Though briefly exploring what he calls a “Felix-Oscar” dichotomy between brothers Hal and Hank Steinbrenner (and if the former’s supposed to be the nerd, lord have mercy on Yankee fans), Play Magazine’s Jonathan Mahler (author of “Ladies & Gentlemen, The Bronix Is Burning”) collects some blustery soundbytes from the latter.

Hank made no secret of the fact that he was the most aggressive advocate of acquiring Santana, and the very public manner in which he handled the organization™s internal deliberations over the trade could certainly come back to haunt the Yankees. If the young prospects disappoint, it will be clear who is at fault, and Hank seems to be reserving the right to assign blame. œI don™t want to make it seem like I™m going to be ranting and raving like my father used to do, but everybody seems so sure that we™re going to be O.K., and these guys are still rookies, he told me. (It won™t help matters if Santana, who was eventually traded to the Mets, thrives in New York.)

Hank betrays no worry about the competition in the American League, whether it™s the Cleveland Indians, who eliminated the Yankees last year; the Detroit Tigers, who added Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis this winter; or, above all, the Red Sox, who have not only won the World Series twice in the last four years but are arguably becoming a national phenomenon. œRed Sox Nation? Hank says. œWhat 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.