Is Milwaukee’s Pfister Hotel Haunted?

Via HotelChatter, one of those cheeky pro sports stories about the quirkiness of professional athletes dropped today on a local Milwaukee ABC affiliate: Baseball players are claiming (and have been claiming) that Milwaukee's famed Pfister Hotel is haunted. And some of the human gene pool's finest specimen are legitimately scared of it, like the girly-men they are. But the more important question: Can ghosts affect a sports team's win-loss record?

The Pfister, open since 1893, is a legitimate (and official) historical landmark in downtown Milwaukee. The ABC piece has quotes from Brewers players who used to not be on the team, who’ve traveled to Milwaukee to do battle with the Brewers, and, during their stay, have felt the spirits rising up against them!

Most professional baseball and basketball teams stay at the Pfister when they’re in town. Some members of the Brewers heard the ghost stories when they visited Milwaukee while playing for other teams.

“There was a few people that said there was particular floor—I don’t know which one. But there might be some chains rattling or something at night,” Trevor Hoffman said.

“The halls seem like they’re really creepy. You know, just really cringy a lot,” Mike Cameron said.

A player for the Dodgers has been known to sleep with a baseball bat for protection after hearing odd noises. And two pairs of Florida Marlins players reportedly demand to share a room when they’re in Milwaukee because they’re afraid of ghosts.

We all knows ghosts are bullshit, right? Well, let’s look at the numbers from baseball teams named in the story:

The Florida Marlins, who apparently need to cuddle to get through the night, are 22-26. Ouch. And snuggling they should be; the Marlins lost three consecutive games in Milwaukee earlier this month, May 12-14. HANLEY RAMIREZ SEES DEAD PEOPLE!

The Dodgers are a startling 35-15, but it should be noted that three of those losses have occurred at the hands of—yes! - the ghost-heavy Brewers! Including one in Milwaukee on March 26!

And the Brewers are 27-20. Not at all a bad record for a team using ghosts (instead of, say, good pitching) to scare the shit out of the opposition. Could be an effective tactic. Either way, New York teams—who had the two highest Major League Baseball payrolls in 2008—are paying at least $57M more for the exact same results (the Mets are 26-20, the Yankees are 27-20) as the Brewers. Both of these teams could afford ghosts of all stripes. The nice folks here at BlackBook are giving the Yankee-owning obnoxiously rich Steinbrenner Family a tip: Invest in ghosts, specifically, hotel ghosts. They’re seemingly cost-effective and get the job done. Meanwhile, teams visiting Milwaukee should—according to Hotel Chatter—look into staying at the less historical, hipper, loft-oriented Iron Horse Hotel, which looks just as awesome as the haunted Pfister.


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