I was assuming that he started heading back just after the throw from SS (which is what the OP said), and not after pitcher caught it and then got onto the rubber (which would be considerably later than OP said, and would, as you say, change the situation).
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"Many baseball fans look upon an umpire as a sort of necessary evil to the luxury of baseball, like the odor that follows an automobile." - Hall of Fame Pitcher Christy Mathewson
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