It could also be a result of your thumb hole being a little too big. This results in squeezing of "knuckling" your thumb. When you do this, there is a chance of the tip of your thumb rubbing coming out of the hole. During a practice session, try an extra piece of tape in your thumb hole and concentrate on using a small amount of pressure with the large flat part of your thumb on the inside of the thumb hole (i.e. keeping your thumb straight). It may feel as though you will drop the ball (if you actually do drop it, you may need either another piece of tape or less reverse pitch in your thumb hole). If you can throw the ball this way, you should get out of the ball cleaner AND see less of a mark on your thumb.
S^2
--------------------
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
After an 18 mo. hiatus, I'm back...