Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images
I ain’t afraid of no ghosts.
Professional ball players can be superstitious at the best of times, but Mookie Betts went a step further by choosing not to mess with the spirts when the Dodgers embarked on their road trip to Milwaukee this week.
The Dodgers decided to use the historic Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee as the team hotel for the stay, but Betts isn’t having any of it. The Pfister was built in 1893, and regarded as one of the most haunted hotels in the country. Betts doesn’t necessarily believe in spirits, but he’s not taking any chances.
“It was a good excuse (not to stay there),” Betts said. “You can tell me what happened after,” he said. “I just don’t want to find out myself.”
Betts has plans to stay at an Airbnb with some friends who are in town for the series, and he’ll leave any possible ghosts for his Dodgers teammates to deal with. You know what? He might be right.
There’s a long history of MLB players having run-ins with the paranormal at the Pfister. Most notably was Adrian Beltre in 2001 when he played for Los Angeles. The former Dodger third baseman said that he observed so many paranormal events when he stayed there that he slept with his bat in his bed. This included hearing footsteps in the hallway, but finding nobody outside when he opened the door, as well as pounding on the wall above his headboard — but Beltre wasn’t adjacent to any room.
Carlos Gomez experienced similar paranormal events with the Twins in 2008, saying that his iPod was turning on and off by itself, before vibrating so hard it fell on the floor while he was asleep.
So maybe he’s smart for getting the hell away from that spooky mess.
Thankfully (or maybe unfortunately) the Pfister isn’t the most haunted hotel in sports. That belongs to the Skirvin Hotel in Oklahoma City. In 2016 Metta World Peace said he was sexually assaulted by a ghost while the Lakers were playing the Thunder. At the Skirvin there’s a known ghost named “Effie,” a former housekeeper who loves to mess with guests — notably propositioning male guests in their rooms in the middle of the night.
I hope Mookie has a lovely stay at his Airbnb, and good luck to the rest of the Dodgers.
