[greymule]

I've been through this particular debate many times, and a case can be made either way. Without a case play in a particular code, we simply do not know the answer. But as for using "closer to the base" as a determining factor, consider the following.

Abel is returning to 3B with Baker standing on 3B. Baker takes 2 steps back toward 2B. Abel then overruns 3B down the LF line, and does so by 6 steps. Has Abel created a "passing" by Baker? I would say no, even though Baker is closer to 3B. On the other hand, if Baker was standing with one foot on 3B and the other foot in foul territory, and Abel stopped on 3B or reverse-passed Baker on the fair side of the bag, I would say we have a passed-runner situation.

In this case, I interpret on the basepaths to mean "in the square formed by the bases." This interpretation is from OBR, which unlike ASA does not officially define "base path."

There is a similar argument about what "past a base" means in terms of determining a fair ball. Some people claim that a pop that lands far enough out in the infield—say, halfway between the pitcher's plate and 2B—has gone "past a base" and is thus permanently fair and cannot spin backward and become foul. Fed baseball, for example, draws an imaginary line between 3B and 1B to give the term past a base a definite marking. In softball, Fed, NCAA, and ASA do not prescribe such a line.