Balloon sighting!

[BretMan]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

I know that this is a minor point but it really doesn't bother me when a PU points toward 1B after a Ball 4. After all the Batter is awarded 1B when the pitch is Ball 4 and we do point to 1B when the Batter is HBP or a throw or pitch goes into Dead Ball Territory we point to the appropriate base. I think this is nit picking.

There are a million-and-one little things like this that we are told not to do. I guess that your own tolerance level for doing things other than the way we're supposed to determines if it's "nit picky" or "bad mechanics".

Nit picky as it may be...can you find any umpire manual that recommends pointing to first base on a walk or showing the count on non-consecutive fingers? Yet there are plenty out there that say not to.