman. Whats not to like?
To add: According to Ross Dellenger of the Advocate, Lange’s complete game was the first for the Tigers in CWS play since Brett Laxton’s in the 1993 title game.
