Two-man mechanics. First-to-third rotation. Ideally, the plate umpire will move into fair territory when he sees a play at third base is imminent, the reason being that if the ball skips past the third baseman and the runner gets up and heads for home, the plate umpire can retreat to home while, "A," keeping all of the action in front of him and, "B," not being in the way of the throw to home.

A walk-through of an umpire's responsibilities on a busy play.

Examples of umpire communication during a game.

Situational awareness on an uncaught third strike.

Examples of the plate umpire trailing the batter-runner to first base.

Plate umpire rushing out to help his partner in a rundown.

A rare two-man rotation that you may encounter once every 200 games.

The double tag-up mechanic.

A walk-through of the plate umpire's responsibilities during a two-man game.

Can't find the ball off the bat? Here's a tip.

A walkthrough of the plate umpire's responsibilities during a frenzy of action.