Force Play?

[greymule]

Apparently the out at 1B is a force out in everything but name. I seem to remember a thread a couple of years ago in which nobody could come up with anything that would change if the rulesmakers announced that from now on the out at 1B would be considered a force out. (freix was a main contributor—where has he been lately?)

That's why I still maintain that a batter-runner who touches 1B and then retreats in the direction of home plate has reinstated the "force" and can be put out by tagging 1B, just as he could be put out for retreating from 2B or 3B after arriving safely. Opinion was divided on this, but I don't think anyone found anything definitive.