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There are several reasons not to point to first on ball four. Can anybody give me one reason why they think it is a good idea? What piece of information are you communicating (communication being the ultimate goal of all the signals we use) to the teams by pointing that simply saying "ball" or "ball four" doesn't relay? I'm assuming that the batter already knows where first base is located and how to get there.
I had the same thing happen to me once that JJ posted above. I'm in "A" position and there are three balls on the batter. Pitch comes in, there is some movement of the bat. Plate umpire points at first (which is to say, he points at me) and, to make it worse, he says, "Too low", (another thing I hate is announcing pitch locations) which 100+ feet away and combined with a point makes me think he said, "Did he go?". And I answer, "Yes he did!"...except it was ball four. Not exactly the kind of confusion that inspires confidence in the teams that you know what the heck you're doing out there...
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