[KentuckyBlue]

Speaking ASA slow....
I've had lots of variations on the IF rule. I try to invoke it especially if I see that an infielder has moved to catch a pop fly in such a way as to give him or her time to glance around and obviously start thinking, "Could I pull some tricky stuff on the runners and get a double or triple play?" (With most of my players, it's pretty obvious on their faces when they start trying to think.)

I'm glad to read Mike's assertion that the skill level of the infielder is a factor we can legitimately consider. I always wondered. What constitutes "ordinary effort" for an only-moderately-skilled 14-year-old who lets the ball drop two feet in back of him or her after legitimately losing track of it could affect whether you call the IF or not.

And, WHOSE ordinary effort might make a difference too. I'm thinking here of the pop-up to deep 2nd base in maybe a co-ed game, where 2B is an unqualified (let's say female just this once) player, and the macho guy SS makes a heroic run about 70 feet to try to make the play in shallow right field and just barely can't. I'm inclined not to call that an IF if 2B had any real chance at the ball at all (but you HTBT, because wow, are we getting into Madame Cleo territory here).

BLUE IGNORANCE: I'd understand players not knowing all the IF ramifications, but I swear to the Blue Gods every one of these are real-life true situations from UMPIRING PARTNERS who swear to me in the pre-game they know the IF rules backward and forward and then...

* never give or return the very useful infield fly signal, EVER;

* merrily give the signal with runners on first and third;

* call a 15-foot-high humpbacked liner an IF, even if it clears the nearest running outstretched infielder;

* remove the IF call if the infielder drifts back onto the outfield grass (not an INFIELD fly any more, don't you know);

* kill the play immediately if the IF isn't caught;

* will stop runners saying they can't advance after the ball falls or is caught;

* will call runners out on appeal saying they left their bases before the untouched IF fell;

* will reverse the IF call if a legitimate catch effort results in a drop;

* won't call the IF under any circumstances. This is usually the big slumberer who figures that the fewer controversial calls he makes, (a) the less of his ignorance shows and (b) the earlier he gets to go home. (A maximum two seasons after a crucial game-changing infield fly non-call blows up in his face, he changes careers into rec basketball where he truly belongs.);

* And one memorable moment from a former partner who was PU of a game in which I wore my coaches' cap. A called IF fell untouched in front of the 3B's shallow position, and everybody's attention went to the runners. The ball hit with spin and, untouched and somehow unnoticed by everybody but me, was allowed to trickle into foul ground in front of the 3B bag, thus going foul a full 15 seconds after PU's call. PU amazingly refused to take off the IF out call after I, offensive coach, pointed out the newly foul status of the batted ball and noting that an IF by definition only happens when it's a fair ball. (Thus the call "infield fly if fair"; a foul can't be an IF.) But, I wasn't about to protest his error, and sure didn't want to get all heated up and then get tossed. Still, I let my former partner know privately and quietly that I was disappointed in his rules knowledge.
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PS: I have to respectfully disagree with Tony's axiom "never miss an opportunity to call an out." This despite my being known around my city as the only blue who calls flying starts, failure to keep base contact, and batter's-box violations.
I'll call every out I see and hope I'd never miss or shrink from an opportunity to do that (and if that's what Tony means, I'm solidly with him), but I'm not going to hang an out on every questionable play assuming the rules will back me up somewhere. Maybe Tony will go into more detail about what he means in another post. -- KyBlue