WASHINGTON — It was a routine dress rehearsal, not an inflammatory prediction. A stage was set up in the Nationals Park last week so that Major League Baseball could practice for a trophy presentation as the World Series shifted from Houston with Washington holding a two-games-to-none lead.
A photograph of the exercise was shared on Twitter, and the reaction from both fan bases was swift: How could the Nationals be so cocky? Washington fans thought bringing out the stage was playing with fire. The Astros fans agreed, gleefully.
“This is such bad karma,” one fan wrote on Twitter. Another added: “Seems like some bad juju. Astros in 6 now.” Yet another wrote, “Baseball gods will frown highly on that.”
Now that the Astros have authoritatively swept all three games in Washington and headed back home needing one more win for a second title in three seasons, the staging has been portrayed as a folly or a catalyst — depending on which fans are judging.
Never mind that the Nationals were not prematurely prepping a celebration, or that M.L.B. does similar run-throughs at each team’s stadium during the league championship rounds and World Series. The practice is the opposite of arrogance; it’s all about worrying what can go wrong if the first stage setup happens on live television.
Still, the move has been second-guessed almost as much as any pitching choice or umpire’s call. Perhaps that is not surprising in a sport that dwells on superstitions more than any other, turning unfounded rituals into staples of the game.
Broadcasters sometimes refuse to acknowledge a no-hitter in progress, and teammates often don’t talk to a pitcher working on one. Many pitchers eat the same food before each game — or consume unusual concoctions, such as banana-mayonnaise sandwiches — to conjure a victory.
The teams in this World Series have their share of adherents to such traditions. Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo donned the same red sweatshirt for each of the eight games in his team’s postseason winning streak, and Astros third baseman Alex Bregman wore the same plaid shirt to the ballpark during his team’s three-game World Series winning streak.
“You have no control over this — none,” said F.P. Santangelo, a former major league player who is a television analyst for the Nationals, as he waved a hand around the stadium in Washington before Game 5 of the Series. “So as fans and players, we feel like if we do something dumb, and it works, it works. That’s how we have some sort of small semblance of control over all this chaos going on around us.”
Of course, the players had nothing to do with the rehearsal that launched a social media uproar. It happened on Thursday, an off-day when the teams held optional workouts and only a few players showed up. In front of a nearly empty stadium around 8:30 p.m., a crew rolled out a stage from the center-field gate and on to the infield. No cockiness involved, just caution.
But that didn’t register with fans, nor did they care. Some angry Houston fans sent the photo of the trophy stage to Astros players on Twitter. And with each Houston victory, Nationals fans lamented a perceived jinx against them while Astros fans cheered the same perception.
“Please @Nationals, fire whoever approved this rehearsal,” wrote one person on Twitter. “0-3 after pulling this unnecessary stupidity.” Added another, “Just be sure to tweet a pic of the rehearsal in Houston.”
From Astros fans came comments like: “You know this got blown up to an oversized poster and hung in the Astros locker room before Game 3.”
But a few Astros players said after a 7-1 win in Game 5 that they understood exactly why the staging was practiced. “We didn’t think anything of it,” Bregman said. Outfielder George Springer added: “It’s not a big deal. I mean, you know, for us to come in and play the way we did here was obviously big.”
David Waldstein contributed reporting.