I think intangibles are meaningful, but I'd still bet on math.
I do agree about the Cubs schedule being tougher in actuality than in theory.
My take is: there's SO much baseball that most of it is meaningless. In order to make it meaningful, we pile all kinds of emotional narratives on top of it. Sometimes, this makes things joyful and borderline mystical (the 14-game streak, Uecker magic, etc.). Sometimes, it makes things stressful and gut-wrenching (the last three days). In both cases, the emotional narrative is valid and meaningful but missing significant parts of the underlying reality.
This is why I find baseball to be a good teacher. It is constantly forcing you to evaluate your subjective experience against things more objective. That back and forth is very human.