re: Should an OF umpire call an infield fly?

quote:

---

On the infield fly rule the umpire is to rule whether the ball could ordinarily have been handled by an infielder

---

This is the crux of why it was a bad call. "ordinarily have been handled by an infielder" is technical jargon for "routine play". And the play was by no sane persons opinion a routine play. The infielder ran AT LEAST 60 feet into the outfield grass, converging with an outfielder. The ball is dropped relatively often on similar plays all the time in baseball.

And you can't make that call the moment before the ball comes down. You are supposed to make the call with plenty of time for the baserunners, fielders, and other umpires to recognize the call well before the ball comes down.

I know technically it doesn't matter how deep the ball is hit, but you have never seen and will never see again, the infield fly rule called on a ball as deep as that one.