The Boston Red Sox recently released more detailed plans to renovate their “sleep room,” located in the confines of Fenway Park, in order to optimize the quality and quantity of sleep their athletes are getting over an arduous 162-game season.
Bedgear announced last July it would fully customize the sleep room with its performance bedding gear. The sleep room had been created in 2013 on the second floor of the clubhouse, and according to the Boston Globe, the full renovation of the “145-square-foot room where the players and even an occasional member of the coaching staff can grab a nap before a game” will be completed by opening day with exposed brick and oak flooring. In addition, players will be provided with Bedgear products such as “high-tech sheets, blankets, and pillows to use at home.”
“Since 2013, we have been focused on finding ways for our players to get the rest they need so they can perform to their highest potential,” Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said in a statement.
Said Red Sox director of sports medicine service and head athletic trainer Brad Pearson in a statement, “We consider sleep to be one of the most important activities we do as human beings. It is while we sleep that peak physical and mental recovery occurs. While this is important to us all, it is imperative in a sport such as baseball, where the players are required to play each and every day.”
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In an age of analytics, advanced metrics, wearable technologies and sleep doctors, teams like the Red Sox are actively vying for any sort of competitive advantage they can acquire.
“Sleep is a vital component for peak athletic performance and can be the edge between winning and losing the game,” said Bedgear CEO Eugene Alletto said in a statement. “Fitting players with our personalized sleep system is just as important as their fitness, training and nutrition.”
According to Sports Illustrated, the room was set up for Mike Napoli — who suffered from severe obstructive sleep apnea and was a member of the Red Sox from 2013-15 — and it has developed into a full-fledged institution within the organization ever since.
Bedgear and the Red Sox had entered a multi-year agreement to improve the quality of sleep and recovery of players, coaches and trainers, as well as the surrounding community. The renovation is done in partnership with Bedgear, which will also personalize each player’s mattress, pillow, sheet and blanket combination. Red Sox first baseman Hanley Ramirez, in fact, has already requested a new mattress be sent to his spring training home because his current one is “too soft,” according to the Globe.
A 2017 study from Northwestern found that jet lag had “detectable and significant” effects on MLB players. A 2013 study by a Vanderbilt medical professor found that MLB players have “significantly worse” strike-zone judgment in September than they do in April. Another 2013 study presented at the annual SLEEP Conference found an association between the general sleepiness of an MLB player and how long he ended up staying in the league.
It looks like the Red Sox have taken notice.