Softball Trivia

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by MD Longhorn

I hope the dissenters would be everybody. I'll ask again ... what does Rule 8-2-I say?

Just out of curiosity, when and why did 8-2-I change its wording? I have a PDF version of the 2008 rule book, and here's how 8-2-I was written back then:

"[Batter-runner is out] When an infield fly is declared. If the fair batted ball hits the batter-runner before reaching first base, the ball is dead and the infield fly is invoked."

The latest version of the rule runs both sentences together so that it reads,

"When an infield fly is declared and the fair batted ball hits the batter-runner before reaching first base."

Why the change? Heck, you could almost read it as saying that the ball HAS to hit the batter-runner to invoke the IFR!