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Let's take a look at the Infield Fly Rule, as it tends to be one of the things
that people get most confused over in baseball.
First, I want to explain how the rule is applied,
and then I want to explain why it is necessary,
or at least why it is used, as some people would argue that is not necessary.
Basically the Infield Fly Rule is used to prevent the defense from turning a cheap
double or triple play.
In order for it to be in effect
there needs to be runners on first and second base,
or the bases need to be loaded,
and there must be less than two outs.
So if we have this situation with guys on first and second base, and one out
and the batter hits a fly ball that
in the umpire's judgment can be caught by an infielder using 'ordinary effort'
then the umpire is supposed to yell out, "Infield Fly!"
and when he yells this the batter is automatically out. So what this does
is allows the base runners to stay on their bases
and it removes the threat of then being doubled off.
One of the most important things to note is that where the ball lands or would
have landed it it had not been caught
is irrelevant.
It can be in the infield or it can be in the outfield as long as the infielder can get to the
ball, in the view of the umpire, using ordinary effort.
And this makes sense because if a high fly ball is hit
just a few feet behind the second baseman
he might drift back and be in the outfield, but he would have plenty of
time to get under the ball and catch it using ordinary effort.
On most players at the umpire calls infield fly
the fielder will catch the fly ball regardless,
but if they choose to take the risk of the base runners may attempt to run and if
the fielder does not catch the ball or he drops that for whatever reason
then the runners will move up a base as long as the fielder doesn't pick up the
ball and throw them out before he gets to the next base.
The batter will still be out regardless though.
The runners can also tag up after the ball has been caught if they want to risk it with
the ball being hit so shallow.
If the ball is hit close to the foul line the umpire can yell out,
"Infield Fly, If Fair!"
And if the ball lands in fair territory then the batter would be out, but if the
ball were to go foul
it would just be the same as any other foul ball
and the batter would not be out
The exception to this would be if it is a bunt with two strikes that goes foul,
because the infield fly rule applies to bunts too.
So bunting a foul ball with two strikes would mean that the batter
struck out; that would still take effect.
That's how the Infield Fly Rule works
and as I said it's there to prevent the defense from turning
a double play.
If the infield fly rule were not used an
infielder could let a fly ball drop, quickly pick it up, flip it to second
base and then throw on to first place before the runner got there.
Or, if the ball was hit toward the third baseman, he could let it drop
pick it up, step on third base, then throw to get the force out at second
and possibly even for a throw on to first base to get the out there depending on the
situation and how fast the runners are. Because
without the Infield Fly Rule, if the ball were popped up, the base runners would
probably have to assume that the ball will be caught by an infielder
and they would stick
close to the base that they were on
which would then allow the defense to easily get that force out
on the base that they were going to.
Some people would argue that by allowing a pop up to drop like that
defense takes the risk that all the runners could advance to the next
safely and
they will get no outs
and others would say that this should also apply even if there is only a runner on
first base because the defense could still easily
turn that double play.
But in any case, that is how the Rule works, so I will let you decide if it is good or bad,
but for now though it
seems like the Infield Fly Rule is here to stay.