Thursday, September 1, 2011

The Finger of Thank You

Note: This post may not make sense without the visuals. Visit this post on my main blog to see the illustrations.

Baseball has traditions. Some are longstanding but others appear in an instant and are magically adopted by all the players. One tradition in the latter group is the Finger of Thank You.

You see it there on the left. A guy in the outfield (where this tradition proudly reigns) catches a ball. The fans cheer. And the player acknowledges the applause with the Finger of Thank you.

Me, I don't like the Finger. And I don't like the other variation, either -- the Gang (or Phone) Finger of Thank You. That's it on the left. I say meh to these Fingers.

Mostly, it's the top version that you see -- the Limp Finger of Thank You. Note how the Finger in the top photo is not fully extended, as if it's some sort of half-gesture. That's the usual way the Finger is used. In effect, it's like a pointing index finger that fainted along the way. "Meh," I say to all the Fingers.

Any other opinions out there?