Safe on 2nd, goes back to 1st

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by Rich Ives

It's not about being dead - it's about the pitcher getting the ball on the rubber.

And as I said to Manny - I think that resets (or should) each play. IOW, the fire drill continues until play relaxes and the pitcher gets on the rubber. Then with the next play the drill can restart.

I can't imagine that the Comment after OBR 7.01 applies to each and every subsequent pitch.

By your understanding, B1 could hit a clean double, and then B2 and B3 strike out. R2 erroneously thinks there are three outs, so he starts jogging to his dugout on the first base side. He is informed more than halfway to first by his base coach that there are only two outs. I can't imagine that the rules would allow him to hightail it to first base to avoid the out.

7.01 says that once a runner achieves legal entitlement to a base, only two things can happen to him. He can either be put out or be forced to vacate the base by another runner who gains legal entitlement to that base. There is no option for him to return to a previous base.

7.02 says a runner can go to a previous base only if "forced to return". He is only forced to return if he is subject to an appeal for missing a base or failing to tag up properly, or if another runner is legally entitled to the base he tried to achieve. Arbitrarily returning to a previous base because of confusion or some other strange reason is not something I would categorize as being "forced to return."