The new face of evil

It seems that much of Red Sox Nation is in a tizzy over our new foil, Hank Steinbrenner, profiled in the New York Times magazine this week.

Why? Yes, he is obnoxious, speaks out-of-turn and has little regard for reality or humility. But I love him.

Who cares if he's dismissive of the Sox success in recent years or the Empire's futility? It'll be fun to watch him eat his pompous words. At least he speaks directly, not through crafted statements that his father dealt, prompting me to wonder whether the elder Steinbrenner is truly alive or propped up like some bad Weekend at Bernie's sequel. And Hank will remind people that, in baseball, true evil resides in New York, not Boston.

{Ha! I'm sure that's what Red Sox Nation is hoping for, but it won't happen. This latest barb seems so contrived and orchestrated. It seems like both teams want to have the mindset of 10 years ago, with the Yankees as the evil overlords and the Red Sox as the battling underlings. But, as Greg points out below, it's not like that anymore. You can't pretend it's like that anymore.

I think the majority of baseball is bored by these teams, and really, who cares about these rivalries anyway? No one outside of the fans. No one gets psyched about the Phillies-Mets or Cardinals-Cubs except for their fans. And I wouldn't expect anyone else to care about them. Hopefully ESPN and other national news outlets realize this as well and stop hyping the New York-Boston rivalry. Because guess what -- no one cares.}

Other than A-Rod, who's scorned by both Yankee haters and lovers, individually there's not much to hate about this version of the Empire. Cue Hank:

For his part, Hank betrays no worry about the competition in the American League, whether it’s the Cleveland Indians, who eliminated the Yankees last year; the Detroit Tigers, who added Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis this winter; or, above all, the Red Sox, who have not only won the World Series twice in the last four years but are arguably becoming a national phenomenon. “Red Sox Nation?” Hank says. “What a bunch of [expletive] that is. That was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans. Go anywhere in America and you won’t see Red Sox hats and jackets, you’ll see Yankee hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country. We’re going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order.

I guess ol' Hank never watched Sportscenter before 2004 when you couldn't see a Red Sox highlight without a gratuitous shot of Babe Ruth, Billy Buckner or Bucky Dent. And as the Dirt Dogs reminded us, the nation first appeared in the Boston Globe during the 1986 World Series when the Sox weren't hated as they are now.

Here are two key points from the New York Times profile that Sox fans, and Hank, should remember:

--The Yankees are eight years removed from their last world championship, but it’s hard not to regard the new stadium, with its over-the-top evocation of Yankee mythology, as an in-your-face assertion of Yankee might, a pointed and — depending on your perspective — either desperate or reassuring reminder that the team is less a baseball club than an American institution.

--It’s worth noting that the foundation of Joe Torre’s dynasty was built during the years of Steinbrenner’s ban, from 1990 to 1993. And today’s team, which includes a good deal of young, homegrown talent, was put together over the past few years, while Cashman was in charge.

So let the son pipe off now, for soon he'll be just like his old man, paying a team $200 million to go out in the first round of the playoffs every year.

Etc: Dan Shaughnessy has a surprisingly good take on this situation today.

Game on: Christine's psyched for the first televised spring training game today. {Who are they playing? The Yankees. Who is pitching? Adam Eaton. Ugh.}