In baseball, a sacrifice fly is a batted ball that satisfies four criteria:
- There are fewer than two outs when the ball is hit.
- The ball is hit to the outfield (fair or foul), or to infield foul territory.
- The batter is put out because an outfielder (or an infielder running in the outfield, or foul territory) catches the ball on the fly (alternatively if the batter would have been out if not for an error or if the outfielder drops the ball and another runner is put out).
- A runner who is already on base scores on the play.
It is called a "sacrifice" fly because the batter presumably intends to cause a teammate to score a run, while sacrificing his own ability to do so.
Famous quotes containing the words sacrifice and/or fly:
“Peace can endure only so long as humanity really insists upon it, and is willing to work for it and sacrifice for it. Twenty- five years ago American fighting men looked to the statesmen of the world to finish the work of peace for which they fought and suffered; we failed them, we failed them then, we cannot fail them again and expect the world to survive again.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“All places were now become irksome to her. She found it impossible to fly from infamy, unless she could at the same time fly from herself.”
—Sarah Fielding (1710–1768)