Legitimate One Hoppers
 

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%).

Obviously not. If he thought he was in England, he would have said "metres."

Is that like theatres? :D

Yes. x

Legitimate One Hoppers
 

When I read the Approved Ruling in 6.05.l, I have always assumed it's there because people have mistakingly tried to rule a fly ball that was deliberately allowed to fall untouched the same as a deliberately dropped fly ball. From personal experience, I have seen this. Several times in the last couple years I've have variants of the following happen (with R1 and either a hump-back liner or a slow B/R):

COACH: But Blue! He let the fly drop on purpose so he could get the double play!

ME: Yes, you're right; he didn't touch it before it 'dropped'.

COACH: That's a dropped fly ball! They should only get one out!!!

ME: No, it's not.

COACH: But you just said he dropped it!

ME: No, letting it drop untouched is not dropping it. You have to touch it to drop it. Let's play.

COACH stands confused and flabbergasted that his well-reasoned argument didn't save him an out.

Has this scenario happened to others? I find it extremely ironic that a coach who knows about the dropped-fly rule would not know the definition of a dropped fly (especially since the Approved Ruling makes it very clear).

When you say that I am incorrect, am I incorrect in my thought that 7 meters is just less than 23 feet or am I incorrect in thinking that 7 meters is the cut off for an IFF.

Thanks

:)

7 meters = about 22.96 feet.

Must be the other......

You are incorrect in thinking there is ANY specific cutoff for an IFF. Did you read the rest of the thread?

why in the hell would you even try to measure that...then probably be a "smitty" and go to the concession stand explain "the rule" and a certain height...then pretty soon some other rat comes unglued when his team gets called for IFF when the ball is under 7 fricken meters...

Is this discussion still going on???

Enough already. There is a clear demarcation or indicator: if the ball's arc is less than 23*, it cannot be an Infield Fly (OBR 9.01c subsection 2-a[i]).

Thanks UMP25, I thought I was losing my mind

:D

Exactly. Are some of you saying that your fields do not have a laser level mounted at the appropriate height on the backstop to measure this? I mean, there are *some* fields here (mostly for very low level games or in the extremely poor counties) that don't have the auto-sensor that turns on the "infield fly rule" light, and in one field the light is poorly positioned (only about 1/2 the fielders can see it), but even the local park district field that's used only for pick-up games has the level.

You mean yours doesn't have the buzzer?

(If mook was pulling my chain, I fell, mook, line and sinker. :) )

We couldn't tell the buzzer from the cicadas. (That is, we couldn't tell the sounds apart. We could tell the items apart -- the cicadas taste better.)

All - I apologize that my initial quote didn't have some sort of smiley face. I thought the fact that I was quoting some arbitrary amount in meters would be obvious.
I got a kick out of this thread as soon as I saw the title. I knew it would be interesting. The dropped/ let fall discussion was an added bonus.