The Infield Fly Rule

I like baseball, and I have enjoyed it since I was very young.  I remember, years ago, asking my father what the infield fly rule was and why they had it.  I remember my father giving me an answer, but I do not recall what it was, or understanding it. If you are not familiar with the rule, http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/definition_terms_2.jsp I would suggest you read it.

Tonight, I was watching the first ever Major League Baseball wild card game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Atlanta Braves. During the eight inning, there was a controversial use of the Infield fly rule http://espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs/2012/story/_/id/8467263/st-louis-cardinals-atlanta-braves-nl-wild-card-game-halted-fans-protest-infield-fly-call .   Understandably the home town fans were upset, and stopped the game by throwing debris.  The Braves manager, Fredi Gonzales lodged a protest, and there is some question, but ostensibly, the game was finished under protest.  According to the television announcers, Major League Baseball had officials on sight and would try to resolve the matter as soon as possible.  And rightly so.  It is said that baseball is a game of series, but this year, the wild card was just one game, although I understand that in the future it will be a series.  But since there is only one game, any protest needs to be resolved ASAP as the winning team needs to prepare for the next game, on Sunday as part of the National League Division Series.

So, finally, I was curious enough to wonder what is the purpose of the infield fly rule. I was surprised, but should not be: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infield_fly_rule . It basically keeps everyone safe and does not allow an intentional missed catch to allow an unfair advantage by the infielder over the runner.

The point is, that as ever, human beings will try to play the angles, figure how they can best the opposition by taking advantage of the rules in an unintended way.   I see it every day in my client population.  Why would I be surprised to see it in baseball. Especially when you learn about the early years of baseball.  There were a lot of cadgers and characters when the game was young.  So, the infield fly rule protected the game from players purposely missing a fly ball to get more outs than if they caught the ball!