Ball hit to second baseman. Throw to first was off and first baseman bobbled and dropped the ball which rolled into foul territory in the direction of home. First baseman came up with the ball quickly but was now several steps from the bag so he elected to tag the runner rather than risk a race to the bag. Meanwhile runner from third crossed the plate before the tag was made. The offense argued that it was a tag play, therefore a timing play, and the run should score. I ruled otherwise: no run scored. Explanation: Whether an out is a force out or not does not depend on how the runner is put out, merely where the out occurs. Any out on a runner forced to advance is a force out provided (a) the runner has not yet touched the base to which he or she is forced and (b) no following runner has been put out. Thus, any of the following are force outs: A forced runner is tagged before reaching the next base. The bag to which the runner is forced is touched before the runner reaches it. A runner is called out on appeal for missing a base to which he or she is forced. A runner is called out for a head-first slide before reaching a base to which he or she is forced. (Majors and below only) Once a runner touches the base to which he or she is forced, any subsequent out made on that runner is no longer a force play. Similarly, if any following runner is put out, the force is removed. http://www.llumpires.com/rules/myths.html myth #33 Richard Rickard, Umpire-in-Chief 2014