Letters to the Editor
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Slippery Slopes
That's not a bad idea, though I can see it becoming kind of a slippery slope. What would get banned next? And at what point would it start to really affect how players approach the game.
I don't think it needs to be a slippery slope, because I can't think of any other play in baseball where the point of the play is to initiate violent contact with another player. Even in takeout slides, the point is not to wrack the guy up as it is to make him avoid you long enough to not turn a double-play. But the point of the plate collision is to hit the guy so hard he can't hold a ball.
(The only other exception I can think of is the beanball, which is not easily tolerated. To the extent that it's obvious a pitcher is headhunting, there is a pretty quick hook -- one could even argue that being ejected is already a more serious punishment for the same thing than simply being called out on a play.)
Honestly, I can't see it changing the approach to the game much at all. It would just be a different rule, and one that is pretty easy to adapt to at that.