Roger Angell: in Memoriam

11-year old me felt this way, inarticulately, and would have been consoled by these words.

"…the classic 1968 Series brought honor to both teams. "And I remember something else about that Series when it was over- a feeling that almost everyone seemed to share: that Bob Gibson had not lost that last game, and the Cardinals had not lost the Series. Certainly no one wanted to say that the Tigers had not won it; but there seemed to be something more that remained to be said. It was something about the levels and demands of the sport we had seen-as if the baseball itself had somehow surpassed the players and the results. It was the baseball that won"

Roger Angell: in Memoriam
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/roger-angell-in-memoriam/