Not calling IFF

[umpire_scott]

Was at my son's 11u game today.  Bases loaded and there is a pop-up to F6.  This is 11U Rec ball.  F6 wonders over towards the ball. PU is working solo and I don't see any indication from him regarding IFF.  Ball drops and F6 throws to 3rd to retire R2, while R3 scored.

 

Before the next pitch I see PU talking to the OC.  He then says it was IFF and returns all the runners and calls the batter out.

 

This was clearly a ball that "should" have been caught "with ordinary effort".  F6 just botched it without intent.  But I did not hear any mention of IFF.  Now maybe PU did call it but not very loudly.  

 

Since the spirit of the rule is to prevent cheap DP's and if IFF was called then it should have been a DP (BR and R2) would you have possibly done what the PU did?

[Replacematt]

Was at my son's 11u game today.  Bases loaded and there is a pop-up to F6.  This is 11U Rec ball.  F6 wonders over towards the ball. PU is working solo and I don't see any indication from him regarding IFF.  Ball drops and F6 throws to 3rd to retire R2, while R3 scored.

 

Before the next pitch I see PU talking to the OC.  He then says it was IFF and returns all the runners and calls the batter out.

 

This was clearly a ball that "should" have been caught "with ordinary effort".  F6 just botched it without intent.  But I did not hear any mention of IFF.  Now maybe PU did call it but not very loudly.  

 

Since the spirit of the rule is to prevent cheap DP's and if IFF was called then it should have been a DP (BR and R2) would you have possibly done what the PU did?

Under OBR and NCAA, absolutely. Under FED, you can't, because the participants are supposed to know that it's an IFF even without a declaration (I don't write the rules, just enforce them.)

[Richvee]

 if IFF was called then it should have been a DP (BR and R2) 

Only if R2 was tagged. Without an IFF it's a force, with an IFF, it's not a force. 

[ricka56]

 

Since the spirit of the rule is to prevent cheap DP's and if IFF was called then it should have been a DP (BR and R2) would you have possibly done what the PU did?

 

Why would you assume that runners would try to advance if the umpire made a clear IFF (batter's out) call. With the IFF call, the runners shouldn't have thought that they were forced to advance.

[umpstu]

Was at my son's 11u game today.  Bases loaded and there is a pop-up to F6.  This is 11U Rec ball.  F6 wonders over towards the ball. PU is working solo and I don't see any indication from him regarding IFF.  Ball drops and F6 throws to 3rd to retire R2, while R3 scored.

 

Before the next pitch I see PU talking to the OC.  He then says it was IFF and returns all the runners and calls the batter out.

 

This was clearly a ball that "should" have been caught "with ordinary effort".  F6 just botched it without intent.  But I did not hear any mention of IFF.  Now maybe PU did call it but not very loudly.  

 

Since the spirit of the rule is to prevent cheap DP's and if IFF was called then it should have been a DP (BR and R2) would you have possibly done what the PU did?

[/quot An infield fly is just that, called or not. It is the runners responsibility to know this. It would not have been a force play and the batter would have been out. At any level you don't put runners back. Since the umpire might have not called it he probably felt he was doing the right thing by doing this.

[basejester]

2014 Baseball Rules Differences (BRD) quoting Wendelstedt:

 

If an umpire does not declare an infield fly because he is unaware that it is an infield fly situation, that is a correctable umpire error.  The error can be corrected by calling out the batter-runner and placing runners where they would have ended up had the infield fly been declared immediately.  That will usually result in placing the runners back where they started.  However, if an umpire does not declare an infield fly because, in his judgment, it could not have been caught with ordinary effort, this cannot be changed after the play has completed.

[basejester]

In practice under these circumstances (rec ball, 11s, I neglected to make the call, & the defense gets only 1 out), I'd let the play stand.  I can't really make a good argument to the OC for why we should unscore the run.  R3 has the right to attempt to advance, IFF or not.  The end result should be runners at first and second, one out on the play, and a run scored.  If an umpire wanted R1 and R2 on the bases (instead of BR and R1 as the play stood) , that seems OK.

 

If the defense turns a double play, I'd fix it by calling the BR out and putting all the runners back. 

 

If I called IFF and nobody listened, the play stands:  two outs.

 

[umpire_scott]

 

 

Since the spirit of the rule is to prevent cheap DP's and if IFF was called then it should have been a DP (BR and R2) would you have possibly done what the PU did?

 

Why would you assume that runners would try to advance if the umpire made a clear IFF (batter's out) call. With the IFF call, the runners shouldn't have thought that they were forced to advance.

 

 

Because F6 did not make the catch and at this level I've seen it happen before.  Nine times out of 10, even if IFF is announced over the PA system if an 11U rec ball kids sees the ball hit the ground he thinks he has to run.

[Replacematt]

Was at my son's 11u game today.  Bases loaded and there is a pop-up to F6.  This is 11U Rec ball.  F6 wonders over towards the ball. PU is working solo and I don't see any indication from him regarding IFF.  Ball drops and F6 throws to 3rd to retire R2, while R3 scored.

 

Before the next pitch I see PU talking to the OC.  He then says it was IFF and returns all the runners and calls the batter out.

 

This was clearly a ball that "should" have been caught "with ordinary effort".  F6 just botched it without intent.  But I did not hear any mention of IFF.  Now maybe PU did call it but not very loudly.  

 

Since the spirit of the rule is to prevent cheap DP's and if IFF was called then it should have been a DP (BR and R2) would you have possibly done what the PU did?

Under OBR and NCAA, absolutely. Under FED, you can't, because the participants are supposed to know that it's an IFF even without a declaration (I don't write the rules, just enforce them.)

Pause, read, react, Matt...there was only one out on the play. I'd let it stand.