Teams May Be Lagging Behind

The Chicago Cubs are perfectly capable of losing games by themselves. No sports franchise is more celebrated, in prose and song, for its bumbling and stumbling.

But if the Cubs miss out on a playoff berth by a game or two, they might be justified in pointing a finger at major league baseball. The Cubs and New York Mets start the season in Tokyo today and Thursday, then return to the United States on cramped schedules that could hamper their performance, according to NBA and NHL players who have opened their seasons in Japan.

“It took a week to recover from the trip,” Mighty Duck wing Teemu Selanne said. “You’re so tired the first three or four days. You have to try to wake up and keep yourself up. My eyes were closing at 5 or 6 in the afternoon.”

The Cubs and Mets will not have a week to recover. The NBA and NHL visitors to Japan all rested from four to seven days before returning to action, but the Cubs and Mets will get three days off. And the Cubs will no sooner fly home to Chicago than fly away again, playing three games in St. Louis and three more in Cincinnati before their first game at Wrigley Field.

Jet lag affects virtually all international travelers. But it is one thing to nod off a couple times in a business meeting and quite another to shake yourself awake with a 95-mph fastball approaching.

No matter how advanced their skills, athletes should not assume they can shake off a 12-hour flight from Tokyo to Chicago within four days. The flight crosses nine time zones, in addition to the international date line.

“It takes you one day to recover for every hour, as a rule,” said Pierre Page, the coach when the Ducks journeyed to Japan in 1997. “You have to figure out a way to beat the odds.”

Page talked with a Cornell University specialist who studied jet lag and how to combat it, then flew him from New York to Anaheim to address the Ducks. In addition to traditional tips--drink plenty of water while in flight, push yourself to stay up late and get up early in a new time zone--the expert recommended physical activity as soon as possible after the flight home.

“As soon as we landed, we went for a practice,” Page said. “The players thought that was crazy.”

The Ducks and Vancouver Canucks, their travel partners in Japan, each won one of their first five games and tied two after returning to North America.

“I remember waking up in the middle of the night, starving for dinner,” Duck goalie Guy Hebert said. “You just have to try to force yourself into a normal sleep pattern.”

Said Selanne: “The first game [back], we were all really tired. Other than that, it wasn’t a big deal. If we would have won all the games, it wouldn’t really have mattered. If we lost, you might say it was Japan.”

The NHL schedule took mercy on the Ducks and Canucks, allowing the teams to play their first five games at home. In 1998, when the San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames opened the season in Japan, each team played only one home game before embarking on a cross-continent trip.

The Flames won one of their next five games, against the expansion Nashville Predators. The Sharks tied one, but won none.

The Utah Jazz endured a similar ordeal in 1990, starting the NBA season in Japan against the Phoenix Suns. Upon its return, the Jazz lost four of five games, three of them on the road. So, when the NBA asked the Sacramento Kings and Minnesota Timberwolves to open this season in Tokyo, the schedule allowed both to return home and stay there for 11 days before hitting the road.

“We had a few days to get our legs back,” Sacramento Coach Rick Adelman said. “But our first few days of practice were not very good.”

The Timberwolves came home and won four of five games. The Kings went on an eight-game winning streak.

“We had an advantage,” Sacramento guard Darrick Martin said. “I think some of the other teams thought we would have a little jet lag.”

Martin also heeded the credo of the seasoned traveler, forcing himself to stay awake by day so he would not stay up all night.

“I played video games. I went to the driving range and hit some golf balls,” Martin said. “The minute you sit down and rest, you’ll fall asleep.”

*

MAJOR LEAGUES IN JAPAN

Chicago Cubs

vs. N.Y. Mets

Today, Thursday

at Tokyo

SPRING REPORTS

Page, 7

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Final/1999

NATIONAL LEAGUE

West Division

*--*

Team W L Pct. GB x-Arizona 100 62 .617 -- San Francisco 86 76 .531 14 DODGERS 77 85 .475 23 San Diego 74 88 .457 26 Colorado 72 90 .444 28

*--*

*

East Division

*--*

Team W L Pct. GB X-Atlanta 103 59 .636 -- y-New York 97 66 .595 6 1/2 Philadelphia 77 85 .475 26 Montreal 68 94 .420 35 Florida 64 98 .395 39

*--*

*

Central Division

*--*

Team W L Pct. GB x-Houston 97 65 .599 -- Cincinnati 96 67 .589 1 1/2 Pittsburgh 78 83 .484 18 1/2 St. Louis 75 86 .466 21 1/2 Milwaukee 74 87 .460 22 1/2 Chicago 67 95 .414 30

*--*

Today’s Schedule

Chicago (Lieber 10-11) vs. New York (Hampton 22-4) at Tokyo, 2 a.m.

*

Thursday’s Schedule

New York (Reed 11-5) vs. Chicago (Farnsworth 5-9, 2 a.m.

*

Friday’s Schedule

No games scheduled

*

Saturday’s Schedule

No games scheduled

*

Sunday’s Schedule

No games scheduled

*

Monday’s Schedule

DODGERS at Montreal, 4:05 p.m.

Milwaukee at Cincinnati, 10 a.m.

San Diego at at N.Y. Mets, 10 a.m.

Colorado at Atlanta, 1 p.m.

Chicago Cubs at St. Louis, 1 p.m.

San Francisco at Florida, 4 p.m.

Houston at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m.

*

Tuesday’s Schedule

DODGERS at Montreal, 4 p.m.

San Francisco at Florida, 4 p.m.

Colorado at Atlanta, 4 p.m.

Philadelphia at Arizona, 7 p.m.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

West Division

*--*

Team W L Pct. GB x-Texas 95 67 .586 ---- Oakland 87 75 .537 8 Seattle 79 83 .488 16 ANGELS 70 92 .432 25

*--*

*

East Division

*--*

Team W L Pct. GB x-New York 98 64 .605 ---- y-Boston 94 68 .580 4 Toronto 84 78 .518 14 Baltimore 78 84 .481 20 Tampa Bay 69 93 .426 29

*--*

*

Central Division

*--*

Team W L Pct. GB x-Cleveland 97 65 .599 ---- Chicago 75 86 .466 21 1/2 Detroit 69 92 .429 27 1/2 Kansas City 64 97 .398 32 1/2 Minnesota 63 97 .394 33

*--*

x-won division title; y-won wild-card berth

*

Monday’s Schedule

New York at ANGELS, 7:30

Chicago at Texas, noon

Cleveland at Baltimore, noon

Kansas City at Toronto, 1 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Minnesota, 5 p.m.

Detroit at Oakland, 7 p.m.

*

Tuesday’s Schedule

New York at ANGELS, 7 p.m.

Kansas City at Toronto, 4 p.m.

Boston at Seattle, 5 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Texas, 5 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Minnesota, 5 p.m.

Detroit at Oakland, 7 p.m.