What the Heck is the Point For?

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by EsqUmp

Often, the player who obstructs a runner is no where around where the obstruction occurred when it is time to make a ruling/award. Pointing to the offender and even, dare I say it, verbalizing obstruction puts people on notice.

Verbalizing "Obstruction" is part of the accepted mechanic.

I don't see any value in the point. Giving the DDB signal and saying "Obstruction" is sufficient. Why should the umpire have to add anything superfluous to designate where it happened and/or who was guilty? Once play ends, the umpire who made the call is going to announce specifics of the infraction such as, "Obstruction on the first baseman" or something similar.

Regardless of its worth, the point is not part of the approved mechanic as of now (unless it has changed, and from this thread it appears it hasn't), and the diagram in the Referee magazine product is wrong. Par for the course, unfortunately.