Infield Fly Called, disputed

[Thunderheads]

My ears are bleeding!!

 

http://wapc.mlb.com/play/?content_id=30718363&query=dispute

 

http://wapc.mlb.com/play?content_id=30718363

[mstaylor]

Their head really would have blown up if they called  IFF and the outfielder had called him off at the last minute. 

[UmpJeff]

Aye Aye Aye!  Where's my gun???

[noumpere]

I agree with the announcers that it should not have been an infield fly call but not of course for the reasons they mentioned.

[RedRider]

I agree with the announcers that it should not have been an infield fly call but not of course for the reasons they mentioned.

You don't see that as a fly ball the infielder reached with ordinary effort? He slowly backpedaled out to it. It his his glove. The infielder never struggled to get underneath that ball. By rule that was the correct call.

[noumpere]

Correct, disagree, disagree with your first three sentences. Given that he was still backpedalling when the ball got there and it barely ticked his glove as he was reaching over his head.

 

I do respect the judgement of those who would have it different.

[24sdad]

I understand he was still backpedaling and not "camped" under it, but IMO F4 just out and out misplayed that ball.  Somewhat of a lackadaisical effort to get to the ball and no last minute lunge to catch it, so I believe he thought he was under it right up until the moment he realized he wasn't.  At that level, that play should be made with ordinary effort all day long.  But, they did not give him an error on the play, so what do I know.

[jjb]

If the Umpires waited until it became clear that he wasn't going to catch the ball, they would have complained that "he needed to call it sooner". When the fielder slowly backpedaled, he gave the indication that it was ordinary effort. It wasn't until after the call that the fielder hit the "Oh s**t button" and missed the ball.

[maven]

The outcome of the play is irrelevant to determination of IFF.

 

MLB infielders are superior athletes with tremendous range. The fact that he was back-pedaling, IMO, and even that he was still moving when he touched the ball, do not preclude this play from satisfying the "ordinary effort" test.

 

If IFF is NOT called on this play, and the defense gets a cheap double play out of it because R1 and R2 were holding, what would you think about that? The point of this rule is to protect the offense, and in borderline cases of "ordinary effort" we should be ruling IFF.

[JaxRolo]

Definitely IFF. Call had to be made close to the apex or you will have other issues.

[Haid D' Salaami]

I understand he was still backpedaling and not "camped" under it, but IMO F4 just out and out misplayed that ball.  Somewhat of a lackadaisical effort to get to the ball and no last minute lunge to catch it, so I believe he thought he was under it right up until the moment he realized he wasn't.  At that level, that play should be made with ordinary effort all day long.  But, they did not give him an error on the play, so what do I know.

you dont need to be "camped " under the ball..

 

A fair , fly batted ball that can be caught with ordinary effort,  with runners on 1st, 2nd, or all 3.. with less than 2 outs, .. all of these happened in this play..

[24sdad]

Never said camping was a requirement. This fly ball required ordinary effort to catch, period. Misplaying the ball by F4 is what caused him to still be moving at the time he dropped this routine fly ball, not the difficulty of the catch.

[Dannytheman]

Definitely IFF. Call had to be made close to the apex or you will have other issues.

Yup!!  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[dumbdumb]

 

I understand he was still backpedaling and not "camped" under it, but IMO F4 just out and out misplayed that ball.  Somewhat of a lackadaisical effort to get to the ball and no last minute lunge to catch it, so I believe he thought he was under it right up until the moment he realized he wasn't.  At that level, that play should be made with ordinary effort all day long.  But, they did not give him an error on the play, so what do I know.

you dont need to be "camped " under the ball..

 

A fair , fly batted ball that can be caught with ordinary effort,  with runners on 1st, 2nd, or all 3.. with less than 2 outs, .. all of these happened in this play..

 

Don't you have to know your personnel (players) when making the "ordinary effort" judgment.

 

Big Porky, playing 2nd base who has the range and speed of a turtle, might be able to go 5 yards in any direction with ordinary effort, so he is only going to make it 2 yards into the grass, since he plays up 3 yards into the dirt. Ozzie Smith playing 2nd, can move 25 yards in any direction with ordinary effort and therefor he can move 25 yards into the outfield to make an easy grab, or drop it intentionally and get a double play, while Porky wouldn't have a snowballs chance of getting 25 yards.

 

Or, maybe the question should be, does the umpire get to decide the range of all the points on the field the umpire personally thinks should be ordinary effortable and call the infield fly whenever a ball comes within that range on the field, whether any player even moves on the field or not.

 

Just asking.

[Larry in TN]

Don't you have to know your personnel (players) when making the "ordinary effort" judgment.

 

No.  It's ordinary effort for the level of play, not the particular player.

 

OBR 2.00--

ORDINARY EFFORT is the effort that a fielder of average skill at a position in that league or classification of leagues should exhibit on a play, with due consideration given to the condition of the field and weather conditions.

[MB_Ump]

Would you have called it if the outfielder had caught it? Looked like he was there in plenty of time as well.

[hbk314]

Would you have called it if the outfielder had caught it? Looked like he was there in plenty of time as well.

 

Why would that change anything?

[JaxRolo]

Would you have called it if the outfielder had caught it? Looked like he was there in plenty of time as well.

It doesn't matter who calls an infield fly!!!

[UMP45]

My ears are bleeding!!

 

http://wapc.mlb.com/play/?content_id=30718363&query=dispute

 

http://wapc.mlb.com/play?content_id=30718363

If you think it's bad now wait till next year with IR!