SI.com · Aug 15, 2017
The Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry Is Back, And It Could Soon Dominate Baseball Again
The previous renewal of the greatest rivalry in sports began on a November night in Nicaragua over whiskey, Cuban cigars and millions of dollars. It was Thanksgiving weekend, 2002. The Red Sox, having just finished their first season under new ownership, decided they had tired of the Yankees kicking sand in their faces. Their spanking new, 28-year-old general manager, Theo Epstein, flew to Nicaragua to sign free agent Jose Contreras, a sturdy Cuban pitcher so steeped in mystique he answered to the nickname El Titan de Bronze, an homage to a heroic 19th century general from that country.