I feel the same way about what makes the game great. Stats and metrics don't make me smile or get angry at plays made by my beloved Sox... the plays do.
Baseball talk almost always ends up with comparisons. Past players vs current ones. Era vs era. Sox players vs Yankee players. CF'ers vs CF'ers. CF'er defense vs CF'er defense, etc... We all value some parts of the game more than others, so no metric is going to please everyone, even if we all liked to use metrics.
I admire the goal of WAR. In a way it's what we all do at the water cooler, when we say, "Yeah, JD is a better overall hitter than Betts, but Betts' defense makes him a better overall player." We haggle over how much base running should play into the equation. What about clubhouse leadership?
WAR tries to do just about everything all at once. It's an impossible task, but a worthy one. It should never end all discussions, and I get how some use it that way and how that sours some against it and not the person using it.
BTW, I really enjoy your posts, too.