[greymule]

I agree with mbyron. A few steps toward 2B doesn't constitute "missing" 3B. If he gets close to 2B, you have a much better case.

Even then, we have the legal "skunk in the outfield" play and other examples of how a runner can be far away from the basepaths and not be "missing" anything. If you take baserunning weirdness to a ridiculous extreme, you enter a theoretical area in which there's virtually no "case law." What if a batter lines a shot that shoots past the outfielders and rolls 600 feet on an open field. He sees that the outfielders aren't even chasing the ball, so he runs all over the infield and outfield as he touches the bases in order and the defense stands still watching him and plotting their revenge? Did the BR "miss" a base in all that nonsense?

Batter stretches a single into a double but after he slides into 2B thinks he's been put out. Meanwhile, the throw to 2B has kicked off into a remote corner of foul territory. The runner trots toward his dugout, crosses the 1B line, and then sprints directly back to 2B (or even to 3B) at the entreaties of his teammates. Did he "miss" 1B in the process? I'd say no.