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Show Over-the-Line Tourney brings psychotic softball back to Park City by Randy Hanskat Tired of playing softball by normal rules? Well then bunky, sign up for the fourth annual Park City Over-the-Line Tournament. The two-day psychotic offshoot of softball will be played July 28 and 29 in City Park. And don't dilly-dally! The entry deadline is Friday, July 27, but may be closed earlier if the field of 32 teams is filled. This is your chance to win trophies, see lots of skimpy bathing suits and pretend you are in California! The $10 per player entry fee will get you a T-shirt or a hat and lots of schizophrenic glee. Over-the-Line began in San Diego in 1953 and has grown like The Blob ever since. The yearly World Championship, held in mid-July on Fiesta Island in the San Diego area, draws over 700 teams (three or more players on each) to compete in more than 1,500 games. This wild event fosters competi- Btion between teams not only to outdo each other on the field, but also in thinking up names. Names such as "Inspectors for Hairline Cracks," "Lucky Stiffs," "Three 'C Cups," "Major Herpes & the Foreign Lesion" and "Natalie Woodn't Float" are a sampling of the tamer entries. Sponsoring and coordinating the event is the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club (OMBAC). The club sets up the rules "No babies, no bowsers (four-legged), and no bottles," etc. and runs the huge tournament. Members of OMBAC approached Joy Rasmussen of the Park City Recreation Department in 1981 and together they arranged the first Park City event in July of that year. OMBAC officials helped run that tournament, and they will be here again this year. Teams are made up of two men and one woman. The women can wear gloves. The field starts with a 60-foot line. From one side of the line a triangle is formed, with the batting to be done where the lines intersect. On the other side of the line the boundaries extend straight out. There is no pitcher. The batter is fed balls by one of his teammates, who kneels near the batter and tosses the ball up for him to hit. The ball when hit must go over the line between the extended boundary lines. A ball falling in front of the line is an out. Two foul balls hitting outside the boundaries is an out. One strike (two for women) or a ball caught on the fly is an out. Three hits in a row score a run and a home run is a ball hit beyond last man in the field. Vague rules, but you get the idea. Last year the trio of Pam Hart, Vinnie Buonadonna and John White-ly White-ly alias Team Beam took home the trophy over entries such as "Your Team Sucks" and "Tuna Canyon." Who will it be this year? Prizes will be awarded for the "most fun team," "best team name," and first, second and third places. For more information call the Recreation Department at 649-9461. |