Infield Fly..?

Baseball (dunno about softball): For the infield fly rule to be called, the batted (not bunted) fly ball must be able to be caught by an infielder with "ordinary effort." Wind (and even sun) can affect the call. If the ball is foul, the IFR is not in effect. In this case, the batter would still be up.

dash,
For what it is worth, J/R say that wind is a factor in determining ordinary effort, but sun and natural darkness (ball lost above the lights) are not factors. I think this makes sense because an umpire can easily judge the effect of wind, but it is pretty hard to know how much effect the sun has.

I'm not aware of any comment by anyone other than J/R.

So what do you do?

Runners on 1st and 2nd, no outs. High pop up to F4 who is directly underneath it and the blazing noon-day SUN. No amount of ordinary effort is going to allow him to catch it. F4 has just plain lost it in the SUN. Do you call the IFF Rule? I probably would, just to protect the runners from a cheap double play (which is the intent of the IFF).

quote:

I understand softball and baseball have different rules to some extent.

One of the rules that are the same for all disciplines. Except for the real youngn's that I've seen waive the IFF rule, ain't nobody, gonna catch it anyway.

The Umpire calls this as close to the apex of the flyball as possible, so basically, it's up there, the "umpire judges" whether it "could be" caught with reasonable effort. That generally means the F'er is settled under it, not chasing, or has a good leisurely bead on it, or if the ball could possible hit em. The iffy, nervous, shuffle, stumble back on the heels moves do not necessarily "disqualify" the F'er as being settled. I judge as if we're in a dome, with a ML Allstar infield ;']

EX: IFF sit., sunny, 1PM game, gusting to 40, as the ball reaches it's apex, F4 is calling it and is pretty much settled, umpire calls and signals "IFF if fair", the BR is out (if fair) at that point. If the wind gusts at that instant, forcing F4 to give way to F3, who then looses it in the sun, it falls untouched. So, even though the elements were to blame for the no-catch, they really don't come into play, on the call.

As a coach I want the umpire to make the IFF fly regardless of sun or wind. Because once I hear an ump start saying something along the lines of I didn't think he had a chance or I felt the sun was too bright it's going to be a long day.

I don't want you to get in the mind of the fielder and figure out for him if it's too windy or bright.

Speaking for me I would never come out to discuss an IFF rule if you make the out call. I know some coaches will argue it but I believe most will let it go.

We are trained to NOT call the IFF before the ball starts on it's way down. It's not a call that should be made quickly. If the infielder never sees the ball because of the sun, I might not call IFF, although I've never seen this happen - some other infielder has always taken over. Someone has to be camped under it or have a bead on it. It doesn't require getting into the mind of the infielder, only an assessment of the effort he is exerting to catch the ball. If the wind is so strong that the infielder must catch the ball on a dead run, that is not ordinary effort.

Most infielders are going to wearing sunglasses or will use their glove to shield the sun. Therefore I won't consider sun in an IF call, but wind can have a considerable effect on a catch. Whether a fielder reacts to a pop-up or not, if he is in a position to catch it with ordinary effort then it's an IF.