how high does a ball need to be for a infield fly?

[mrm21711]

Originally Posted by mkolton828

Situation:

We have runners on first and second with one out. Our batter hits a ball that has little bit of loft on and the 2nd baseman camps under the ball in the infiield grass. Umpire does not call infield fly and 2nd drops ball on purpose and throws to 3rd (force out). third bsaeman throws to seond (force out). End of the inning.

i go to umpire and ask why there was no IFF called. He said that the ball did not high enough to warrant the call. He claims that the ball has to get higher than the backstop fence to call it. I claimed you can call IFF anytime b/c the rule is to protect the runners on base.

Tell mje your opinions, was I wrong or was the umpire wrong.

By the way we lost the game by 1 run.

Similar situation happened to me last year in a tournament with 2 pretty good teams. Runners on first and second, one out. Batter hits what you would call a "flare," probably about 12-15 feet off the ground. Shortstop needs to take a few steps to his left, when it becomes apparent he could catch the ball with ordinary effort. I call IFF on the way down, and think nothing of it, because the fielder easily could have let the ball fall and doubled off two runners. As I see my partner motion to me in between innings (one of the top umpires in the state), he & I discuss the call and he thinks I incorrectly called an IFF. My basis is and was the rulebook definition of a line drive...a ball that goes sharp & direct from the batter's bat to a fielder. If it doesnt meet that criteria, it could be an IFF situation. The umpire in your case was 100% wrong, but my advice to anybody who asks for guidance in this area would be "Sometimes we just have to umpire, plain and simple."