It never ceases to amaze me how so many Major League baseball players don’t know some of the basic rules of the game. The infield fly rule is a great example.
With fewer than two outs and runners on first and second, or bases loaded, an infield fly is ruled an automatic out at the discretion of the umpires, regardless of whether the fielder catches the ball. The batter is out, and the runners advance at their own risk. The rule was implemented in the 1890s to prevent infielders from intentionally dropping a pop fly to try to get a double play.
On June 9, in a game between Tampa Bay and Boston at Fenway Park, the Rays had Yandy Diaz on second and Jonathan Aranda on first when Junior Caminero popped the ball up near home plate along the third base line. Red Sox third baseman Marcelo Mayer misjudged the ball and dropped it. Then the fun began.
Diaz did not know that he did not have to run, so he took off for third base when Mayer dropped the ball. Catcher Connor Wong picked it up and threw to shortstop Trevor Story, who was covering third base. The throw arrived well ahead of Diaz. But evidently, Story didn’t know the rule either. He just stepped on the bag and threw to second base, where second baseman Kristian Campbell took the throw and tagged out Aranda, who also did not have to run and was advancing on his own risk, but did not reach second in time.
Story’s mistake is that since the batter is automatically out on an infield fly, there is no force play in effect, and Story needed to tag out Diaz. So Diaz was safe. The play made it evident that Diaz and Story did not know the rule, and Campbell is also suspect, as he didn’t try to slide into second, probably because he also thought it was a force play. He would have been safe if he had slid.
On May 13, 2003, the San Francisco Giants were hosting the Montreal Expos. With one out and the bases loaded in the fifth inning, Barry Bonds lifted a pop-up in front of home plate. Home plate umpire Jim Joyce called it an infield fly. Four Expos converged on the ball, but no one touched it as it hit the turf. Neifi Perez, who was the runner on third base, apparently did not know the rule, as he ran toward home plate when the ball dropped. He would have been an easy out, as Expos third baseman Fernando Tatis picked up the ball a few feet in front of home plate. However, instead of tagging Perez (since the force play was off), Tatis stepped on home plate. Perez, who had stopped ten feet from home, tiptoed over to the plate and touched it and was ruled safe, since no one had tagged him. The Expos players, not knowing the rule, started arguing with Joyce. While they did so, the Giants runners on first and second also advanced a base.
Expos manager Frank Robinson came out of the dugout yelling – not at the umpire, but at his players for not knowing the rule!
On April 8, 2016, the Phillies and Mets were playing in New York. The Phils had Cesar Hernandez on first and Freddy Galvis on second with one out. Odubel Herrera hit an infield fly. Mets third baseman David Wright tried to catch the ball but lost it to the wind. Hernandez lit out for second base, even though he did not have to. Realizing his mistake too late, Hernandez stopped between first and second base. Wright picked up the ball and wisely ran right at Hernandez to make him commit. Hernandez, caught in the rundown, ran back toward first. Wright threw to the first baseman, who then threw to the second baseman, who tagged Hernandez out to complete the double play.
How about when an umpire doesn’t know the rule? On September 26, 2021, the Cubs were hosting the Cardinals. With one out in the ninth inning and Austin Romine on second and Rafael Ortega on first for the Cubs, Frank Schwindel popped a ball up along the third base line. Third-base umpire Gabe Morales immediately raised his right hand to signal an infield fly. Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado slipped and fell, and the ball landed in fair territory on the infield grass.
Arenado picked the ball up and threw to shortstop Paul DeJong covering third because Romine, evidently not knowing the rule, was trying to advance. But DeJong didn’t know the rule either, because he just stepped on the bag instead of tagging Romine.
DeJong then threw to second base to Tommy Edman, covering, as Ortega was trying to advance. But Edman didn’t know the rule either, as he just stepped on second base instead of tagging Ortega. But second base umpire Doug Eddings called Ortega out, even though it wasn’t a force play. Ortega, thinking he was out, jogged a few steps past second base. That’s when Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt told Edman to tag Ortega.
However, before Edman could tag Ortega, Eddings called time, realizing that he had blown it by calling Ortega out on a force play. That meant that Edman’s tag on Ortega did not count. So Ortega was safe at second and Romaine safe at third!
Home plate umpire and crew chief Bill Miller told the Associated Press that Eddings did not realize an infield fly had been called. But how could a Major League umpire see a popup in the infield with runners on first and second and one out and not know the infield fly rule was called?
As reporter Dave Adam summarized, “The only people demonstrating understanding of the play and the rule were [umpire] Morales and Goldschmidt. Several professional athletes and umpires didn’t know what to do about a rule they all learned in Little League.”
