MLB to ban plate collisions

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida (AP) ― Pete Rose sounded bowled over.

Charlie Hustle, who famously flattened Ray Fosse to score the winning run in the 1970 All-Star game, couldn’t believe Major League Baseball intends to eliminate home-plate collisions by 2015 at the latest.

“What are they going to do next, you can’t break up a double play?” Rose said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press after MLB announced its plan Wednesday.

“You’re not allowed to pitch inside. The hitters wear more armor than the Humvees in Afghanistan. Now you’re not allowed to be safe at home plate?” Rose said. “What’s the game coming to? Evidently the guys making all these rules never played the game of baseball.”

New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson, chairman of the rules committee, made the announcement at the winter meetings, saying the change would go into effect for next season if the players’ association approved. Safety and concern over concussions were major factors ― fans still cringe at the thought of the season-ending hit Buster Posey absorbed in 2011.

“Ultimately what we want to do is change the culture of acceptance that these plays are ordinary and routine and an accepted part of the game,” Alderson said.