The Contribution of the Infield Fly Rule to Western Civilization (and vice versa)

Abstract:     
Baseball's Infield Fly Rule is one of the most hotly contested topics in American law today. A recent major-league addition to the burgeoning literature is Neil B. Cohen and Spencer Weber Waller's thorough and exhausting analysis of the rule's conceptual roots in the jurisprudence of the past one hundred years. Yet their assumption that nothing of significance happened prior to the twentieth century ignores much significance that happened prior to the twentieth century. For example, despite the fact that the authors are technically correct in noting that baseball itself is not mentioned in the Bible, they overlook the more specific Biblical reference to the Infield Fly Rule. They also miss the historic contributions of Zeno, Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Voltaire, Leibniz, and Riemann, among others. Although the Cohen-Waller errors are those of omission and not of commission, the pre-1900 void they have left open cries out for coverage by an erudite Article that is impeccably researched and brilliantly reasoned - one that is nothing short of a grand-slam contribution to Western thought. The present Article scores on all counts.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 9

Accepted Paper Series