Infield Fly?

[Kaliix]

Greetings to all.
This is my first post on this forum. I am a new umpire (born in '68) working mostly HS ball under NFHS rules. I now have a whole two games under my belt behind the plate. I have been a baseball fan my whole life and I wanted to be involved in the game some how so I decided that I would rather umpire baseball than coach it. (Mainly because coaching basketball is much more hands on and interactive than coaching baseball).

I don't like doing anything half-a$$ed so I am trying to become as good an umpire as I can. So far reading the posts on this site has been enlightening and I have already learned alot.

So that being said, I had a bases-loaded, one out situation in my last game. The game is close so the infield is in. B1 hits a medium low pop up that was over F6's head. I can't quite tell is this is going to make the outfield but F6 is running back on the ball and I see F8 charging as well.

F6 gets under the ball about two steps on the outfield grass with about a second to spare.

Is this a ball that can be caught with ordinary effort and is there fore an infield fly?

Thanks,
Jason

[Jay R]

No. It is obviously a judgement call on the umpire's part, but based on your description, it was not an ordinary pop up. The call is not based on where the ball lands, but rather on the effort needed by the infielders. So if the infield is playing in, a pop up just behind 2B may not be an infield fly. With that same pop up, the infield playing at regular dept will result in an obvious infield fly.

Jay

[scyguy]

correct, remember you can have an infield fly with an infielder catching the ball in the outfield. The criteria is whether or not it is ordinary effort. Also remember, line drives, attempted bunts and fly balls in foul territory do not fall under infield fly rule.

[JRutledge]

The Infield Fly rule does not mean an outfielder cannot catch the ball as well. No rule that I am aware of that makes it against the rules for an outfielder to catch a ball you declare an infield fly. At least not with the FED Rule. But I would not be surprised if somewhere there is a difference.

Peace

[scyguy]

The Infield Fly rule does not mean an outfielder cannot catch the ball as well. No rule that I am aware of that makes it against the rules for an outfielder to catch a ball you declare an infield fly. At least not with the FED Rule. But I would not be surprised if somewhere there is a difference

Partner and I were discussing this in pre-game last night. We wondered about the outfielder making a catch and it still be considered an infield fly. Makes sense if it is ordinary effort and within the general area of an infield fly. Someone know if this is legal under FED??

[bob jenkins]

Originally posted by scyguy
Partner and I were discussing this in pre-game last night. We wondered about the outfielder making a catch and it still be considered an infield fly. Makes sense if it is ordinary effort and within the general area of an infield fly. Someone know if this is legal under FED??

You'd think the FED would at least include a parenthetical reference to this in 2-19 INFIELD FLY -- wait -- they did.

[scyguy]

wow, isn't reading skills a blessing. thanks bob, how stupid of me for not reading that, I mean it is right there in black and white.

[Jake80]

I think that was one of the questions on the Part 1 FED exam this year.

[Kaliix]

Thanks to all who posted in this topic. I am aware of the rules of the infield fly regarding outfielders being able to catch the ball. I was interested in how other umpires would judge ordinary effort. Since I don't see anyone vehemntly disagreeing with the person who stated that the play was not an ordinary pop-up, I am feeling confident that I made the correct judgement in terms of the ball not being caught with ordinary effort.

Does anyone have any sort of guide they go by in terms of how many feet onto the outfield grass a ball has to be before it ceases to be defined by the "infield" fly rule?

[JRutledge]

There is not magic formula. Some fields are made differently and you cannot judge by the how many feet on the grass or not on the grass. Hell, some fields have no dirt to make that determination at all. That will come with experience and using good judgment. But to me "ordinary effort" is when the fielder is clearly underneath the ball. Where that takes place is not really an issue. And depending on the level you are doing might play even a different standard. Ordinary effort for a Little Leaguer is much differnent than a College player.

Peace

[Art N]

Does anyone have any sort of guide they go by in terms of how many feet onto the outfield grass a ball has to be before it ceases to be defined by the "infield" fly rule? [/B][/QUOTE]
Why does the outfield grass have anything to with it? You could have fly in the middle of the diamond that could be wind blown and not be able to be caought with ordinary effort. Depending on the skill level of the players, a "lower level league's" fly that hits the edge of the dirt/outfield area maybe too far for ordinaryeffort, and routine for the majors. You can IFR called at the MLB level with the SS 10 yards or more in the OF.
Any comments or rebuts?

[DG]

We like to call "infield fly" as soon as possible, and are taught to wait until the ball is at it's apex, but in some cases it is best to wait to see it coming down. If an infielder is camped under it, then it's an infield fly, regardless of where it is, as long as it is fair ball. If an infielder is still on the move to get to it, when it reaches the player, it is not ordinary effort. I had one a couple weeks ago, with infield playing in, that landed behind 1B, at the edge of the outfield grass. The first baseman and second baseman were running around in circles trying to find it, and neither got a glove on it. If the infielders had not been playing in, the 1B would have caught it easy. Coach comes out and says "why was that not an infield fly?", and I say it did not look to me like an infielder could catch it with ordinary effort, given the fact that neither of them even got a glove on it. But I waited till that one was halfway down from apex before deciding that this one was not going to be an infield fly.

[sir_eldren]

I called a single-man game today where I called three outs on infield flies.

The first fly was a high pop-up towards the SS. It landed about 20 feet on the grass behind his normal position with F5, F6, and F7 standing around to witness. I called the batter out. Nobody complained, but the batter was a bit upset. Oh well. That was the second out and he was the 13th or 14th hitter that inning for his team.

The second fly was straight up, but not too high, and it landed right in the pitcher's glove about 5 feet in front of the mound. Virtually a textbook example of the rule.

The third fly was similar to the first, only this one went to left field rather than right. It was caught a bit further out than the first infield fly, but it was caught by the shortstop who actually parked himself and ate a donut.

As I've become more aware of infield flies and when to call them, my personal criteria is whether I can realize soon enough to point up and think it's an infield fly. If I don't have enough to time to point up and judge it to be infield(unless there's something else odd happening on the play, like a squeeze play), then it probably isn't an infield fly. But that notion has only worked for me for the last couple of weeks. I'm pretty certain I missed a lot of infield flies my first year. (

-Craig
Washington State

[David B]

Originally posted by Kaliix
I was interested in how other umpires would judge ordinary effort.
Does anyone have any sort of guide they go by in terms of how many feet onto the outfield grass a ball has to be before it ceases to be defined by the "infield" fly rule?

Several things that I like to consider:

1)Where were the fielders playing before the play.

2)The level of the players. (if they have a hot shot F6 he may make a routine play in the outfield while a rookie F4 might not be routine if its hit right behind F3 etc)

3)Generally if the infielder turns his back to the infield, then its very likely that its not ordinary effort (but again that's your judgement)

The most problematic that I remember was a short pop right between F1 and F4 playing deep. There was no way anyone was going to get to the ball with ordinary effort and once the ball hit it was crazy. But none of the officials called it an infield fly and the play stood.

Thanks
David