We all know that the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is not what it used to be. And an article in the Boston Globe reminds us of the more fierce days of The Rivalry.
The Globe's Dan Shaughnessy got Yankee president Randy Levine to weigh in on the retirement of Larry Lucchino, his counterpart on the Red Sox. He talked about when both teams went after Jose Contreras in 2002 -- then-GM Theo Epstein rented out all the rooms in a Nicaraugan hotel to keep the Yanks out, but the Bombers still won Contreras. Lucchino then called the Yankees the "Evil Empire" for the first time, saying: “The Evil Empire extends its tentacles even into Latin America.