Drop the Infield Fly Rule (Part I)
Because the Rule Is Incoherent… Or it’s just woefully over-applied. Let me explain.
While it’s one of the most misunderstood rules in baseball, the MLB Official Baseball Rules actually make the Infield Fly Rule relatively straightforward:
Rule 2.00: An INFIELD FLY is a fair fly ball (not including a line drive nor an attempted bunt) which can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort when first and second, or first, second and third bases are occupied, before two are out.
When it seems apparent that a batted ball will be an Infield Fly, the umpire shall immediately declare “Infield Fly” for the benefit of the runners…
The ball is alive and runners may advance at the risk of the ball being caught, or retouch and advance after the ball is touched, the same as on any fly ball.
The ambiguity of “ordinary effort” aside, this part of the rule is relatively clear. Even if a pop up goes 250 feet into the outfield, it would still qualify as an “Infield Fly” if an infielder could catch the ball with ordinary effort.
In fact, the Comment to this definition makes it explicit that the rule is solely tied to the capability of the player designated as an infielder, and not to the location of the batted ball per…
