For years, Milwaukee's historic Pfister Hotel, long rumored to be haunted, has conjured tales of ghosts and spirits.
The latest visitors to face its specter? The Tampa Bay Rays, who square off against the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1 of the World Series at 7 tonight, Oct. 23 at American Family Field.
The Athletic reported the Rays checked in Wednesday to the downtown hotel, which has hosted everyone from sports teams and rappers to dignitaries and U.S. presidents.
In recent memory, the 133-year-old hotel has rattled its fair share of unsuspecting visitors, in particular Major League Baseball players who tell of unexplained oddities or eerie encounters during their stays.
Here's what to know about The Pfister and its haunted reputation.
Why is The Pfister rumored to be haunted?
Numerous MLB players have confessed they don't sleep well in the hotel, which opened in 1893. Some say they've had odd experiences or swear the hotel is haunted.
MLB players have stories of TVs mysteriously turning off and on, lights flickering, strange noises in the walls, the sound of footsteps in the room and waking up to furniture having been moved.
Others have claimed ghost sightings. Ji-Man Choi was a Los Angeles Angels first baseman in 2016 when he reported feeling the presence of a spirit in his bed. And in 2018, St. Louis Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez said on Instagram he had seen some sort of floating ghost.
As one story told by local tour guides goes, the ghost of Charles Pfister, who founded the hotel with his father Guido, is rumored to roam the halls.
How have MLB players reacted to The Pfister's haunted reputation?
Some MLB players, including the Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez, have opted not to stay at The Pfister, even if it means staying away from their rest of the team.
In a pregame interview last year with Hernandez, he said he didn't believe in ghosts and hasn't seen or heard anything strange during stays at the hotel.
"But my wife is on this trip, and she said she doesn't want to stay there. So we have to find another hotel. But I've been hearing from other players and other wives that it's something happening in these couple of nights," he said.
Even some Brewers players have shied away from the hotel. Former Brewers outfielder Mike Cameron said in 2009 he'd never stay in the Pfister after hearing other players' stories.
Fellow MLB players could be behind some of the frights. In 2023, former Brewers infielder Jace Peterson told a story of how he and Braves teammate Jonny Gomes conspired to frighten Shelby Miller by stealing the all-star pitcher's key and altering his room.
Have the Rays reported any spooky sightings at The Pfister?
In an Oct. 23 story, The Athletic reported that after one night at The Pfister, the Rays noted some troubling signs but were not ready to call themselves spooked.
“This morning,” pitcher Cam Booser reportedly told The Athletic, “I don’t know if it was Casper the Friendly Ghost or somebody trying to break into my room. But one of the adjoining doors was going crazy. I was like, ‘Hello?’ It stopped. Nothing after that.”
Reporter JR Radcliffe, of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tampa Bay Rays staying at 'haunted' Pfister Hotel during World Series