What's the Call? Base on Balls

[nickrego]

FED 2-4-2
...A base on balls is an award of first base if a batter receives four such balls. The batter must go immediately to first base before time-out is called.

I am having trouble figuring out why everyone thinks a BOB in FED is a dead ball ? I also can not find a reference to the ball becoming dead due to a batter receiving 4 pitched balls in section 5. (this was not an award of 1st)

FED 8-4-2 p.
after at least touching first base, leaves the baseline, obviously abandoning his effort to touch the next base;
NOTE: Any runner, after reaching first base, who leaves the baseline heading for the dugout or his defensive position believing that there is no further play, shall be declared out if the umpire judges the act of the runner to be considered abandoning his efforts to run the bases.

So, based on what I found in the rules, abandonment doesn't come into effect until after a runner has reached 1st base. I also couldn't find the term 'desertion' in reference to a runner giving up on running the bases.

Unless there is another rule out there that I have overlooked, an umpire doesn't really have a reason to call the batter out. This situation isn't really covered in the rules. Should we just call time, and instruct the batter to go to first before he is replaced by the courtesy runner ? Go ahead and bang him out as a penalty to the offensive team for removing the defense's ability to put the runner out after he reached 1st (many teams throw down to 1st on a BOB in case the batter overruns, steps off the bag to take an immediate lead, or to thwart an attempt to break for second base with a runner on 3rd) ?