At the heart of it, baseball is about a single battle.
Pitcher vs Batter.
Each pitch is a battle. Each at-bat is a war, comprised of a series of smaller battles.
The pitcher attacks. The batter defends, and tries to counter the attack. The defense behind the pitcher tries to defend against that attack and counter with their own next inning.
We can compare teams.
We can compare starting pitchers.
We can look at season results, or any other sample size.
This game is all about that small moment where a pitcher is on the mound, a batter is at the plate, and everyone is waiting to see what the pitcher will throw, and how the batter will instantly react.