You cannot intentionally "drop" the ball and throw out the lead runner. You need to let the ball fall untouched.
Quote:
MLB rules state that a batter is out if “an infielder intentionally drops a fair fly ball or line drive, with first, first and second, first and third, or first, second and third base occupied before two are out. The ball is dead and runner or runners shall return to their original base or bases” — essentially, an extension of the infield fly rule.
The infield fly rule is a rule of baseball that treats certain fly balls as though caught, before the ball is caught, even if the infielder fails to catch it or drops it on purpose. The umpire's declaration of an infield fly means that the batter is out regardless of whether the ball is caught. Wikipedia
I think so. Please explain your version of it . Ty
I gave you the correct ruling above. It is not an infield fly because there is only 1 runner. But you are correct the fielder cannot intentionally drop the ball and throw out the runner.
The infield fly rule is not in effect if there is no runner on second base. Provided the batter runs to first base, the greatest benefit the defense could achieve by intentionally letting the fly ball drop untouched is to force out the runner at second rather than the batter, resulting in a runner on first base either way. However, if the batter is significantly slower than the runner, the defense may elect to let the ball drop untouched and achieve the force play, replacing the runner at first base with the batter.