Comprehensive League Rules As of March 7, 2001
LEAGUE STRUCTURE
1. Our league consists of three divisions as follows:
Maaco Division
G. James
S. Leitner
C. Arndt
L. Nguyen
Big Boys Division
M. Wilson
R. McQuown
R. Graves (Commish)
D. Plante
Psycho Division
B. Hinnen
M. Bardwell
J. Kopec
G. Taylor
2. Divisional changes can only occur if:
a) All managers involved agree to the move.
b) A majority of non-involved managers approve of the move.
c) League expands to to a point which would require more than 4 divisions.
d) League expands to 15 teams. One expansion team will be added to each existing division using the random card selection method.
e) If initial league expansion were to include 4 teams, ALL expansion teams will be placed into a newly created division (Newbie's) and the schedule will be adusted to take this into account.
f) Any other scenerio's will fall directly under the authority of the Commish and be decided by application of the "Best Interest" clause of MLB.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE & RULES
1. Each team plays a total of 162 games, 22 games against each divisional opponent and 12 games against each non-divisional opponent.
2. A manually created fixed schedule will be published at the beginning of each season based on the results from the previous season. There will be 8 months of games with 2 off days each month and 3 days off between months 4 and 5 to simulate the All-Star break.
3. Our league is a DH league.
4. All regular season games will be played in the computer autoplay mode with manual pitching and line-up selections. See Roster and lineup section for more details
5. All Super-Advanced rules are in effect. (Weather and Day/night optional rules ARE NOT in use.)
6. Injuries will not be used during the regular season or playoffs. Player usage must be controlled by each manager through roster, pitching rotation, line-up and strategy maintenance.
7. During the last month you may call up 5 additional players to your major league roster.
PLAYOFF SCHEDULE & SPECIAL PLAYOFF RULES
1. Divisional winners and one wild card team(best record by a team not to win a division) are eligable for post season play. All Playoff series will be best of 7 series to determine which team will advance to the World Series. The playoff begins 1 day after game 162 and is a 2/3/2 format with the team with the best overall winning pct. having home field advantage. There is one day off after games 2 and 5. Matchups for the playoff are as follows. Best record overall will play the Wildcard team, with the other two quaifier's playing each other
2. Playoff winners will advance to the World Series. The World Series begins 1 day after the playoff series has ended and is a 2/3/2 format with the best overall regular season winner having home field advantage. There is 1 day off after games 2 and 5.
3. All post season games will be played on the computer utilizing the human manager option. Managers unable to attend in person by elect to utilize the various internet play options available or may designate another manager to play for them if unable to get the games in in any other way.
5. All carded players are eligible with the following restrictions:
a) starting pitchers may be designated as a reliever for the duration of the series, but may not start if so designated.
b) pitchers having both a starter and reliever rating can be used in either or both capacities as limited by and subject to the fatigue factor shown on the fielding report. A starter/reliever may both start and relieve.
c) All post season players will be limited to no more than the innings or abats they were capable of using in the regular season. If a play reaches the maximum innings or abats listed, that player ust be IMMEDIATELY pulled from the game in progress and could only appear later in the series as a pinch runner or defensive replacement and could not bat or pitch.
7. Injuries will not be used during the playoffs.
8. Managers must declare their post season roster before the final month of the regular season and all players on the post season roster must appear on their major league roster at that time. Once declared, your post season roster becomes fixed for all playoff series.
9. When submitting the pitching rotations for month 8 (October), each manager in contention who could possibly tie for a playoff spot should declare a 1-game playoff starter. A different 1-game playoff starter could be declared for each potential opponent and for home or away. Then when the pitching rotations go out, all of the possible 1-game playoff matchups will be listed. When the lineups are due, each manager in contention who could possibly tie will designate which of their five standard lineups to use in each possible tie breaker game. Whether this is necessary is at the discretion of the league secretary. If the secretary feels it unlikely that teams will tie, then it is his option to wait until the end of the regular season and see if any teams actually do tie, at which time the secretary will organize the starters and lineups for a 1-game playoff.
10. In case of a tie (between two teams), the team with the better head-to-head record will host a one game playoff. This one game comes immediately after the end of the regular season, there is no off day. If head-to-head record is even, then the team with the better division record will host the playoff game. This tie-breaker is played in autoplay mode and the statistics count towards the regular season. The winner of the one game playoff advances to the best of 7 series against the second place team, without an off day between the one game tie-breaker playoff and the best of 7 series.
11. For a 1-game tie breaker, any player not used up before the last regular season series can appear. I.E. a player used up by game 159 may not appear, any player that was still available as of game 160 can appear. Except for AB/IP being used up as described above, the entire 30 man expanded roster used in month 8 would be available for a 1-game tie-breaker.
12. At the end of the regular season, the league secretary will create a league for each playoff series, and into each playoff league will copy all of the possible playoff teams for that series but only include the 25 players on the playoff roster for each team.
14.If needed, Managers must manually check for fatigue and any reliever who is T-2 (2/x in the STATUS column of the fielding report) after the 7th game of a series or at the end of the regular is ineligible to pitch in game 1 of the next series. If there was a 1 game playoff due to a tie, then any reliever who was T-1 (1/x under STATUS) after that game is ineligible to pitch in game 1 of the next series, T-2 (2/x under STATUS) is ineligible to appear in both games 1 and 2 of the next playoff series. NOTE: If a reliever ever gets T-3 (3/x), then this rule extends accordingly.
