- Jan 22, 2011
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One guideline I was taught is that if I can look up and see the ball before or at it's apex and then look down and see an infielder who should easily have it, then 'infield fly'.
If I can, I want to make the call at the apex or just at the ball starts to descend.
Bunt's can't be infield flys even if they pop up. Line drives can't be either.
And lastly, the rule doesn't mean the ball has to be within the diamond whne it lands - it is just that an infielder can catch it easily. For example if a SS can easily catch a fly ball just in the grass that is an infield fly... and also on the same play, if an outfielder calls the SS off, it is still an infield fly because the SS could have taken it. Had a fun time explaining that one once in a high school game.
Good description of how to judge an infield fly. A couple years ago my DD had a game where it dropped 5-10 feet into the grass behind the SS and her coaches were very unhappy it was called an infield fly. In my opinion it was definitely an infield fly.... the pop up was high enough an aggressive catcher would of had a chance to get to the ball to catch it.
One of my joys as President of a rec league was when the plate umpire got mad at the UIC (who was the base umpire that game) for calling a foul bunt pop-up an infield fly.