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Originally Posted by celebur
Then why does 6.05l include the approved ruling?
Excellent summary. I emphatically agree.
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A soft flair and line drive may be legally turned into a double play because it doesn't call for an IFR. Runners are at risk if baseball is caught and they fail to retouch or are forced to advance on a quick one-hopper, or two. That's how the game is played and why the approved ruling exists. The defense keeps its opportunity to turn the 5-4-3 DP.
However, runners are protected if the ball is touched in the air and then dropped. Again the purpose is to protect the offense from defensive posturing; such as stopping the ball on the back side of the glove and allowing it to fall, only to pick it right up for an easy DP. Likewise, IFR is one up on 6.05.l because it acknowledges that most fielders camp underneath the fly ball 96% of the time. Those 4% who don't are either too late (2%) or too lazy (giving it 2%).