 Let's take a look at the infield fly rule as it tends to be one of the things that people get most confused over in baseball. First I want to explain how the rule is applied and then I want to explain why it is necessary, or at least why it is used as some people would argue that it is not necessary. So basically the infield fly rule is used to prevent the defense from turning a cheap double or triple play. In order for it to be in effect, there needs to be runners on first and second base where the bases need to be loaded. And there must be less than two outs. So if we had the situation with guys on first and second base and said one out, then the batter hits a fly ball and in the umpire's judgment can be caught by an infielder using ordinary effort. Then the umpire is supposed to yell out infield fly and when he yells this, the batter is automatically out. And so what this does is allows the base runners to stay on their bases and it removes the threat of them being doubled off. One of the most important things to note is that where the ball lands or would have landed if it had not been caught is irrelevant. It can be in the infield or it can be in the outfield as long as the infielder can get to the ball in the view of the umpire using ordinary effort. And this makes sense because if a high fly ball is hit just a few feet behind the second baseman, he might drift back and be in the outfield, but he would have plenty of time to get under the ball and catch it using ordinary effort. On most plays that the umpire calls infield fly, the fielder will catch the fly ball regardless. But if they choose to take the risk, the base runners may attempt to run and if the fielder does not catch the ball or he drops it for whatever reason, then the runners will move up a base as long as the fielder doesn't pick up the ball and throw them out before they get to the next base. The batter will still be out regardless though. The runners can also tag up after the ball has been caught if they want to risk it with the ball being hit so shallow. Now if the ball is close to the foul line, the umpire can yell out infield fly if fair, and if the ball lands in fair territory then the batter would be out, but if the ball were to go foul, it would just be the same as any other foul ball and the batter would not be out. The exception to this would be if it is a bunt with two strikes that goes foul because the infield fly rule applies to bunts too, and so bunting a foul ball with two strikes would mean that the batter is struck out and would still take effect. So that's how the infield fly rule works, and as I said it's there to prevent the defense from turning a double play. So if the infield fly rule were not used, an infielder could let a fly ball drop, quickly pick it up, flip it to second base, and then throw on to first base before the runner got there. Or if the ball was hit towards the third baseman, he could let it drop, pick it up, step on third base, then throw to get the force out at second, and possibly even throw on to first base to get the out there depending on the situation and how fast the runners are. Because without the infield fly rule, if the ball were popped up, the base runners would probably have to assume that the ball will be caught by an infielder, and so they would stick close to the base that they are on, which would then allow the defense to easily get that force out on the third base. Some people would argue that by allowing a pop-up to drop like that, the defense takes the risk that all of the runners could advance to the next base safely, and they would get no outs. And others would say that this should also apply even if there's only a runner on first base, because the defense could still easily turn that double play. But in any case, that is how the rule works, so I will let you decide if it is good or bad, but for now though, it seems like the infield fly rule is here. Thank you for watching, and I'll see you guys next time.