Common Law Origins Of The Infield Fly Rule

I'm sure many of you have often thought "Gosh, I wonder how the Infield Fly Rule originated?", while others have pondered the more fundamental question "What's the Infield Fly Rule?", and some may at this point just be thinking to themselves "What?" (though that can have serious consequences).  Fortunately for both the baseball fan and lawyer readership of this blog the answer can be found in a 1975 article in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review  - a parody of typical law review writing (see the 1st footnote and the end of the 2nd footnote) as well as a semi-serious musing on the subject.  Below is an excerpt from the beginning of the article.  [UPDATE:  Every extract of the excerpt I've inserted here has proven to be unstable in the viewing mode so you'll have to go to the link - it's worth it even if you just read the first page.]  You can find the whole thing here.


For some context here's the 2008 New York Times obituary of the author, William S. Stevens.  The obit notes:

"Published as a semi-parodic “aside” in June 1975, “The Common Law Origins of the Infield Fly Rule” quickly achieved legal fame, in part because nothing like it had ever appeared in a major law review, in part because of its concise, elegant reasoning. It continues to be cited by courts and legal commentators. It is taught in law schools. It is credited with giving birth to the law and baseball movement, a thriving branch of legal studies devoted to the law and its social context. It made lawyers think about the law in a different way."