The Atlanta Braves lost the first ever National league Wild Card play-off game, 6-3, to the St. Louis Cardinals, thanks primarily to their own atrocious fielding (the Braves made three costly errors.) Nonetheless, many fans felt they “wuz robbed” because of a bizarre play in the 8th inning, when the Cardinals were rescued from a bases loaded, one out situation after the game’s left field umpire, Sam Holbrook, apparently feeling that he had to do something to justify being on the field (regular season games don’t have left field umpires), called the infield fly rule on a pop-up that landed safely in the outfield. The infield fly rule is designed to prevent sneaky double plays, and is called when an easy pop-up might be intentionally dropped by an infielder. Thus the ball is an out whether it is caught or not.
There were three problems with the call. First, it was called very late in the play, after it was evident that the Cardinals fielders might not catch it. Second, given its placement, letting the ball drop to try to get a double play really wasn’t an option. And, third, as I noted, the ball landed in the outfield, which an infield fly is not supposed to do. The Braves argued the call, to no avail.
Then the Braves fans at Turner Field, perhaps primed by left-over anger at the NFL’s departed replacement refs, proceeded to act like total jackasses by throwing every piece of junk and debris they could get their hands on down onto the field.
I know this once was common conduct among baseball crowds in the 20’s and 30’s, but those were more primitive times. There is no justification for it, and in this game particularly, the Braves had no legitimate claim that victory was snatched from their grasp. They got lucky that an easy out suddenly seemed to morph into a hit due to the Cardinals fielders doing their Braves imitation, and then, within second, had the bad luck to be the victims of a dubious, barely defensible judgment call by an umpire who wouldn’t even have been on the field in a typical game. That’s baseball. One of the unanticipated consequences of major league baseball finally giving in to technology and allowing video review of home run calls is that it permanently shattered the game’s long-standing ethic that the human factor in umpiring was one of baseball’s quirky charms, and not a flaw. Now fans are even less tolerant of botched calls (or what they think are botched calls) than before, and I doubt that it will be long before episodes like the infield-outfield fly decision have video replay and in-game reversal in their future. Accuracy will be achieved at the cost of continuity, game flow, tradition and yes, humanity, a classic example of the perfect being the enemy of the good.
I can’t blame the Braves fans for that….just for displaying a complete absence of sportsmanship, acting like hooligans and jerks, and embarrassing their city.
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Facts: ESPN
Graphic: Sports Illustrated
Ethics Alarms 
Actually, it was the right call, at least according to the rules. The infield fly rule is invoked when a ball can be caught by an infielder “with ordinary effort.” My umpire friend tells me that’s interpreted to mean that the infielder isn’t running at full speed. It doesn’t matter where the ball lands. In this play, the shortstop clearly drifts (as opposed to runs) back, and could easily have made the catch. He “hears footsteps” and makes way for the left fielder, and the ball drops.
Remove the left fielder, and there’s no question the shortstop makes the play. So, by the rules, it’s absolutely appropriate to call the infield fly rule. (Yes, it was called late, but that really affects nothing.) This opens up two more interesting (to me, at least) ethical issues:
1. Since it is true that all the criteria for the infield fly rule to be called have been met, but since it is also true that the conduct the rule was intended to prevent (intentionally dropping a ball to get a double play or replace a faster baserunner with a slower one) clearly wasn’t going to happen, is the call justified? In other words, this becomes a “letter of the law” vs. “intent of the law” argument. How should any enforcement system deal with these matters? Should it be different for legal matters than for sports? Does it matter that millions of dollars are on the line? Enquiring minds want to know.
2. Shouldn’t talking heads on ESPN know the damned rules of the game before criticizing umpires for making a perfectly legitimate (as opposed to necessarily “correct”) call? I’d love to get paid to spout opinions about sports, but I don’t have the expertise to tell even a casual fan something s/he doesn’t already know. The difference between me and these guys is that I admit it.
Love your blogs. Same response but different take ~ http://garlicfriesandbaseball.wordpress.com/
My son, a Braves fan was particularly upset the folks at Turner field acted that way on the last game of Chipper Jones’ career. Granted, Chipper made one of those errors you mentioned and was not effective at bat (even though the umpires clearly gave him his last hit) – so he was not exactly having the best game of his career. The Braves fans littering the field was no way to act, period – but even more unconscionable on Chipper’s final game.
Yes, I should have mentioned that it was also Chipper’s last game. Good point.
I have to ask , why the hell do they sell beer in aluminium cans at these games? You would tink that they would be smart and pour everything into a large paper cup. Lets see some one get that on the field from more then three rows back!