This weekend the 70th annual Over-the-Line World Championship gets underway on Fiesta Island. Among the thousands of players participating will be one with a lot of Major League Baseball experience.
Chris Richard knows a little something about swinging a bat. The University of San Diego High School grad played 15 years in Major League Baseball with four organizations. He was drafted in 1995 by the St. Louis Cardinals and also played with the Orioles, Rockies, and Rays.
"It was a dream come true for me," he said. "It took a lot of hard work, a lot of setbacks, and a lot of mental grind to get there."
Chris's most memorable professional at-bat was his rookie year with the Cardinals when he hit a home run on the first pitch he ever faced in the big league's
"I was ready to hit, and he threw me a good fastball. I was ready, and I got it, and luckily it got out for a home run," he said. "It was a great memory, and I don't think I felt myself running around the bases. It felt like I was floating on air."
Switching to the sand, Chris has been playing over-the-line since he was a kid but really got into the sport once his major league career was over. He says one transition he had to make was going from a baseball swing to an Over-the-Line swing.
"I was horrible at first. It's all about repetition," he said. "It's about getting closer to that ball and getting that bat angle right. It took a long time."
Chris has become one of the top players in the sand, but he will be the first to tell you being a Major League Baseball player doesn't necessarily mean you are guaranteed to be a good Over-the-Line player.
"You might have a good home run swing, but other than that, it's a lot different," he said. "You also have to be good on the sand; you got to be able to run and catch the ball. You also have the guts to put a hand out there to catch a ball coming 80 miles per hour."
The Over-the-Line Tournament runs the second and third weekends in July.
