Infield Fly question

[David Emerling]

Originally Posted by NCASAUmp

Yeah, I'm going to have to disagree with you somewhat on this...

What we've got here is a fustercluck due to two umpires making a bad visual call. However, it is NOT up to the runners to know that ONLY an IFF was called when two umpires gave the dead ball signal. Maybe the batter's foot was completely out of the box. Maybe, somehow, the ball contacted the bat twice. Maybe a plane was about to crash land on the outfield fence. Runners can't see these things, and so they rely upon us umpires to make the right call, both verbal and visual.

I'm a particularly loud umpire, and despite this fact, there are times when verbal calls are not heard due to dozens of spectators and participants yelling a million different things. This is why verbal calls are almost always accompanied by visual calls, especially for situations such as these. When the wrong visual call is given, runners are placed in jeopardy. At this point, the Offensive Coach should have protested the game, and those two umps should be sent to the next clinic (or maybe to this forum).

I had an IFF the other night that went unheard due to everyone screaming, but I sure as hell threw up my right fist (and ONLY my right fist) and came out from behind the plate.

Yeah, that's a pretty good analysis.

Like I said, the umpires have to be convinced they signaled incorrectly and created the situation. If the umpires thought they signaled appropriately, they shouldn't allow the coach or players talk them into what THEY thought the umpire signaled.

This reminds me of the old urban legend (not sure if it's true). During a big game with thousands of fans, the runner slides into a base on a close play and the umpire signals "out" yet says "Safe!". The runner, lying there confused asks, "Well, am I safe or out?" to which the umpire replies. "I know you're safe. You know you're safe. But 20 thousand people think you're out. So you're out."

David Emerling
Memphis, TN

[bigsig]

Did a LL tourney Monday. Bases loaded, no outs. Fly ball hit to 2B, I call and signal IFF. 2B drops the ball and runner from 3B scores to win the game.

Coach comes out and argues runner from 3B didn't tag up. I tried to explain to him that the ball was dropped and no tag up was required. He still insists that LL rules require a runner to tag on an IFF even if the ball is not cought.

TD rejected his protest.