I’m just about finishing a book called Haunted Baseball: Ghosts, Curses, Legends and Eerie Events by Mickey Bradley and Dan Gordon.
I’m not much of a believer in the paranormal but I still found the book pretty interesting. Don’t get scared by the title (no pun intended). While there are plenty of stories of sightings of apparitions at ballparks and such, Haunted Baseball also details some other interesting anecdotes.
My favorite was the section on Curses. In today’s growing cynical society the idea of curses seems antiquated. But I think they have a place in baseball tradition. Of course, my Cubbies feature prominently in THAT section. There is a whole chapter on the Curse of the Billy Goat.
Haunted Baseball details unexplained oddities, rare coincidences, and how the memories of those who have passed on (spirits, if you will) have manifested themselves in the thoughts of the living.
There is also a very thoughtful chapter on how the events of September 11, 2001 had affected the game of baseball. That chapter is a definite read.
The most humorous part for me was reading about Ellis Burks’ pranks he would play on the rookies. I won’t give away too much other than say that it involves a “haunted” elevator.
I encourage any baseball fan, especially one who enjoys the history of baseball, to give this a read. The anecdotes in this book run the gamut from early 20th century to modern day baseball. I ran the premise of this book by my friend Brando and he says it’s the kind of book that’s right up his alley.
If you want to find out more about this book, I’ll be interviewing one of the authors, Dan Gordon, on our podcast, Baseball Zealot Radio this week. I’ll post a link once it is up.
Here are the details:
Haunted Baseball: Ghosts, Curses, Legends, and Eerie Events
Authors: Mickey Bradley and Dan Gordon
Publisher: The Lyons Press (an Imprint of The Globe Pequot Press)