Abandon the Infield Fly Rule!
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by user Alex Holowczak
As a person with a lack of knowledge of baseball's more complicated aspects, I was happily playing a game on my PS2 the other day.
I'll describe the situation - 0 outs, runner at first and second. I popped-up with the next hitter, and "Infield Fly" came up, and my batter ran away from the basepaths, leaving me confused.
After a bit of research, I found the rule was to help incase the fielder deliberately dropped the ball, then achieve a double play rather than a single play for the catch - i.e. the runner waiting would not know whether to lead, run for the next place, or hold his ground.
I understood the logic of this rule, but wouldn't baseball be more interesting if this rule was abandoned?
The rule is there to protect the hitter and his team-mates, but surely, since it is the fault of the hitter that he has popped-up, why not have the possiblity of a double-play (or even more). How would a pop-up double play be different to a GIDP?
So, since it is the fault of the hitter, I would remove this rule as I don't think it is unfair, as it is the hitters fault.
Do you agree, or am I missing something bigger? (I considered a statistical problem this may cause, but I was unsure of what it may be.)
Date
Sat 07/29/06, 8:28 am EST
