When Chris Winter, a neurologist and sleep expert, strolled into the Los Angeles Dodgers clubhouse at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz., this week to help them prepare for their season-opening trip to Seoul, he met with a receptive audience. Los Angeles had begun planning for the series long before MLB made the announcement eight months ago, and had already taken such steps as asking the team hotel to adjust the lighting in the lobby to reflect the time of day the club is trying to mimic.
So the front office and coaching staff had bought into taking steps to mitigate the 16-hour time difference. But Winter has worked with some 20 MLB teams over the years, plus a dozen teams in other sports, and what he has come to learn is that he can only say so much. Eventually what matters is who is listening.
“As soon as you have the leader of the team carrying their mattress around the country or whatever,” he says, emphasizing that he is speaking generally and not about any particular player, “it changes everything.”
