I admit, I do say that as a Braves fan. But I’d say the same if it had gone the other way. You can disbelieve that if you like, but it’s really true. Both teams were more fun to watch–indeed, were pushed to be greater teams–by the necessity of playing to be not merely good enough, but first.
No, there’s no conflict between pennant (or equivalent) races and divisions, particularly with unbalanced schedules (more games against in-division opponents). Before the introduction of “divisions” in 1969, we effectively had two divisions–the National League and the American League–with fully-unbalanced schedules (i.e., no interleague). Was it unfair when the second-best team in one league won more games than the best team in the other but didn’t go to the Series? No–and it would have been stupid to even make the argument, because records against different opponents aren’t comparable.