Quote:
Originally posted by TxUmp
I saw the following play (I was NOT umpiring this one!):
Infield fly situation. B3 hits towering popup slightly behind home plate into the face of a strong wind blowing straight out toward center. C overruns the attempt to catch the foul ball and it starts back toward the pitcher. C falls flat of his back without touching the ball and the ball hits in foul ground and rolls fair. PU calls nothing!!! Not "Infield fly, if fair", not "Foul ball", no fair ball signal, ... Nothing!!! P picks up the ball and goes back to the mound for the next pitch, with a strike on the batter.
This is an infield fly, and the batter should have been called out. The ball rolled into fair territory and was touched by a player - teh pitcher - in fair territory. No one questioned the (no) call, and the game progressed normally. I must have been the only one there who recognized that the umpire had blown the call and lost the opportunity to get an easy OUT call.
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I agree with you in the fact that this a fair ball if it was not touched by a player and rolled into fair territory. However, the infield fly rule is a judgement call. Could an infielder have caught it with ordinary effort? If the wind was extremely strong and the catcher was having a lot of diffuculty judging the ball the umpire may have judged that it could not have been caught with ordinary effort. I think it was one of those had to be there calls. Why NO call was made I have no idea.