Projo Sports Blog

Larry Lucchino, the Boston Red Sox executive who once called the New York Yankees an “evil empire,” said his club would be interested in joining them to help spread baseball to China.

“We would be happy to do that,” the president of the Red Sox told Bloomberg Radio in an interview to air this weekend. “We'll flip a coin to see who's the home team.”

Yankees President Randy Levine two weeks ago said his team told Major League Baseball and the Chinese Baseball Association that the New York club wants to play the first major-league game in China.

“I did hear Randy say that,” Lucchino said. “I've been meaning to pick up the phone and call him and say `Randy, you pick the city, we'll pick the time and we'll see you there.”'

Levine and General Manager Brian Cashman were among Yankees officials who visited China in January to form a partnership with the nation's baseball association that will help coaches and players learn about the sport.

Told of Lucchino's comments, Levine responded with a gentle reminder that the Yankees have already taken the lead in building relationships in China.

“Larry has my number and he knows where to reach me,” Levine said in an e-mail. “He should call me before we leave for our next international trip.”

U.S. sports are anxious to attract attention in China, a nation of 1.3 billion people -- more than quadruple the U.S.'s population. Soccer is currently the most popular sport there.

MLB spokesman Richard Levin, who would not disclose whether any teams other than the Yankees have officially expressed interest in playing in China, said discussion of possible matchups is “premature.”

“There are a number of clubs that would be interested and everyone's pretty excited about the prospects of playing in China,” he said. “Nothing formal has been done yet.”
Lucchino later said through team spokesman John Blake that the Red Sox have “expressed our interest in helping Major League Baseball International to bring baseball and MLB to China.”

A Chinese baseball stadium will not be available until after the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Levine said in a previous interview. The Yankees plan to open their new stadium in 2009, making a season-opener in China that season less likely for them.

Both the Yankees and Red Sox are among the major-league teams that have signed Asian players. Boston in November spent $51.1 million for the right to negotiate with pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, then signed him to a six-year, $52 million contract.
Harry Kingman, who appeared in four games for the Yankees in 1914, is the only player born in mainland China ever to have played in the major leagues, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry goes back to the early years of the American League. Boston sold the Yankees Babe Ruth after the 1919 season. Ruth went on to become the game's iconic player, and the Yankees won 26 championships.

The Red Sox finally won their first World Series title since selling Ruth in 2004. They had the biggest comeback in postseason baseball history -- against the Yankees -- in the American League Championship Series that year.

Baseball has started its season outside the U.S. and Canada four times: twice in Japan, and once each in Mexico and Puerto Rico.

Paul Archey, baseball's senior vice president for international business operations, didn't return a call and e- mail seeking comment.

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