Baseball: The Infield Fly Rule

During baseball and softball games occasionally you may hear an umpire call "Infield Fly Rule, batter is out!" What is this and what exactly does it mean? This rule is often confusing and hard to understand. I've even had people look at me like I had two heads just talking about it. Some people have never even hard of it. Let's go over the basics of this rule.

The rule is actually intended to benefit the offense, even though the batter is called automatically out. When runners are on first base and second base or the bases are loaded (runners on first base, second base and third base) and there is less than 2 outs and the batter pops up a fly ball in the infield, in the umpires judgment, if he/she thinks the infield can make the play under ordinary effort, he/she will yell "Infield Fly Rule, batter is out!" The primary reason this rule is called is to prevent the defense from letting the ball drop and getting an easy double play. When a ball is hit in the air, the runners are taught to hold up and not run to the next base when there is less than 2 outs. If they stay at their base and the infielder deliberately drops the ball, a double or even triple play could occur. This is the reason for the rule.

What happens if the infielder drops the ball when the umpire has made the infield fly rule call?

The batter is automatically out. The runners may advance to the next base at their own risk. If the ball is caught, the runners must tag up before they can advance. If the ball is dropped, there is no need to go back and tag up.

What happens if the ball is popped up and is close to the foul line and is caught foul?

If the ball is popped up near the foul line and the fielder is ready to make the catch, the umpire will yell "Infield Fly Rule, batter's out, if fair." If the fielder catches the ball, the batter is out. If the fielder does not catch the ball and he/she is in foul territory, the batter is not out. It is simply a foul ball.

If the umpire calls the infield fly rule and the fielder misses it and does not touch it and it rolls foul, the batter is still out.

The most important thing to remember is that the fielder and even the outfielder can make this play if he/she is close enough to the infield is that the fielder must be camped under the ball to make the catch in an ordinary effort and this is always an umpires judgment call.

Hopefully this will help you understand one of the more confusing rules in baseball.

Sources: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dropped_third_strike