Quote:
Originally posted by KentuckyBlue
Will complete my 11th season this fall calling AA adult slow pitch (NSA this year after 10 years ASA). Had a quiet year EXCEPT that I had about four consecutive foul-ups on infield flies and the office now thinks I don't know jack about them. Maddening. I know the rules perfectly but the situations throw me curves. Here's the most recent one I punted.
I'm PU in this game of a summer class D tournament, being played as usual by trophy-hunting B and C teams almost exclusively. R1 on first, R2 on second, nobody out. Batter lifts a towering infield fly that from my point of view looks easily playable by F6. In fact he's camped, tapping his glove. At the fly ball's apex I call "Infield fly, batt---" and F6 suddenly turns and scampers to where the ball is actually falling, more like short center field about 25 feet behind second base. He plays it on the bounce and comes up firing to third for the force on R2, whom I saw reverse his path and hold second after hearing my call. Uh oh.
Have no idea how to make this right. Partner and I confer. We decide to resurrect R2 to third. Howls then from the defense, who wants me to explain why neither the infield fly call nor the out at third stands. I say it's false logic that it should be an either/or, but they say if the fly fell and wasn't an IF then the runner should have been in jeopardy. My "correcting a mistaken call" explanation doesn't convince. Defense protests but wins the game.
Not my finest hour, as I'm sure Mike and all y'all will tell me. (I've eaten lots of crow here before, pile on, I'm not offended.) But I just want to know what a blue with all his/her brains might have done to try to fix that screwup (and where I can find one next time I need it and don't happen to have my laptop hooked up to this board).
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I hate to say this, but I agree with the players.
The fact that you ruled infield fly should have nothing to do with the runner's position at 2B as all rules still apply concerning tagging up on a fly ball. For that matter, that runner probably had the best angle on the batted ball than anyone else and should have been aware of whether he would need to tag up or not.
If you don't rule the batter out on the IF, then you did indeed put the runner at 2B in jeopardy of being forced. If you do rule the batter out on the IF, then there was no jeopardy of the runner being forced at 3B.
Based on your description, my ruling would be the batter is out (and I would learn to be more patient with my call) and place R1 (who should have started on 2b with R2 on 1B) on whichever base I thought he would have been if the play followed through with no IF called. In this case, most like 2B.
BTW, in my area, when there is a BU we teach them to give an indication to the PU (left hand pointing up) and then to make the call if the PU fails to rule IF.