Over-the-line

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Over-the-line is a game related to baseball and softball. Like those games, you have the batter, pitcher, and fielders. Because a game requires only three people per team, it's considerably easier to get a good informal game going. Gameplay, however, is very different.

An over-the-line court is made up of a rope triangle staked out on sand. The base of the triangle is 55 feet long, and the distance from the base to the opposite point (which is the location of home) is also 55 feet. Two parallel ropes extend out from either corner of the triangle adjacent to the base and at right angles to it. The base of the triangle is called "The Line". The open-ended rectangle between the parallel ropes and behind The Line is fair territory, which extends to infinity.

A diagram of an Over-The-Line court

Unlike in softball, the batter and pitcher are on the same team. The batter stands at home. The pitcher stands anywhere in front of The Line, not in the triangle. Fielders (the other team) stand behind The Line, in fair territory.

A hit is made when the ball is knocked over the line into fair territory and hits the ground without being caught. A hit may also be made when the fielder who catches the ball crosses over the line or out of fair territory or drops the ball. Three hits in one inning scores one run. No bases are physically run, however. A fly ball hit past (not necessarily over his head, just past) the last player in fair territory without him touching it counts as a "home run". This will score at least one run plus however many hits have been made. The hit count is then set back to zero.

Over the line can also be played using half of a baseball field. There needs to be 6 to 8 people in order to play. A six person game will be split up into 3 teams of 2. One team plays outfield (left and left center), another in the infield (3rd base and shortstop), and offense (pitcher and hitter). One inning consists of all three teams rotating and getting a chance to bat. Pitcher and batter change after every at bat, until they get out three times.

Scoring System: Strike- three strikes and you are out. Foul ball- counts as a strike (a foul ball after 2 strikes is considered an out). Single- any hit that is bobbled by the infield or gets past the infield, but not past the outfield. Infielders have to stay on the dirt. A step on the grass is an automatic single. Double- has to go past the infield and past either one of the outfielders. Triples- rolls, bounces, or hits the fence without going over. Homerun- over the fence. Ghost runners are kept track of and have to be forced in to count as a run. There is no running of the bases.

[edit] Annual Tournament

Over-the-line was invented on the beaches of San Diego, and continues to thrive in the area. It is seen largely as a novelty game in the inland counties (and, debatably, the beach counties as well), but still persists as a physical education activity at local high schools, and most visibly in the practice of an annual tournament held on Fiesta Island. By far the locale's most notorious activity, the annual "OMBAC OTL Tournament" is a prominent staple in San Diego's party sub-culture. The tournament has a knack for producing adult themes and motifs; team names, often variations of the sport's equipment-namely bats and balls-are seen as explicit enough to discourage any youth attendance. Combined with copious amounts of alcohol, the tournament has gained a negative reputation for its hedonistic and sexual overtones. Perhaps in an effort to legitimize the sport, the OMBAC has made strides to cut back on these and some of the tournament's other, more offensive, elements. It seeks to define a purpose for the tournament beyond "beer, babes, and bats on the beach."

The tournament has gained a negative stigma above and beyond the debauchery it seems to champion: as the population that began the event continues to age (the tournament began in 1953), it garners increasingly severe critiques from both spectators angered at the adult elements, and those younger tournament goers who find the older participants increasingly out of place. Despite this, the OMBAC expects 52,000 people to attend the event in 2006 over the two July weekends it is held.

Some feel it is a legitimate sport that many players take seriously. Those that create the negative stigma are those who play in the tournament without having a passion for the sport. It is highly organized, but it is not appropriate for children to attend this event.

Some players have been in this tourney for 40 plus years and still enjoy it.