Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
December 11, 2008
The Law of the Flies

The law student who turned the infield fly rule into a study of common law passed away:

William S. Stevens, whose slyly humorous law-review note on the relationship between baseball's infield fly rule and Anglo-American common law became one of the most celebrated and imitated analyses in American legal history, died Monday in Anchorage, where he was working. He was 60 and lived in Narberth, Pa.

The cause was a heart attack, said T. Dennis Sullivan, his brother-in-law.

Mr. Stevens was a law student at the University of Pennsylvania in 1975 when he wrote an anonymous note for the university's law review that drew an ingenious analogy between the infield fly rule and development of common law.

"The dynamics of the common law and the development of one of the most important technical rules of baseball, although on the surface almost completely different in outlook and philosophy, share significant elements," he wrote.

Another reason baseball is the coolest sport in the world.

My thoughts go out to his family and friends.


Posted by David Pinto at 11:20 PM | Deaths | TrackBack (0)
Comments

where's the radio show?

Posted by: chris at December 11, 2008 11:42 PM

I'm taking a break from the show.

Posted by: David Pinto at December 12, 2008 12:03 AM

I remember reading the law review article for the first time while attending law school in the early 1980s. As a fan of both baseball and the law I thoroughly enjoyed the author's sense of humor and his accurate comparison of baseball and the common law. I referred that article to many friends who loved both baseball and the law. Thanks for bringing Mr. Stevens' contribution to light. I am sorry to hear of his passing.

Posted by: calumetkid at December 12, 2008 02:18 AM
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