Awesome Sports Logos Blog

Should Home Plate Collisions in Baseball Be A Thing of the Past

Sports are perfectly imperfect. I love everything about them, including its many deficiencies. There are so many elements to each sport that make no sense yet I remain captivated 365 days a year. Arguing for change is part of that romantic connection fans have with sports. Illegalizing baseball’s home plate collision is among my first arguments.

I’m all for rules that allow players to showcase their skills relevant to that particular sport, but in what way does barreling over a defenseless catcher do so? If the ball beats the base runner by thirty feet then the fielding team did its job and demonstrated baseball skills strong enough to execute their task. Those skills and that effort should not be nullified by an unnecessary collision. It’s like when your little brother beats you in something and then brags about it to your dismay so you proceed to punch him or push him or something. Instead, on closer plays a base runner can utilize the baseball skill of sliding to avoid a tag to make up for losing the race between them and the baseball. It’s a lost art but I love a well-executed hook slide or the occasional leap.

My opposition tends to cite entertainment as a counterpoint. Really? Why don’t you watch boxing or MMA? I know people like hockey for the fights, but I’ve never heard anyone identify the home plate collision as baseball’s hook. Can it be entertaining when it occurs? Sure. But rarely will fans of the collision go home with the fulfillment of feeling entertained as they occur rarely.

Others cite the hollow statement of: they’re grown men, they can deal with it. Grown men get hurt. Grown men sustain life-altering injuries. Grown men are mortal. If you pinch an adult, they’ll still slap your hand away, reacting to the sting. When one grown man waits as another barrels into him with a full head of steam, he can suffer broken bones, bruises to the brain, or damaged muscles like anyone else. They can also walk away unscathed, and often times they do, but is it worth the chance?

Football is a sport of collisions so it makes sense that players are exposed to injuries through these actions. Baseball is a sport of collisions, too...between a bat and a ball. In the current state of sports where we are learning more and more about concussions and doing what we can to lessen the risk of injuries, it’s time baseball collided with football and removed this unnecessary element of the game.

Let me show you a couple of Baseball T-shirts that won't cause a collision but will certainly draw some attention.

The Boston Accents

Boston is big time baseball country and also big time Accent country. It's the perfect combination for the die hard Beantown baseball fan.

How about the Savannah Seamen?

Savannah is the fourth largest seaport in the United States, therefore you will see a bunch of Seamen. What did you think we were referring to? I love this anchor logo with the baseball on top.

Support the cause and keep me employed by buying our t-shirts! Most importantly, thanks for reading.

Jared Sandler

Awesome Sports Logos columnist

Posted in Awesome Sports Logos by Gavin on 2/15/2014 at 3:35:54 pm.

Awesome Sports Logos Blog

Should Home Plate Collisions in Baseball Be A Thing of the Past

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