Papelbon is now an SI cover boy, twice over. And not to be outdone, Josh got his second SI cover as well by scoring the commemorative issue cover (and he reminds Papelbon that he's also had an ESPN magazine cover).

Brilliant article by Tom Verducci to go along with that pretty cover -- Verducci is fast becoming my favorite sportswriter around. He talks about the necessary interwoven nature of the Red Sox organization that led to success:

The world championship is all of it: the commitment to player development, the obsessive devotion to detail, the fluorescent-bathed nerds who break down statistics and video as if they were the Dead Sea Scrolls, the small army of scouts, the bad dudes -- yes, especially the bad dudes -- who wear the Boston uniform and strip the will from their opponents one grueling at bat after another. The entire thing is a giant Jenga game; remove any one of the interlaced blocks and the whole damn tower might topple.

And about the changing landscape of Red Sox fandom:

But [the Red Sox organization's] most amazing achievement is this: It has supplanted the Calvinistic, multigenerational dread of Red Sox fans with the sunshine of optimists. Boston, which once made a gruesome art of losing, now almost always wins the Big One.

But the best part of the article was actually words Verducci just quoted:

"Listen," designated hitter David Ortiz began, "we're not just a good team. We're a great team. And don't you f------ forget that. And let's go play one at a time and go prove that. Because let me tell you something...."

Ortiz pulled on the sides of his gray road jersey. "There's a reason why you wear this Red Sox uniform...."

Ortiz paused for a beat, letting the suspenseful silence fill the rapt room.

"Because you're a bad mother------."