After a walk, the best place to flip your bat is not onto the umpire

After walking on a 3-2 pitch in the fifth inning of the Pirates-Brewers game on Wednesday, catcher Michael McKenry had reason to be excited: Giving the Pirates a leadoff baserunner. Raising his on-base percentage to .391. Whatever the reason, McKenry felt the event was worthy of a bat flip -- but in his excitement, the bat almost landed in a very bad spot.

That spot would have been on umpire Tim Welke. Luckily for McKenry, the lumber's spin terminated just short of the 29-year veteran's person. McKenry ran down the first base line with a palpable look of fear and, I'd presume, an important lesson learned.

-- Dan Wohl / MLB.com