VIDEO: Baseball's Ghost Legends Strikes Intrigue for Seekonk Author

A nailbiter of an inning isn't baseball's only scary side. Field of Screams author Dan Gordon spent years covering and writing about the sport before he and his colleague Mickey Bradley realized there was an angle no one had covered. Ghost stories surrounded the Americana sport, and someone needed to tell them.

"We thought it would be a great topic because not only would we be collecting stories that had not been recorded before, but we'd also be using it as a way to write about baseball's history and collect some part of the story telling tradition of the game," said Gordon of the decision to finally start this project with Bradley.

Gordon's Seekonk roots were soaked in baseball. "I grew up off of West Avenue and used to ride my bike to a convenience store called Oscar's to get baseball cards," recalls Gordon. "The store is long gone, but I'll always remember grabbing the Topps baseball card packs off the front counter."

There is also an interesting dynamic between the two authors, who hail from, as Gordon puts it, "Opposite poles of the baseball universe."

Bradley is a lifelong Yankee fan who was named after Mickey Mantle. Gordon, who grew up in Seekonk, idolized the Red Sox as a boy. "Our friendship transcends the rivalry," said Gordon of his colleague, adding, "Of course it doesn't hurt that we write about all the other teams."

The Field of Screams project did not develop the way the pair had originally expected. "We started by scouring libraries and research archives and we soon realized we'd have to rely almost completely on interviews with players," said Gordon.

"We applied for credentials to the teams and from 2005 to present we've interviewed over 1,000 players," the author said with a smile, clearly acknowledging that speaking to Major League heroes was not the worst part of his job.

When the authors had spoken to enough players, they had a long list of ghost stories, including many that revolve around the rivalry between the local nine and the hated Yankees.

Gordon seems to have enjoyed the project, and so do some of the players he spoke to, "At first we didn't really know what to expect, but in general most players were very open and warm. We thought there'd be a lot of sarcasm and there really wasn't. A lot of players either believe in ghosts or are just fascinated by the topic."

In our gallery, you can see video of Gordon reading and discussing an excerpt from the book where he spoke to Babe Ruth's granddaughter.

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