Infield fly rule?!?!

[The Man In Blue]

Just teach your girls to go to the base and stay there though. If the girl turns around and just goes back to the dugout I don't think the umpire has the recourse to rule the girl safe with the defender on the bag with the ball, actually she is probably out as soon as she leaves the baseline for the dugout. Now if she is on the bag without being tagged out and the umpire tells her she is out and must go to the dugout then you have recourse. Actually this is a super simple win on protest assuming the UIC knows the rule or takes a minute to go read it.

All you have to do is think about it for two seconds the umpire yells "the batter is out" at that point nothing is forcing anyone anywhere and runners may advance at their own risk.

An umpire error resulting in the player being tagged out because of the error would be correctable. So even if the player wandered off/went back to the dugout, the umpires could negate the erroneous out call and place her back on base. Now, they may place her back on first (not second) if they feel she wouldn’t have gotten second base anyway.

And the umpire should not automatically call the batter out. What if the ball goes foul?

 

[The Man In Blue]

How about the umpires that don't say a word out loud, just hold up the signal? The runners are watching to see if ball is caught. They need to hear "infield fly" so they know how to behave if it is dropped. We had that this weekend. Nobody heard the guy call it, and our runner was only safe by pure luck. Even our base coaches weren't aware of it until the play was over and everyone was confused as to why the batter was out.

An audible call is not required. A signal is not required either. Infield fly is a defined situation and the players should know and understand it. A lack of a call does not negate the situation. Coaches on offense and defense should be teaching/notifying the players.

That said (and with my previous post about not calling the batter out) ... a proper mechanic is to point and call “Infield fly! The batter is out if fair!”

Why “if fair”? I’ve seen pop flies hit in front of the pitcher’s rubber and end up foul. The batter is not out.

 

[Sweet Lou]

An audible call is not required. A signal is not required either. Infield fly is a defined situation and the players should know and understand it. A lack of a call does not negate the situation. Coaches on offense and defense should be teaching/notifying the players.

That said (and with my previous post about not calling the batter out) ... a proper mechanic is to point and call “Infield fly! The batter is out if fair!”

Why “if fair”? I’ve seen pop flies hit in front of the pitcher’s rubber and end up foul. The batter is not out.

While not require it sure is nice when blue makes a loud clear call. I've seen way too many arguments over what should be an easy rule. Usually surrounding the questions or "whether it was high enough to constitute an IF" or "whether or not it should have been caught with routine effort". When it's not called and should be and the ball finds dirt, often times it's keystone cops on the base paths.

 

[The Man In Blue]

Yes, yes, most definitely YES! Sorry if my post sounded otherwise. I thought we were going to start down the “it wasn’t called” path.

No real good excuse to not call it “loud and proud” ... but I have caught a frog in my throat or a cloud in my brain before.

It is a standard and basic umpire mechanic that they should be notifying each other (by signal) when it is on and when is off. So “not knowing” shouldn’t be an issue.

Height and “normal effort” are tricky calls sometimes.

 

[grcsftbll]

While not require it sure is nice when blue makes a loud clear call. I've seen way too many arguments over what should be an easy rule. Usually surrounding the questions or "whether it was high enough to constitute an IF" or "whether or not it should have been caught with routine effort". When it's not called and should be and the ball finds dirt, often times it's keystone cops on the base paths.

Especially in younger age groups when they're just starting to call it.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[djcarter1966]

An umpire error resulting in the player being tagged out because of the error would be correctable. So even if the player wandered off/went back to the dugout, the umpires could negate the erroneous out call and place her back on base. Now, they may place her back on first (not second) if they feel she wouldn’t have gotten second base anyway.

And the umpire should not automatically call the batter out. What if the ball goes foul?

That is what I meant she can't be awarded she was trying to advance to, she can however be sent back to her original base...and as you mentioned correct mechanics is " infield fly, batter is out, if ball is fair"

 

[testandor]

While it is certainly proper protocol for both umpires to signal each other that the situation for the Infield Fly Rule is in effect, along with how many outs, that is certainly a different situation than whether one or both actually call the batter out on an IF call.

I can't think of one good reason to NOT call the batter out - loud. And then to expect the offense to know that the force is off? What better way to create a kluster **** than to not clearly declare that the batter is out on an IF, and then have the ball hit the dirt.

WE call it, THEY hear it, RUNNERS react properly to it. Very simple.

 

[Sweet Lou]

Yes, yes, most definitely YES! Sorry if my post sounded otherwise. I thought we were going to start down the “it wasn’t called” path.

No real good excuse to not call it “loud and proud” ... but I have caught a frog in my throat or a cloud in my brain before.

It is a standard and basic umpire mechanic that they should be notifying each other (by signal) when it is on and when is off. So “not knowing” shouldn’t be an issue.

Height and “normal effort” are tricky calls sometimes.

I think most ump are excellent at it. But earlier this year I had the base ump make the signal for IF but no verbal call. Naturally the ball dropped and runners went running. As it happened all runner advancing at thier own risk turned out to be safe and the lady on first was sent to the dugout as out. But I talked to the ump between innings that since the runners were all watching the ball and not the umpire, none of them saw his signal. He agreed in the future a verbal call would be a good idea.

 

[testandor]

I worked an 18U "showcase" tournament the weekend before last. I had the bases. 1st & 2nd, one down. The coach pulled his infield in - way in! Batter hits a relatively shallow blooper that's destined to land right around where a SS playing deep would be. BUT, she wasnt playing deep, and the ball wasn't hit that high. Plate ump calls Infield Fly. Unbelievably, no one said a word about it.

 

[marriard]

Height and “normal effort” are tricky calls sometimes.

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 as the ball starts to descend. But even if I don't, if it is an infield fly, it is an infield fly.

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.