Calling the tag plays at the plate

[Jake26]

Originally Posted by EsqUmp

Start at the point of the plate. Watch the actions of the catcher and the runner and track the flight of the ball. For on-line "clean" throws to the plate, go 1BL. For anything that causes the catcher to move from the plate or extend an arm to tag the runner, go 3BL.

As a general rule, if a player's body is going to diminish the quality of your view of the play, move so that you can see through the play, rather than into the body.

I understand the general approach to be that described in the first paragraph. The "rule" in the second paragraph is what causes 3BL to be used, but I have never seen (WCWS, for example) umpires "over rotate" like the MLB umpires do, so I thought I would ask. Thanks for all the comments.