Comments on: The M’s travel schedule is a disadvantage

By: joser

joser — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:41:22 +0000

Given the typical player sleep pattern (up 'til late, sleep until noon) I doubt the shift in time zones has as much effect as it would for somebody who has to be up for an 8am meeting. And yeah, it really seems to be killing LA and Oakland. Do the M’s do sleep studies on all prospective players? I mean, if this study is backed up by future studies, and the theory is mostly true, shouldn’t that play a part in the decision to sign or draft any future Mariners player? You're kidding, right? This is a team that barely believes in math, and you think they're going to do studies? I mean, you might get their attention if you tell them sleep impacts "chemistry" but their response is going to run towards voodoo dolls and rabbits' feet, not studies.

By: Mere Tantalisers

Mere Tantalisers — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:19:49 +0000

The data’s a bit self-contradictory. They say that an away team with the circadian advantage won only 45% of games, which goes against the data unless visiting teams with equal circadian shift normally win at a .4 clip or something, which they don’t mention. The devil is in the controls.

I also don’t buy the one day per time zone thing at all. Come on, being one hour off makes a big difference? And I know that when I fly to Moscow it does not take me a week+ to adjust to the local rhythms.

By: Ralph_Malph

Ralph_Malph — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:35:30 +0000

Ummm..doesn’t this circadian advantage stuff apply to Oakland and Anaheim as well?

By: vic_romano

vic_romano — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:29:42 +0000

That’s why there needs to be a team in Portland or Vancouver BC or Boise!

By: julian

julian — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:08:30 +0000

It’s hard to know without seeing the original data, but there a lot of possibilities other than circadian disadvantage which could explain the findings. For example, if the group of East Coast (i.e. less travelling) teams was simply better than the group of West Coast (i.e. more travelling) teams over the time period covered by the study, this alone could explain the discrepancy in winning percentage.

By: Gomez

Gomez — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:02:59 +0000

Even science has an East Coast bias.

By: Gerald

Gerald — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:49:06 +0000

Maybe one of the reasons the M’s are so bad this year is that they’re not amped up on amphetamines anymore.

By: huckleB

huckleB — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:22:50 +0000

gwangung: Perhaps, but that somebody might have been in the wrong time zone when they pooh poohed.

By: huckleB

huckleB — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:21:43 +0000

Ah, sleep science.

This brings to mind a question. Not a good question, mind you. But a question.

Do the M’s do sleep studies on all prospective players? I mean, if this study is backed up by future studies, and the theory is mostly true, shouldn’t that play a part in the decision to sign or draft any future Mariners player?

By: gwangung

gwangung — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:21:12 +0000

Ummm….didn’t somebody pooh pooh this a season or two back….