Infield Fly Rule Is in Effect: The History and Strategy of Baseball's Most (In)Famous Rule

by Howard M Wasserman

The Infield Fly Rule is the most misunderstood rule in baseball and perhaps in all of sports. That also makes it the most infamous. Drawing on interviews with experts, legal arguments and a study of every infield fly play in eight Major League seasons, this book tells the complete story of the rule. The author covers the rule's history from the 19th century to the modern game, its underlying logic and supporting arguments, recent criticisms and calls for repeal, the controversies and confusion it creates, and its effect on how the game is played.

Genres: Baseball, Sports

212 pages, Paperback

Published November 27, 2018

Reviews

[Rob Neyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive and exactly what you would want in a book on the subject. Yes, there are 21 pages of material on NFL rules; trust me, it makes sense. If you haven’t read this, you don’t REALLY understand why the Infield Fly Rule exists.

[Matt Ely · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t expect to see the infield fly rule as a dauntless defender of baseball’s very soul, but here we are.

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to interview with the author on Baseball by the Book podcast.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was clearly a law review article that was written solely in response to one guy's previous article about why he didn't like the infield fly. My first thought is that I didn't think too many people had an issue with the infield fly, when it always seemed pretty obvious for me why it existed. (And since I didn't read the other guy's article to which he repeatedly refers, I don't know if there's a strong enough proposition in there that needs refuting.) As a lawyer, he should've known better than to assume, "well, this one guy disagrees, that must mean some other people do, too; therefore, some people = a lot of people."

Initially, though, I did find the concept a bit intriguing--it is kind of a kooky little rule, so let's explore its history and importance. But devoting a 150-page book to it felt excessive, and it probably went that way because no law review would accept it without making major cuts he didn't want to do. I found his attempts to look to other sports for comparative rules probably the most interesting, as I didn't realize that football, for instance, intentionally drew penalties for strategy, or that this inequitable "one false start for everyone" existed in running. But other than that chapter, I probably could've stopped reading after Chapter 1 and I would've been none the wiser--which is to say, there's a reason certain court briefs have a word limit, because judges don't have that kind of time. There's something to be said for the sweat of the brow in going through seven or eight years of tape to watch and analyze *every* infield fly play that ever took place, but it's not something that makes for gripping reading.