"Last time by" confusion

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by jicecone

[B]"

In the op the ball was NOT caught and the runner hesitated and took two steps toward second. So what. Had he returned to second, for which his path and direction have no restrictions on (unless played upon), he would be subject to appeal for not re-touching third, in accordance with 8-2-6L. But not untill then.

I believe we all agree that the OP is nothing. We were further discussing "how far" toward 2nd the runner might have to go to be considered returning to 2nd (and thus missing 3rd) - the "judgement" part of the rule you quoted. I strongly believe your judgement of "as long as he doesn't touch 2nd he's not returning to 2nd - thus never missed 3rd" is faulty.