YOU MAKE THE CALL....

Saw this last night in a game..... Bases loaded one out hitter gets fisted and hits a low dying quail just to the SS side of the pitchers mound! SS has no chance /play...Pitcher scurrys back and reachers over with glove side left hand and sanrs pop up yet stumbles and drops it! Picks ball up throws to plate and then to first to double up hitting team ending inning...Now the good part!!! No Infield fly rule called...play allowed to stand until offensive team argued the play. Umpires (in their infinite wisdom) brings team out..credits defense with putout at first and sends runners back to third/second respectively....knew you'd love this one!

 

IFR

on a play that is governed by the infield fly rule, if it is not actually called out by the ump..............is it still in effect?

 

For it to be considered an infield fly an infielder must be camped underneath the ball. A short little blooper is not considered an infield fly in my eyes.

 

Ruling on Infield Fly

The infield fly does not have to be called even though a good umpire will always call it. It is the players and coaches responsibility to know if the infield fly situation is enforce.
In the play last night the umpires should have conferred and called the batter out but since the ball dropped the runners were free to run and should not have been put back on the bases. This call could have been protested due to a rules infraction.

Most umpires will call all popups, bloops, dying quails in the infield as "infield flys" it is not exactly necessary to be camped under the ball.

 

The way this play has been explained (pitcher scurrying back.... snaring it) it sounds to me like there should be no infield fly rule. An infield fly is a fly ball (not a soft liner) that is catchable by an infielder without extraordinary effort. This play should stand as a double play the way it is written in the original post. I know it sounds bad, but unless the pitcher was under the fly ball and used no extraordinary effort to in an attempt to catch the ball, he is allowed to pick the ball up and double them off.

 

Agree with BigDip,,,,,,, double play. Fielders don't have to be "camped" under a ball for it to qualify as infield fly rule, umpires need to use "reason" that the fielder is able to catch a ball in the air fairly easily before they make the infield fly call.

And the way this play was described, sounds like it was a tough play for the pitcher, which would mean NO infield fly call. Runners are on their own. It should've been a double play.

 

Agree...

BigDope! It was not necessarily routine... it was a pop up yet didn t go higher than 20-25 feet...average to better athlete however makes the play routinely...This pitcher/kid struggled a bit yet got it cleanly into his glove before stumbling...should have let the play stand in MHO... However even with the reversal no tag was made on any runner for it was obviously a force out...field was cleared teams replaced one another on the field...then the umps swapped em around again geeezzzzzzzzzz is it just me...but if they had originally let it stand all what habe been correct...all the u mpires had to state that in their "judgment" it was not under the auspices of the IFR!!!!

 

"Its always easier when you get it right the first time" is probably one of my favorite Jim Evans quotes. The IFR is one of the most misunderstood of all rules - everyone knows it, but hardly anyone knows it correctly (and don't even mention IFR's ugly cousin the Intentionally Dropped Ball rule)... heck I had a college batter come up after a high pop fly with 1 out and runners on 1st & 3rd ask me why that wasn't infield fly. He thought that you just needed a runner on 1st...

Everyone knows you must have runners on 1st & 2nd or bases loaded AND less than 2 outs AND it can never be a bunt. There is no height requirement as far as how high the ball has to go, the book simply say it cannot be a "soft liner". The biggest misconception is that an infielder can be on the outfield grass, drop the ball and still have the IFR in effect. The book simply states that it must be a fair ball that can be caught by an infielder without extraordinary effort. It doesn't say he must be in the infield. Can he be where the CF normally plays? Sure, if the ball is hit that high and he goes back with ordinary effort and gets under it, technically it could be ruled an IFR. Will you ever see that happen? No. But by the book, it could be ruled as such. Umpires are taught to wait until the ball is at its highest point to make the call, but sometimes can't make that determination until later if it is windy or if the infielder is drifting backward toward the lip in the back of the infield or if the pitcher is trying to come off the mound to make the play... something like that. We want to be sure that the infielder isn't likely to fall and has a bead on the ball. That is the ideal situation however. Every infield fly is different.

 

Infield fly update

by the way even an outfielder can come in to the infield and make the catch if the infielders are playing in for example. the umpire could/should still call it an infield fly. amazing that so few people know baseball rules.

 

Good point... as long as the play could've been made by an infielder. That is the most important point of that rule I think - a ball that can be handled by an infielder with ordinary effort. This situation could come about if say the bases were loaded with the score tied in the last inning with say 0 outs... have the outfield play in far enough that they could put out R3 tagging... That would be a tough call to sell, but it is correct.