If you're Braves fans like us, then we're sure you're very familiar with the infield fly rule. The now infamous call used during the first winner-take-all Wild Card Playoff game caused a lot of controversy. We were sitting on the 3rd base line when it happened and I know we'll never forget the energy that surged through the stadium, and then out onto the field. Who's to say what would have happened if the rule had never been invoked, but this cache is dedicated to that day, to that call, and to that very big loss. Though not entirely accurate, we believe this cache is just about as far away from home plate as the ball was when the call was made.
(a little history for those non-baseball fans:)
2012 National League Wild Card Playoff
In the eighth inning of the 2012 National League Wild Card Playoff between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Atlanta Braves, Andrelton Simmons of the Braves hit a pop-up into shallow left field with one out and men on first and second. Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma, who was playing in normal position, ran out to left field to catch the ball while left fielder Matt Holliday, who was playing very deep in left, ran in to catch it as well. Although Kozma initially called to catch the ball, as the ball came down, he suddenly moved out of the way (apparently thinking Holliday was about to catch it), and the ball fell between himself and Holliday. While it initially appeared that Simmons (the batter) had safely reached first base and the Braves had the bases loaded with one out, Simmons was called out because left field umpire Sam Holbrook had called "infield fly" just before the ball hit the ground, and the Braves now had runners at second and third with two out, instead of bases loaded with one out. The Braves did not score in the inning, and the Cardinals went on to win the game, 6-3, eliminating the Braves from the postseason.
After the call, angry Braves fans began throwing plastic bottles and other debris onto the field, causing the game to be delayed for nearly 20 minutes. The game was played by the Braves under an official protest from their manager, but shortly after the game, Joe Torre, MLB executive vice president for baseball operations, denied the protest, citing umpire's judgment. Torre made the ruling immediately following the game (waiving the normal 24-hour review period) due to the importance of the game and the quick turnaround time before the next playoff game. The spot where the ball had landed was 225 feet from home plate. In the past three MLB seasons, there were six infield-fly rulings on balls that weren't caught, and the longest was measured at 178 feet, which is 47 feet less than the ball Simmons hit.
Following the controversy, Major League Baseball removed the irreverent phrase "We don’t understand the infield fly rule, either." from its biography on its official Twitter feed.