Major League Baseball will look into banning home plate collisions

May 07, 2012; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Mets pitcher Bobby Parnell (39) checks on catcher Josh Thole (30) after a collision at home plate during the eighth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Mets defeated the Phillies 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

For as long as we can remember, home plate collisions have been part of baseball. However, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney, that may be coming to an end in the near future.

Olney suggested in a recent ESPN article that during the MLB winter meetings, officials will gather and discuss the possibility of banning plays at the plate:

"In the aftermath of two home plate collisions in the American League Championship Series on Thursday, officials from other teams reiterated that they expect the topic of banning that play to be raised again in meetings this winter."

While the topic has been brought up in the past, it’s likely the constant pressure surrounding the NFL in regards to their concussion issues is slowly trickling to Major League Baseball, especially given the amount of rough plays we’ve seen at the dish in recent years.

From Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants missing almost all of the 2011 season after being launched into by Scott Cousins to Alex Avila of the Detroit Tigers suffering a knee injury (thankfully not serious) during the ALCS, collisions are becoming more and more frequent and the injuries with more finely built players happening more often.

The line has been drawn pretty deep on both sides of the argument and both seem to have valid points, but fearing for player safety (and potentially their own pocket books) the MLB feels it’s a topic that clearly needs further evaluation.

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