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Tampa Bay player Yandy Diaz says he’s scared of GHOSTS in ‘haunted’ Milwaukee team hotel: Teammates respond by terrorizing the Cuban infielder with cartoon ghosts stuck to his locker and rattling his door handle
- Tampa is staying in the Pfister Hotel rumored in baseball circles to be haunted
- Of all the players on the trip, infielder Yandy Diaz is the most terrified
- Others, such as Ji-Man Choi and Roman Quinn are aware of the reputation
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Tampa Bay Rays players will go from bunting in the night to avoiding things that go ‘bump in the night’.
As the Rays go on a brief two-game road trip to play the Brewers, they will be staying in a hotel notorious in baseball circles for being haunted.
The Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee was built in 1893 and has been home to multiple spectral sightings by guests and MLB players who have been there.
The Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee was built in 1893 – and is believed to be haunted
Infielder Yandy Diaz is the most terrified player on this trip – even considering changing hotels
One of the most afraid is infielder Yandy Diaz, who considered finding a different place to stay following some lighthearted teasing from teammates.
After a trip to Detroit, a print out of a cartoon ghost with ‘watch out’ written in Spanish was taped inside Diaz’s locker.
‘All I want is (to not) have any ghosts in my room,’ Diaz said through a team interpreter.
Manager Kevin Cash made a joke out of Diaz’s fear of the hotel, saying a run in with a ghost could scare him out of an 0-for-20 batting slump.
Outfielder Roman Quinn heard several stories of ‘visits’ from former Phillies teammates who stayed at the hotel.
Some examples include seeing the impression on a bed of a person sitting there, clothes being placed in one spot and moving around the room when the player stepped out, and people in hallways disappearing on second look.
One player on the Rays who hates ghosts and has stayed at the Pfister before is Ji-Man Choi.
In fact, Choi was once quoted about seeing ghosts there, but he says there was miscommunication with a previous interpreter.
‘If I see a ghost, I’ll say “hi” to him,’ Choi said through an interpreter.
Other teammates, like pitcher Ryan Yarbrough aren’t that afraid of the hotel.
‘I’m not too concerned,’ he told reporters. ‘I’m not saying I don’t believe in any of that. I just feel like if you don’t try to overly concern yourself with it, maybe bad things won’t happen.
‘But no, I think it’s fine. I think certain guys are very intrigued and some guys want nothing to do with it. So I’m just trying to be even-keeled about it. But Yandy is the guy.’
Both Roman Quinn (left) and Ji-Man Choi (right) are familiar with the Pfister’s reputation
While some of the Rays will be scared of ghosts, what they should be more scared of is their performance since the All-Star break.
The team is 7-9 going into this two-game series, slipping further and further back in both the AL East and the AL Wild Card race.
They currently sit 12 games back of the division leading New York Yankees and 1.5 games back of the Toronto Blue Jays.
While they’re currently in a wild card spot, they’re only half a game ahead of the Seattle Mariners, with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Guardians, Chicago White Sox, and Boston Red Sox all within striking distance.