Due Process and Baseball

When a baseball player hits a homerun, why does he or she trot around all those unnecssary bases? After all, there is nothing that the defensive team can do to interfere with the score. Only an error by the runner (like, failing to touch a base bag on the trip around the bases) can intervene, and then only if a defense player notices the mistake and makes a successful appeal to an observant umpire. So when the ball goes over the fence, why doesn't the batter just jog back to the dugout? Isn't that what the 'substantive due process' school would say?