MLB Rule Committee Votes to Impose Rule Eliminating Home-Plate Collisions

Amid player safety concerns, particularly those related to concussions, Major League Baseball announced it had voted to ban collisions at home plate, effective for the 2014 season:

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MLB Rules Committee approves ban on home-plate collisions. Details from Sandy Alderson: pic.twitter.com/5knsmpUIbF

— MLB (@MLB) December 11, 2013"

USA Today's Bob Nightengale first reported the decision, which came Wednesday as officials across the league were in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., for the annual winter meetings:

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MLB has now decided to eliminate home-plate collisions at home plate, meaning, players must slide going into home.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 11, 2013"

Because the change would involve altering the collective bargaining agreement—players would be subject to punishment for home-plate collisions—it must be approved by a vote from the MLBPA. Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports that the commissioner's office will not only institute fines, but possibly even suspensions. 

It's unclear at this time whether any additional wrinkles will be thrown into the rule, other than forcing players to slide to avoid tags at home plate. Paul Hagen of MLB.com reported that Cardinals manager Mike Matheny and Giants manager Bruce Bochy, both former catchers, were invited to speak to the Playing Rules Committee at a meeting on Thursday. 

ESPN's Buster Olney also notes that umpires will have the discretion to look at instant replay to determine whether a collision was in violation of the rule:

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The most interesting aspect of new plate collision rules, I think, is that umpires will be able to use instant replay review to make ruling.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 11, 2013"

The potential ban on home-plate collisions represents a stark shift in the way the game is played. These collisions were often celebrated during baseball's heyday as the national pastime. Some of the most infamous plays in MLB history—most notably Pete Rose bowling over Ray Fosse in the 1970 MLB All-Star Game—have come from hits at the dish.

However, a recent rash of high-profile injuries have caused many around the sport to reconsider. Giants catcher Buster Posey missed more than 100 games in 2011 after suffering a leg injury in a home-plate collision. In Game 5 of the 2013 ALCS, Red Sox catcher David Ross ran into Tigers catcher Alex Avila in an ugly collision. Both players luckily were not seriously hurt, but the violence of the collision put the spotlight on a potential change. 

The decision comes on the heels of an illuminating study from medical officials and trainers, which showed that 22 percent of concussions in the sport are caused by collisions, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A majority of those collisions come at home plate, making them preventable injuries in the eyes of the league office.

Concussions and concussion safety has been one of the overarching themes across all sports in 2013, as major professional sports leagues look to enact new rules to prevent long-term brain damage. With MLB taking the step Wednesday, it's clear that baseball is starting to make major progress in removing preventable head injuries from the game. 

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