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Here's the reason I asked this seemingly easy question:
FED casebook, 8.4.2.N - The bases are loaded with one out. B5 hits a home run over the fence. However, he passes R3 after rounding first. R3 misses second base while advancing to home.
Ruling: B5 is out at the point he passes R3. Upon proper defensive appeal, R3 is called out at the end of playing action by the umpire. Two runs score. B5, being declared out for passing R3, removed the force situation on R3 at second base.
I know that this is not the original situation under discussion here. But the phrase "B5 is out at the point he passes R3" catches my interest. In this casebook sitch, as well as in our discussion, the force is removed at 2B when the BR passes the preceeding runner between 1B and 2B. Following this pattern, keeping in mind that a home run is actually a four-base award to the batter and all runners, and applying this ruling which defines when a BR is out for passing, I contend that two runners are actually forced to home when such passing occurs between 2B and 3B, and likewise three are forced when the passing occurs between 3B and home. The forces are not removed until the BR is called out for passing, and if the BR has successfully reached 2B then he has, by that action, forced R2 to home. The general implication is that forces cannot be removed retro-actively.
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