PITTSBURGH -- Baseball has always had a magical hold on fans, so maybe it should not surprise anyone that our grand old pastime has a supernatural side.

On a rainy day, Pittsburgh's field of dreams can take on a nightmarish look. It's that dark side that's the focus of haunted baseball: ghosts, curses, legends and eerie events.

Dan Gordon is the author of "Haunted Baseball."

"People reflect on the past," said Gordon. "People talk about Babe Ruth. People can still picture the Babe Ruth called shot even though he has been dead 50 years."

And those stories from the past can get spooky, like the tale told by former Pittsburgh Pirates players about a haunted hotel in Tampa, Fla.

"A lot of guys from the Pirates and former guys, especially that came there in 2003 to play against the Devil Rays in Inter-league, a lot of them left the next day and some of the coaches talked about bizarre things happening," said Gordon. "Gerald Perry talked about his door opening up in the middle of the night."

But no tale is more hair-raising than the premonitions of the legendary Roberto Clemente.

"He would often talk to his wife, Vera, that he would die young, and he would say it over and over again," said Gordon.

Gordon said Clemente's son had the same feeling.

Clemente died on New Year's eve in 1972 in an airplane crash.

"'Daddy, don't go on the plane. The plane is going to crash,' and his son wasn't aware he was going to be on a plane at that point," said Gordon.

As for that greatest mystery of all, why have the Pirates endured 15 losing seasons.

Gordon said it's probably less about the supernatural and more about earthly reasons.

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