Nationals fans rip up SI cover, leave good luck cat at Fenway Park

A Nationals fan left a Japanese Maneki-Neko cat doll on the top of Fenway Park's Green Monster for good luck

A Nationals fan presumably distraught by his team's 3-6 start tried to quietly leave a good luck omen on top of one of baseball's most sacred landmarks. But now the cat's out of the bag. 

According to the Washington Post, the zealous Washington fan left a Maneki-Neko cat doll on the top of Fenway Park's Green Monster in order to bring about good luck.

The fan who left the figurine bought it in Washington the evening before he and his father road-tripped to the game, he told the Post. 

“Knowing that my dad and I were headed to Boston at 5:30 a.m., I had to buy it,” Jake wrote of the felicitous feline to the Post in an e-mail.

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“It watched over me while I slept. And today we did a tour of Fenway and I left it behind on top of the Green Monster as a sacrifice of sorts. Something has to change.”

Jake was not to be outdone by another Red Sox fan, Luis, who told the newspaper he ripped up a printed-out copy of Sports Illustrated's March 30 cover featuring the Nationals. 

The Maneki-Neko cat took on significance for Washington last year when Jose Lobaton placed his own personal Maneki-Neko cat in the dugout during game three of the National League Divisional Playoff series.

The cat is known in Japanese culture as a good-luck talisman that brings good tidings to the owner. 

But since the cat in question is supposed to bring about good luck to the owner, and now the Red Sox own the statue, will Boston benefit from this? We'll remember this in September. 

- Will Green