re infield fly rule jrogoff scott skidmore edu jay rogoff writes one last infield fly question that has always puzzled me and hasn t yet been addressed i believe the rule also does not deal with this situation if infield fly is declared and the ball is caught runners can tag up and advance at their own risk as on any fly ball however if the infield fly is not caught at what point can a runner legally leave his base w o fear of being doubled off for advancing too early when the ball hits the ground when a fielder first touches the ball after it hits the ground enlightenment would be appreciated i m not sure i understand this question when the if rule is invoked the batter is automatically out this relieves the runners from being forced to advance to the next base if the ball is not caught other than that isn t it just the same as any situation in which a runner on a base is not forced to the next base on a dropped fly ball that is if the ball is caught he can tag up and run or decide to stay and if the ball is dropped he can have left the base at any time eric smith erics netcom com erics infoserv com ci
