There will always be a winner and a loser.
But the beauty of baseball is written between the lines, before the final out is recorded, in the moments you can't predict and the plays you simply can't believe.
That was Game 7 of the World Series in a nutshell. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays, at the end of one of the best Fall Classics in recent memory, played one of the most epic baseball games you could ever imagine.
It started with the sheer magnificence that is Shohei Ohtani. The dude led off the game as a hitter, then was pitching in the bottom of the first as the Dodgers' starter on the mound. Who does that? (No one else.)
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Bo Bichette spoiled that with his three-run home run that came despite a clearly still-wonky left knee that had kept him out from Sept. 6 until the World Series.
The defending champion Dodgers refused to go away. Max Muncy hit a home run, passing Babe Ruth on the all-time postseason home run list, to pull within one.
Then in the ninth it was 9-hitter Miguel Rojas with the most improbable homer of this whole thing, a solo shot off the Blue Jays' closer to tie the game.
Rojas nearly fell over in the bottom half while fielding with the bases loaded to throw home, but the second baseman regained his balance just in time to extend the game. And then Andy Pages made a superb catch deep in the outfield while colliding with his left fielder for good measure.
And then we got bonus baseball. Extra innings in Game 7. The season's final game refused to end on time.
The Dodgers mostly stole the show in extras. There was Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound with no days rest, having thrown six innings in Game 6 but back to try and finish this one off.
And there was Will Smith, the go-ahead home run that will write his name in Dodgers lore for all time.
Even then, the Blue Jays made one final push. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Led off the final half inning of the season with a double. But in first and third with one out, Alejandro Kirk grounded to Mookie Betts.
Betts, at shortstop, was a right fielder for most of his big league career. Last year, he converted to short for the good of his team but wasn't very good.
This year, Betts made himself an exquisite fielder and a Gold Glove finalist. So on this grounder, he fielded smoothly, stepped on the bag himself and fired across to win the World Series.
The Blue Jays will always wonder what could've been, but they'd played an incredible series. It just hadn't been enough.
Almost everyone had a rooting interest in this matchup. Either you're a Dodgers fan, or you wanted the heavy-payroll Dodgers to lose.
But the winner here was the game of baseball. Everything about this World Series emphasized the brilliance of the game once known as America's Pastime.
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Maybe it's been surpassed in popularity, but it won't ever be overtaken in magic.
In what other sport can Rojas be the hero? No one is ever drawing up the last shot or the final football play for him.
But in baseball, it was his turn, and he came through, and a few innings later, the Dodgers were world champions again.
Maybe it's not the team you wanted to win.
But it was baseball at its best, and that's still a beautiful thing.
More World Series news:
- Andy Pages made the catch of his life to preserve the World Series
- Bo Bichette admits thoughts about leaving Toronto after World Series
- Clayton Kershaw's retirement is just about here
- Shohei Ohtani passes Babe Ruth in the record books
- Ernie Clement with the most prolific hitting postseason ever