Harold Reynolds Explains Why the Umpire Was Correct in His Application of Infield Fly Rule [Video]

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The Wild Card game between the Braves and Cardinals was finished under protest yesterday after what was considered a controversial application of the infield fly rule in the 8th inning. The protest was denied by Major League Baseball and Harold Reynolds illustrates why the call was correct using a breakdown of the video and a regular season example of a similar situation. Hopefully, we all now have a better understanding of the rule. I certainly do. Thanks Harold!

Previously: Braves’ Protest Denied, Cardinals Advance to NLDS
Previously: Cardinals Win, But Braves Protest Game Because of Crazy Infield Fly Rule Call [Video]
Previously: Jason Heyward Robbed Yadier Molina at the Fence

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6 Responses to “Harold Reynolds Explains Why the Umpire Was Correct in His Application of Infield Fly Rule [Video]”

Monster is Meth Says:
October 6th, 2012 at 4:52 PM

Hopefully, we all now ~~have a better understanding of the rule~~ know that Monster still sucks at crossword puzzles. I certainly do.

keydet31 Says:
October 6th, 2012 at 6:04 PM

So . . . . why can’t it be an error then? Or something else, like a live ball? If the fielder doesn’t catch it (which he didn’t) then I think it should be a live ball, regardless of whether the rule was set up to “help” the runners.

flapjack3285 Says:
October 6th, 2012 at 8:03 PM

If the fielder doesn’t catch it (which he didn’t) then I think it should be a live ball

You do realize that this means there wouldn’t be an infield fly rule right?

jayhawk88 Says:
October 6th, 2012 at 8:21 PM

So what, just put the fastest guy you can find at SS, have him run after every fly ball to left field, and as long as he can get somewhere near it, you completely eliminate the possibility of another team scoring on a pop fly? Seems like a stupid justification for a bad call here.

Glenn1963 Says:
October 6th, 2012 at 8:40 PM

It is a live ball.

As rule 2.00 states, “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.

All that happens is the batter is out and the runners are not FORCED to advance, as they would be on a regular ground ball. Were it not a live ball, the two runners (who started at 1st and 2nd) would not have ended up on 2nd and 3rd.

So jayhawk88, your plan wouldn’t work, the runners can still run, it’s not a dead ball.

Official rules in pdf

Glenn1963 Says:
October 6th, 2012 at 8:42 PM

Can’t edit comments, so end quote after “same as on any fly ball.”