phantom

This is great. No dive so deep as a dive into the origin of the IFR. Can't do it for several days, but eager to jump in. Appreciate it.

Not following, Señor. The line drive rule seems to be analogous, but I don't really think it is. On a line drive, the umpire has to judge that the ball was dropped purposely, whereas on an infield fly the batter is out no matter what the fielder does, purposely or not. And on a line drive, a fielder must actually touch the ball, because if he doesn't, it would wind up in the outfield, and in that case the defense couldn't (normally) get two outs by confusing the runners, right? Again, on a popup, the batter's out. The fielder's intention doesn't matter. Sure, the sole purpose of the IFR is to protect the offense. But why should that change if it's a bunt? Why should the defense get an advantage because the popup was caused by a bunt, rather than a swing?

Hey, folks. My son and I were just discussing this, and it's the middle of a Tuesday, so, what else do we have to do? Why can't an infield fly result from a bunt? Wouldn't the logic be the same regardless of what causes the ball to go airborne? Sure, a popup to 2B or SS is much more likely to allow the "illegitimate" advantage of the defense getting two outs when they're only "entitled" to one, but the pitcher is explicitly an infielder for the purpose of the IFR, and the pitcher would have the same potential advantage, right? And why does likelihood have anything to do with it? There are lots of rules that cover unlikely situations, and there's no harm in a rule that's philosophically correct but seldom comes into play. So, anyone got any ideas why a bunted pop-up can't be an infield fly? Thanks!