MLB task: turn Japan into home

To make the Rays comfortable, baseball is going above and beyond to bring home life to Asia.

ST. PETERSBURG - Halfway around the world, the Devil Rays will have some of the seeds and sounds, and quite a few other comforts, of home.

To reduce the obvious issues, and to increase the comfort factor, of playing two season-opening games in Tokyo rather than Tampa Bay, the Rays, Yankees and Major League Baseball will venture into the import/export business.

By the time all parties get to Japan on Friday, they'll have everything from their own sunflower seeds to the songs each player likes when he bats. There will be standard favorites such as bacon and eggs and pizza served in the clubhouse and burgers added to the hotel room-service menu. The equipment will be the same, the game-day routine standard and the umpires familiar.

"Our goal," said Jim Small, managing director of MLB's Japan office, "is to eliminate the culture completely, or as much as possible, during the 21/2 hours they are on the field. We want those 21/2 hours to be exactly like if they were playing at Tropicana Field. But outside those 21/2 hours we want them to experience and enjoy the culture."

It won't be exactly like the Trop because the Tokyo Dome seats will be filled, but the concept is noble: make the on-field aspects as normal as possible and the rest of the weeklong journey as extraordinary as possible.

It also illustrates how enormous a task it is to move two teams (players, staff, executives, owners and others), media and much of Major League Baseball's hierarchy halfway around the world and back in less than seven days, and to do so as the season is opening.

"There's nothing we can do about the fact that Tampa is here and Tokyo is there on the map," Small said. "But we're doing everything we can to limit the effects and mitigate what we can."

The teams will travel in luxury and be treated like royalty. MLB, the players union and sponsoring Yomiuri Co. are going to extraordinary lengths to reduce the cultural, logistical, linguistic and financial differences as well as the physical and mental challenges.

"It is a daunting task," Rays GM Chuck LaMar said. "But the commissioner's office and the players association has done a fantastic job. Their attention to detail has been second to none. The comfort level they have given us, not only from a business standpoint but from a personal standpoint, has been fabulous."

But that still doesn't mean it will be easy.

"It's going to be different, and it's going to be fun," said Eduardo Perez, a new Ray who played in Japan in 2001. "But it's going to be tough for the guys to get adjusted because once you do you'll be back on the plane and headed this way."

Organizers made several improvements since the Mets and Cubs opened the 2000 season in Japan, arranging for private charter flights on roomy Japan Air Lines 747s with priority landing slots and expedited customs processing. But the Rays still have to spend more than 16 hours in the air getting there.

"I just don't like to be in a plane that long," infielder Julio Lugo said.

Players will have movies to watch and room to stretch, but there are still concerns, such as dehydration (they'll be told to drink lots of water and limit their coffee and alcohol) and stiff backs and necks. "Hopefully," trainer Ken Crenshaw said, "those precautions will limit the number of things we have."

Adjusting to the 14-hour time difference from Tampa to Tokyo and fighting jet lag are other obvious concerns. The Rays are leaving after Thursday's exhibition and will get to their hotel about 20 hours later, which will be shortly after midnight Saturday in Japan.

As physically challenging as the trip can be, the mental aspects can be tough, too. When the Bucs went there in July for the preseason opener, coach Jon Gruden couldn't believe how long it took.

"I took a nap and I read a book - it might have been the first nap and the first book I read in years - and I got done and we still had seven hours to go," Gruden said. "I was just shocked at the length of the trip."

As tough as it may be, there will be the excitement of the adventure. "I think the adrenaline will carry us there," said managing general partner Vince Naimoli, who has been to Japan 28 times.

The trip back is likely to be worse. The teams will fly home nonstop after the March 31 game, getting back to Tampa Bay at roughly the same time they left Tokyo because of the time change. They'll have a couple of days off, then resume exhibition play April 3 and face the Yankees again April 6.

"You need a good sleep coach," said Jeff Huson, an infielder on the 2000 Cubs team.

The Rays are bringing a few extra items - 24 dozen Japan-stamped game balls and 48 dozen regular MLB balls, boxes of requested autographed items, special jerseys with a Ricoh sponsor's patch, standard toiletries, gum, sunflower seeds, sports drinks, and team souvenirs for gift exchanges. Plus, extra trunks for items the players may buy.

Otherwise, equipment manager Chris Westmoreland said the preparation really is not that much different from a normal road trip. "The biggest thing for me is if we forget something, I can't get it overnighted because we're halfway around the world," Westmoreland said.

There are other logistical issues. The normal team traveling party of 50 is swelled to about 150, including wives, team executives, sponsors and media.

The training staff is bringing some of its machines, such as ultrasound, plus a masseuse and team doctors Koco Eaton and Michael Reilly, who will coordinate with Japanese medical liaisons if there are any serious injuries, illnesses or complications, including among three pregnant wives of players.

The playing of the games will be relatively normal, though there will be some unusual scenes: manager Lou Piniella getting flowers from kimono-clad women in a pregame ceremony, the players exchanging caps, Japanese pitchers using a slightly smaller ball in their innings of the two exhibitions, fans cheering throughout the game like a European soccer crowd.

The other issues involved in opening the season could be a little more difficult.

The Rays have accelerated the decisionmaking process in hopes of having their 25-man roster set, or close to it, before leaving. But MLB is taking steps to accommodate them should they want to make additional moves.

LaMar will have a Japanese cell phone, with his number sent to the other teams, and a fax machine in his Tokyo hotel suite. MLB will have a staffer in Tampa who has made arrangements with the Japanese consulate and U.S. passport office for expedited service should there be a trade before the March 30 opener.

"We want to make sure Chuck and Lou don't have to worry about Japan as a factor in making a last-minute deal," Small said. "It's our responsibility to get them there, to get them eligible to go to Japan to play. If we don't do that, we let the club down."

Because not all of the players will have a sense of adventure, organizers are trying to make much of their stay seem like a regular road trip.

They have ordered pre and postgame meals of what the players would consider "normal" food - such as turkey sandwiches, pizza, hot dogs, spaghetti, filet mignon. They also arranged for the New Otani hotel to extend room service to 24 hours and to add things like burgers, sandwiches and ice cream to the menu.

At the stadium, concession stands will sell American-style and Japanese items. Players were allowed to pick the music that will be played for their at-bat. Anthems of both countries will be performed and Take Me Out to the Ballgame will be sung in English.

The Rays will be assigned several bilingual liaisons to resolve communication problems. Much of the hotel staff speaks English to help with directions, and guests get a card with the hotel address to give to taxi drivers. Players will be given a list of recommended restaurants and bars, and a brief lesson in Japanese customs - such as not tipping.

Security, starting when the buses leave Tropicana Field, will be extensive, involving the FBI, DEA, U.S. Embassy and Tokyo and Japan's national police, as well as MLB staff. Many of the issues are similar - such as overzealous autograph seekers - but there have been discussions about more significant possibilities.

"In general, they don't look at security the way we do because they haven't had the same problems we've had," said Daniel Mullin, senior director of MLB security. "So part of the preparation has been getting them to understand how we do things in the United States and how we expect them to be done while we're over there.

"They've been very cooperative, and we're confident we'll have the same level of security there that we have here. Certainly we're a little more concerned with the war in Iraq and the recent events in Madrid, and the law enforcement personnel are sensitive to that."

There are also myriad details involving immigrations visas, customs and tax waivers, but months of groundwork by MLB personnel have limited many of the hassles for Rays travel director Jeff Ziegler.

"When that plane takes off, I'll be relaxed for the first time in a month," Ziegler said. "I know we're going to be in good hands once we get over there because of their experience and the trips we've done with them."