Tonight, as The Ford was watching The Official Sports' Mistress' playoff game, and trying not to feel bitter about how work/the inability to beat the Royals was keeping The Ford from experiencing the joy of the playoffs in person for the first time, he had an epiphany...

It's not about the playoffs.

The fun The Ford had at 30-some regular-season games isn't diminished because he can't go to any playoff games. It's still there. No, really, it is.

The Ford didn't go to those games because he thought the team was good. Or because he thought the team might be good, and he wanted to get in on the ground floor.

Indeed, he went to the games because they were there, because he digs baseball.

And thus, he was rewarded with a fantastic season.

But even if The Official Sports Mistress would have lost 120 games, the season still would have been worth it, simpley for the many individual memories.

Really, the beauty of the baseball season is that, in going for 162 games, it forces you to just enjoy the games, without worrying about how they affect the pennant race.

It's in stark opposition to football -- either pro or college -- where there are so few games that each one feels like it's life or death.

The Ford doesn't want to get into a whole George-Carlin-difference-between-football-and-baseball thing, but really, The Ford will continue going to as many baseball games as he can, regardless of the quality of the teams, or the quality of the games.

Honest.