The story is a simple one; the Angels lost the ball game 5-1. Jerome Williams turned in an underwhelming performance, the offense did absolutely nothing, and the bullpen performed in a low leverage situation to keep the numbers pretty. The problems are much more complex.

Last night’s tragedy in Colorado throws several American issues under the microscope. Gun control, video game violence, and the obvious mental illness that drives people to perform such horrendous acts are all things thrown into the conversation. What could have been done to stop this from happening?

There’s no easy answer. There are empirical arguments that show that loose gun control laws reduce violence. For every one villain like James Holmes there are millions of kids enjoying their youths with Call of Duty who will never consider doing something so evil. Campaigns have been designed to reach people before they snap and do things that can never be reversed.

And yet, here we are. Several people dead, many injured. Millions of distraught people with all sorts of pain and anger.

The Halos have issues; the bullpen needs some help; the rotation is very hit-or-miss; most of the offense is playing just well enough to stick around. How can these problems be fixed?

Many people have opinions on how to resolve issues, but some of these things just don’t have easy answers.

Over the next several weeks, the Angels may do things to fix their team and gear up for a postseason run. Until things have played out, we won’t be able to say whether or not a move is right or wrong, and the same concept applies to the United States.

Baseball is fun to talk about, and filled with difficult questions and debates, but tragedies like last night’s put things in perspective. So before you get worked up about Kendrys Morales’ slash line or Jerome Williams’ 4.85 ERA, take a step back and think about what really matters.

Over the next several weeks many stories will emerge from what happened in Aurora. In a few months, few will discuss these stories, but many will continue to worry about Vernon Wells’ contract or what to do with Dan Haren and Ervin Santana.

This isn’t a post to tell you not to care about these things. It’s a reminder that while baseball is outrageously awesome, life features plenty of knee-buckling curveballs that we need to work on.

My heart is filled with sorrow today, and it will be for the next several days. I hope that those who suffered can influence people in the future and prevent the type of pain they had to endure, both physically and emotionally.

Here’s to remembering all those who suffered from last night’s tragedy and keeping things in perspective.

Hudson Belinsky can be followed on Twitter at @hudsonbelinsky.

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