We’ve done a fair number of stories here at The Occult Section about professional athletes scaring themselves silly at allegedly haunted hotels when they are on the road (see: the Florida Marlins, the Phoenix Suns, the L.A. Lakers, and the New York Knicks). Now Milwaukee is jumping on the paranormal bandwagon, with MLB players claiming that they see spooks when staying at The Pfister Hotel.
Yeah, I would have my “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door to my room at all times…
Miller Park in Milwaukee has never been known as a scary place to play. It’s a beautiful ballpark, true, but it doesn’t have the imposing aura as some other major league stadiums.
So why do so many players dread their visits to Wisconsin?
Because when big league clubs travel to Milwaukee, they tend to stay at one of the city’s fanciest hotels, The Pfister. And apparently, the 120-year-old Pfister is haunted.
Now it would be one thing if a lone player, or just a handful of players, had complained about ghosts in the hotel. But over the years, tons of players from different teams have mentioned that they noticed paranormal activity. Adrian Beltre famously slept with his bat to protect himself. Several members of the Marlins even bunked up during a trip because they didn’t want to battle the ghosts alone.
For a recent ESPN the Magazine story, Stacey Pressman spoke with no fewer than seven A-list MLB stars, each of whom had his own scary story. Here’s Michael Young’s hilarious tale from the Pfister:
“Oh, f— that place. Listen, I’m not someone who spreads ghost stories, so if I’m telling you this, it happened. A couple of years ago, I was lying in bed after a night game, and I was out. My room was locked, but I heard these footsteps inside my room, stomping around. I’d heard all these stories about this hotel, so I was wide awake at that point. And then I heard it again, these footsteps on the floor, so I yelled out, “Hey! Make yourself at home. Hang out, have a seat, but do not wake me up, okay?” After that, I didn’t hear a thing for the rest of the night. I just let him know he was welcome, that we could be pals, that he could marinate in there for as long as he needed to, just as long as he didn’t wake me up.”
Boston Red Sox outfielder Shane Victorino has heard the haunted tales of the Pfister from his teammates, but he told Pressman that he didn’t believe it.
“There’s nothing wrong with that hotel,” Victorino claimed.
Not surprisingly, The Pfister’s official Twitter account backed up Victorino’s comment.
Just as an aside, every time I hear Shane Victorino’s name, I think of Rob Schneider’s Copy Machine Guy from Saturday Night Live. “Victorino!! Makin’ copies! Playing the outfield! Victorino!”
