i've always thought the safe signal at first gave an advantage to the offense (who missed the base!), and how is it any different from the home plate mechanic ( not interested in semantic arguments about the difference between touching first and touching home).
But i'm more interested in the description of the MiLB'er as "stud muffin".
Details....
How about "Skip, what did you see?" Let him answer a question, not dictate the conversation. If he doesn't want to tell you, then the conversation is over. You'll be surprised how often that works.