I’d like to personally extend my gratitude to Hank Steinbrenner, who seems to be embracing his role as newly-annoited Sith lord of the Yankee Evil Empire, single-handedly breathing life into a rivalry that’s been pretty stale since the Rebel Alliance overcame a four-zilch deficit in 2004 and went on to capture their first World Series championship in 86 years.

It seems like eons ago that Pedro Martinez and Don Zimmer went toe-to-toe, or that Alex Rodriguez got a face full of leather courtesy of Jason Varitek. Hell, Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia faced criminal charges for tussling with a Sox groundskeeper in 2003. Those were the days.

Evidently, Hammerin’ Hank misses them as well. He’s doing his best to reinvigorate things, and perhaps light a fire under a Yankee squad that has been utterly dorment in the postseason in the ’04 upset. Via the New York Times’ Play Magazine:

“Red Sox Nation? 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.”

Meanwhile, the “Nation” seems to be taking things in stride, as well they should. No need to take Hank’s bait when you’ve already won two championships in the last four seasons.

“I’m a big Hank fan,” owner John Henry wrote in an e-mail to The Hartford Courant. “Just to ensure he knows how cool Red Sox Nation is, today we officially inducted him as a member of Red Sox Nation and we are sending him his membership card giving him access to an array of options, including our newsletter, bumper stickers, pins, Green Monster seats and a hat personally autographed by David Ortiz.”

Some more reaction from Red Sox Nation, courtesy of The Boston Globe:

Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino – no stranger to pie tossing with the Yankees – cackled when he heard the statement.

“I don’t deny there are Yankee fans everywhere,” said Lucchino. “But it’s blind of him not to see the phenomenon that is Red Sox Nation. I expect he will become more aware of the passion and breadth of Red Sox Nation as long as he is actively involved in baseball. I do appreciate that he has picked up on the Star Wars metaphor, though. He said he was happy to be Darth Vader and we are happy to be the Rebel Alliance.”

Fans can only hope that this weekend’s back-and-forth are an omen of things to come.