Kill the camera

If we may borrow a phrase allegedly aimed in the direction of Shoeless Joe Jackson after he and his fellow Chicago Black Sox threw the 1919 World Series, say it ain't so. Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig says he'll go along with allowing umpires to check video on home run calls. Instant replay has never been a part of America's pastime, and it shouldn't be now.

The move is prompted by some blown calls by umpires and by a few controversies in recent years that have involved foolish fans reaching out their gloves to capture a souvenir -- one still in play. Replay will cover whether balls cleared the fence, were fair or foul, and whether fans interfered.

It might make things more precise, but it's wrong. Baseball is a human game, from the imperfect but glorious players like Babe Ruth, who would down a clutch of hotdogs just before game time and then smash a couple of homers, to the umpires who make the occasional mistake. (Though they're right far more often than they're wrong.)

And what's next? Cameras on balls and strikes? We're not among those who think the game is too long, but those who do will now cry that games are prolonged even more.

Baseball is the nation's game, played and ruled by good ol' human beings. That's the way it always has been, and that's the way it always ought to be. No cameras, no replays. And now, a few words about the designated hitter ...