Judge Rules That Yankees Are Baseball’s Only ‘Evil Empire’

It's only February, but I think we already have a pretty strong candidate for strangest baseball story of the year.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a company registered under the name of Evil Enterprises Inc. has been seeking exclusive trademark rights to the phrase “Baseballs Evil Empire” since June of 2008. Their intention? Release a clothing line — t-shirts, hats, jackets, and who knows what else — with the phrase "Baseball's Evil Empire" attached to them.

Good plan, I suppose, but there's one big problem with that. The "Evil Empire" phrase has long been associated with the New York Yankees.

In fact, it was Boston Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino who coined it back in 2002 after New York signed Jose Contreras out from underneath them. It wasn't meant to be flattering, but it stuck, and in recent seasons we've even witnessed the Yankees beginning to embrace it by playing the Imperial March during home games.

That's why Major League Baseball immediately stepped in on their behalf to block Evil Enterprises' attempt to land the trademark. Eventually the Yankees themselves joined the fight, and apparently that's led to a long, drawn out battle that was finally settled before a panel of trademark judges in Washington D.C. earlier this month.

That makes it officially official. Anytime you hear or see the phrase "Baseball's Evil Empire" it's a direct reference to the Yankees and no one else. That cool, Evil Enterprises?

I wouldn't bother with that, Gerard. We've all heard it used in reference to other teams, sure, but the original is the original. It just doesn't pack the same punch unless you're talking about the New York Yankees, and to argue baseball fans would think anything else when looking at your apparel is fairly absurd.

We're sure you could do better anyway, so give up the battle and wow us with something original and creative.