The Los Angeles Dodgers took full control of home-field advantage in the National League Championship Series with consecutive wins over the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field.
The Brewers earned the right to play the first two games of the NLCS at home because they finished the regular season with the best record in the NL, and in all of baseball.
Playing in Milwaukee may have inadvertently given the Brewers another perceived advantage, with the Dodgers having to rest their heads at the infamous Pfister Hotel. It’s subject to countless claims of being haunted, and a hotel Mookie Betts declines staying at.
While it is thematically appropriate given the time of year, Teoscar Hernández doesn’t buy the hotel’s backstory. He nevertheless did make accommodations at a different hotel for the NCLS, but only at the request of his wife.
“For me, it’s whatever. I don’t believe in ghosts. I have stayed in there before. I’ve never seen anything or heard anything,” he said. “But my wife is on this trip, and she said she doesn’t want to stay there. So we had to find another hotel.”
Hernández said his teammates staying at the Pfister have reported some paranormal activity, but didn’t go into specifics. His source for the information was Dodgers wives staying at the hotel, with his own wife serving as the messenger.
“Some of the rooms, the lights goes off and on,” Hernández relayed. “And the doors, there are noises, footsteps, things like — I don’t know. I’m not the guy that I’m going to be here saying, ‘Oh, yeah, I experienced that before.’ Because I haven’t. And I don’t think I’m going to experience that.”
Dodgers Dave Roberts stayed at the haunted hotel, but is unfazed by its reputation. While some of his players are reporting unnatural phenomenon, Roberts didn’t have any experiences of his own, nor qualms about the possibility.
“Those stories went away when I was about 10 years old,” Roberts said. “So no, not anymore. I’m OK to go to bed now.”
The Pfister Hotel opened in 1893, and some point to it being 132 years old as reason for sounds, malfunctioning wiring or old infrastructure fueling its haunted reputation.
By winning the first two games of the series, the Dodgers can avoid having to return to the Pfister Hotel by winning two of a potential three NLCS games at Dodger Stadium.
L.A. has a 3-1 record at Chavez Ravine in this year’s playoffs, thanks to in part to great advantage provided by fans.
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