They call it OTL. Ever heard of it? Over The Line is a game similar to softball, but not exactly. If you know about OTL, cool sauce. Those who've played OTL, know about tape on throbbing F U fingers. If you don't know what I'm talking about at all, I'll explain in a bit.
But first, let me introduce the Fallbrookians and our run at Shelter Island in San Diego. It was my uncle Robert, in fact, who headed up the team. Teams in OTL consist of only three players. Robert had a good friend as his second but needed a solid third player.
That's where I came in. Robert knew my history playing baseball at some higher than average levels and wanted me on the team. He was competitive about the tournament at Shelter Island, which was kind of funny in itself. Hang with me. It'll all become clear.
Hundreds of 3-person teams would come to this weekend long event to basically get shitfaced and play OTL. Shelter Island is actually a small peninsula that teaches out into Mission Bay, San Diego.
Along its' shoreline is plenty of room for Campers, Third-Wheels or just tenting it from the back of a stationwagon. Partiers showed up as early as Friday and the games went Sat to Sun (should you advance).
We weren't bad as team but we never did advance past more than a few rounds. The championships or playoffs were either held Sunday or the following weekend. And let me tell you, there were some serious OTL teams that came only to win the tournament.
Why we never advanced to an upper tier isn't hard to explain. By the time we got more than half way through Saturday's matches, I'd be cross-eyed drunk. Budweisers hit you hard after a six pack in the hot sun.
As I mentioned before, OTL is similar to softball but with several modifications. Three person teams instead of nine is obviously a major change. So is the playing field.
From home plate, the softball field is played within a 90 degree angle. Anything outside those lines is foul. OTL drops the angle of fair play to 45 degrees. It makes it much easier to hit a foul ball.
At Shelter Island, the game is played in the sand but it can also be played on grass or dirt. Three players take the field and a line cuts from one foul line to the other where a mound would normally be.
But there is no mound or pitcher in OTL. The fielding team simply has to play the ball that's hit. At bat, the hitting team must 'Soft Toss' the ball to each other. What's Soft Toss? It's where your teammate crouches just out of range of your swing and lobs you the ball.
An OTL ball is usually bright orange and it's about the same size as a softball. The main difference is that an OTL ball has some give to it. It has a bit of sponge unlike a hard softball.
I don't know why they call it a softball. It's just one of those words that don't make sense. An OTL ball is more akin to a soft ball than an authentic softball. But just because an OTL ball feels soft when you squeeze it, doesn't mean it's soft at 95 mph.
At the plate (there's no real plate), the player must hit the ball in fair territory. A foul ball is an out. Three misses of the ball as it's soft tossed from your teammate is an out. If the other team catches the ball with no bounce, it's an out.
The ball must cross the front line where the mound would be without bouncing or it's a foul ball and an out. Should the hitter blast the ball over all three players heads, it's a home run. Every other hit is considered a single.
Oh yea, there's no gloves. I almost forgot that part and the reason for jammed, taped up, throbbing fat F U fingers.
I won't get into the strategy, but these rules force a serious team to develop a playing style. OTL is definitely more complex than it may at first appear.
There must be OTL events across the country at parks and fields that are family friendly. Shelter Island wasn't one of them. Besides the fact that everyone came to camp and party, that was only half the fun.
Come Saturday, game day, the huge stand with the leaderboard was a place to be. Girls weren't wearing much....if anything and the team names!
If you brought your kids to this event, the team names would have you explaining things you weren't prepared to discuss. Some names were so bad I wondered if the players still kissed their mothers.
Besides having a great time playing and losing, pissing off my Uncle is the only other memory I really have of those days. I pitched in a bit for the beer but drank way more than my share....as usual.
Uncle Robert is pretty friggen cool. He didn't understand why I had to stay up all night and drink all the beers. He was more pissed that we had to go and get more beer the next day....and that I was bound to be a worthless teammate before noon.
Thanks for reading and as always...
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