The New York Yankees are baseball's evil empire, and they're proud of it

Larry Lucchino (right) originally dubbed the New York Yankees "Baseball's Evil Empire."

Red Sox fans, remember the good old days?

Grady and Tito, Foulke and Timlin, Mueller and Bellhorn, Big Papi and Manny being Manny?

Johnny Damon with a beard and Jason Varitek punching A-Rod?

The Red Sox and Yankees were batting for baseball supremacy and the rest of the league was watching.

In the eyes of many fans the Red Sox represented all that was good, while the Yankees were so consistently dominant that they were called an "evil empire."

How did that label come about?

There was a free agent pitcher, he was a Cuban defector, and his name was Jose Contreras. To absolutely no one's surprise both the Red Sox and Yankees were aggressively bidding for his services.

It was the Yankees who ended up inking him to a contract.

The Red Sox and their new ownership were not thrilled with this. Larry Lucchino was so frustrated with the Yankee's consistent one-upping of the Red Sox on the free agent market that he said something that has lived on in infamy ever since.

He referred to the Yankees as "the evil empire."

It wasn't meant as a compliment. More than 10 years later the label has become a symbol of pride for the team.

After all, regardless of whether or not the Yankees are "evil," their track record of annual success does make them somewhat of an empire.

Division titles, or at least wildcard playoff berths, seem almost automatic in the Bronx. They've been to four World Series this century, winning two and losing two. In 2008 the Yankees missed the playoffs, they haven't missed them since, prior to that they hadn't missed the playoffs since 1993.

The "empire" part of the statement rings true. It is something no Red Sox fan wants to admit, but most would begrudgingly acknowledge.

Back in July of 2008 the Yankees began a legal battle to ensure that when it came to baseball, the phrase "evil empire" was owned by the team.

The Yankees were fighting in federal trademark court to ensure that a company named Evil Enterprises, Inc. could not trademark and register the phrase "Baseball's Evil Empire."

On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Yankees have won the long legal battle.

It just goes to show that when it comes to name-calling, the actual name is not important, at least not when there's money to be made by using it.

Maybe the Yankees corporate bosses don't think of themselves as evil, but they'll gladly make money off the nickname. They certainly don't want anyone else making money off of it.

In an effort to prove the team's desire to own the rights to the nickname, the Yankees' lawyers made references to numerous articles that had been written since the notable Lucchino quote in December of 2002. They also admitted to playing Star Wars theme music at Yankee Stadium to reinforce the team's pride in the typically negative moniker.

In the end, just like in 2002, the Yankees won. In 2002 their victory earned them the nickname "Evil Empire," as well as the services of Jose Contreras. More than a decade later the Yankees won a legal battle to ensure that they were in fact the "Evil Empire" even if it is only by name.

Then again, if the thirst for profit and exclusive naming rights compels a company to go to court to claim legal rights to a name that literally declares them "evil," then perhaps it is more than just a nickname?

One thing is for sure, when it comes to baseball, if you're referring to a team as "The Evil Empire," then you had better be referring to the New York Yankees, or else you might get sued.

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