By Tim Binnall
Faced with the prospect of spending the night at a notoriously haunted hotel during a road trip to Milwaukee, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts wound up staying at an Airbnb rather than risk encountering a ghost. The six-time MLB All Star explained to Bill Plunkett of Orange County Register that the change in accommodations came about "just in case" the legendary Pfister Hotel's eerie reputation is accurate. Stressing that he personally does not believe in ghosts, Betts went on to muse that he also wasn't particularly interested in having that opinion change should a spirit at the site decide to make its presence felt. "You can tell me what happened after," he jokingly told Plunkett, "I just don’t want to find out myself."
Asked about his previous experiences staying at the hotel during prior road trips, he indicated that while he had never noticed any paranormal activity there, the possibility that it could occur had him on edge. "I couldn’t sleep,” Betts recalled, "every noise, I'd be like, 'Is that something?'" As such, when he learned that some friends had gotten an Airbnb for this recent road trip, he took them up on the opportunity to get a good night's rest. If Tuesday night's game is any indication, it would appear that Betts made a wise choice as he hit a home run in his first time up at the plate.
While some might dismiss his decision as simply superstition, the outfielder's concerns are not unfounded as multiple baseball players have reported witnessing or experiencing ghostly events while staying at the 130-year-old hotel during road trips. Back in 2018, Carlos Martinez of the St. Louis Cardinals revealed on social media that he had actually seen a ghost during his night at the Pfister Hotel and it was so unsettling that he could not get back to sleep for the rest of the night. Two years prior to that, Ji-Man Choi of the Los Angeles Angels told reporters that he has also sensed a spirit during his stay at the notoriously haunted building.