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Originally Posted by Julio Caliente
Another thing to remember is that an IFF ball does NOT have to be in the infield. All is has to be a ball that is easily caught by an infielder.. aka routine. Here are a few exaples where coaches have questioned me about the IFF:
1) F4 standing about 6 ft in front of the outfield grass. Pop is hit, F4 runs back 10 ft, camps under the ball, and makes the catch. I call IFF and declare the batter out. OC questions my call saying that the F4 was not in the "infield" so IFF fly rule can not be called. I inform him that IFF can be called on a routine pop fly and that was a routine pop fly. especially since she was camped under it prior to being caught.
2) Same Sit as above, but F9 is playing shallow and calls off F4. IFF fly rule still applies because its a ball that can be easily caught by an infielder even though it was caught by an outfielder.
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Good points raised by Julio. Another thing that might come up is if there is a team playing shorthanded, and the "missing fielder" is in the infield, there is no "shadow player" in the IFF rule.
Say, for example, the defense plays without F4 (very common). Batter hits a high fly ball that would normally be easily caught by someone at F4. However, F4 is not there, and no other infielder can catch the ball with ordinary effort. This would not be an IFF.