fitzpats
AKA - The Anti Ringer
Now. Here is the ordinary effort part. He took, in the end, about 10 total steps. Half of them he had his back to me while sprinting out. Yet once he got there he waited and waited for that monster pop fly to come down into his glove. Just for the sake of this discussion, he took 10ish total steps. Ordinary effort play? Some could argue he turned his back while sprinting. Therefore infield fly should not be called. Others would say he got out there so quick and had to wait for the ball to come down that it ended up being a VERY routine catch, even while a few steps on the grass. Therefore infield fly should be called.
The issue being argued is what I have bolded in your response. The OP stated that the BU said because of the turn, even with being able to camp, ordinary effort was removed because blue saw the numbers on the back. That's also what DeputyUIC has stated he is teaching in clinics. Like you said, sometimes turning your back can make it a very routine catch and using ordinary effort, but because the fielder turned, the IFF (Infield is shortened to IF to start, so it is 3 letters) is removed even though the base runners are still in jeopardy of the multiple outs. In ASA, allowing a ball to fall to the ground to get additional outs is allowed by the rules, and the play could continue. There's now discussion of what is ordinary effort, and it seems foolish to many here that turning your back to be able to make a routine play becomes more than ordinary effort, which would put the offensive team in greater jeopardy.