[westofyou]

Did he have the ball?

If he did and he was blocking the plate then he's making the legal decision (as a player) to block it.

If he didn't have the ball and he gets smacked down then he's getting what he deserves because he's obstructing the plate.

The real point is the catchers massive amount of gear and the need to score/defend the potential run, the more gear a catcher has donned through the years has increased the amount of incidents of collision.

Comes with the territory, HBP are at an all time high, because of body armor. baseball is already a low impact contact sport 75% of the time, I can't see them regulating this out of the game, it pales in comparison to the roughshod of the late 19th century and a vestige of that still is (and always will be) in the game.