LEAGUE DUES, FINES & PRIZE MONEY
1. As of league creation, no dues, fines or prize money are established. Managers will be polled as of the all-star break concerning the creation of a fund for a traveling trophy and if dues need to be imposed. Fines are not in use at this date, but may be exercised by the commish if the "best interests" clause comes into play.
BALLPARK REGULATIONS
1. Each manager may select an existing major league stadium from the available pool.
2. Upon selection of your ballpark, a manager signs an ironclad three year lease which prohibits relocation. (NOTE THAT AT THE END OF THE FIRST SEASON, ALL MANAGER WILL HAVE THE OPTION OF CHANGING THEIR PARK BEFORE THE 3 YEAR RULE BECOMES ACTIVE.) Your existing major league stadium factors may vary year-to-year with that park, but you are still obligated to stay in that park for three years.
3. Teams which have fulfilled their park lease obligations may relocate prior to the draft. Once any changes are made to your stadium a new three year lease is in effect.
5. You may not trade your ballpark under any circumstances.
DRAFT REGULATIONS
1. Managers shall designate 15 players from their roster as protected for the upcoming draft after the end of the season at a date to be determined by the commish.
2. Once the protect lists are published, managers may trade to increase or decrease their protected roster prior to the draft.
3. Players that are eligible for the draft will be posted by the league sec well in advance of any draft. Currently players from 9 major league teams are ineligable for the draft. See expansion and team addition regulations referred to later in the rules. Any player that has less than 50 abats or 20 innings pitch and\or is listed on an excluded team is NOT eligable for the draft. In future seasons, if such a restricted player was already listed on a roster, that player could be protected and used, as long as the minimum abats or innings restriction did not apply.
4. All manager must maintain a minimum of 25 usable players at all times during the season to field a Major League team.
4. Draft order is determined as follows: a) Reverse order of finish in the prior years season. b) The above sequence is repeated in all successive rounds. c) Head-to-head record and then division record are used as tie breakers should teams finish with the same overall record.
(FOR THIS YEAR ONLY, THE DRAFT ORDER WILL BE SERPENTINE)
5. Managers are suggested to draft a minimum of 650 at bats per fielding position and 1600 innings of pitching.
6. Immediately at the trade deadline prior to the draft, rosters and picks will be counted and anyone having more than 35 total players and picks will have their lowest picks forfeited until the total is 35. For example, if you have 16 players on your roster and 21 picks in the upcoming draft, you will forfeit the two lowest picks. This will prevent the hoarding of picks going into the draft and the confusion that results when those extra picks start getting traded or are accidentally used by the manager as was the case in this past draft. You must trade your excess picks prior to the trade deadline.
ROSTER RESTRICTIONS
1. Each team drafts to fill a 35 man roster.
2. After the draft, managers may increase or decrease their rosters through trading.
3. Each team must maintain a 25 man Major League roster and the balance of the players are designated as Minor Leaguers.
4. A Minor League player may only be brought up at the beginning of the month. No roster moves can be made after the pitching matchups have been published.
5. Teams are required to at all time be capable of fielding a team with the minimum number of abats and innings need to complete the regular season. As listed above, we have a SUGGESTED minimum for abats and innings pitched to start a season. As of the allstar break season trade deadline, all teams are required to meet the following minimum requirements:
a) 4.2 abats per batting position per game left to play. Distribution of abats in such a manner as to insure that the team will always be capable of fielding a complete 25 man roster.
b) 5.9 starting innings and 2.5 relief innngs per game left to play. Distributions of innings to reflect the need to be able to not violate pitcher use restrictions.
TRADING RESTRICTIONS
1. All trades must be reported to the the league sec via email prior to the 24th of the month to become official for the following month's games.
2. All trades will be published on the league website once each month.
3.The website will contain updated rosters and draft listings as needed.
4. All exchanges as the result of a trade must take place at the time of the trade and you may only trade players and picks which appear on your current roster and draft pick listing.
5. "Loaning" of players is prohibited.
6. Remember all trades must stand on their own merit and are subject to commish review and veto.
7. The trading deadline for the current season is the mid-season meeting which will be held at the end of month 5.
8. Prior to the season trading deadline, the only draft picks a manager can trade are for the upcoming season.
9. After the current season trading deadline has passed, managers are require to meet the manditory abats and innings minimums listed earlier. If, upon review by the commish a trade or combination of trades would violate this rule, the commish is require to void and or modify referred to trades to bring teams into compliance. This is a serious matter and all managers are cautioned to not let this happen to them.
10. Offseason trading starts after the mid-season meeting and concludes at least 10 days prior to the draft.
11. The Commish may veto any trade deemed not in the best interest of the league. This power is extraordinary and only to be used in dire matters. The league may overrule the commish if 3/4 of the non-involved managers feel that the trade is not detrimental.
PITCHING RESTRICTIONS
1. Pitcher usage is limited to actual innings pitched.
2. Starters require 4 days rest between starts unless they have the (*) designation on the supplemental listing from Strat in which case they may start on 3 days rest. The fatigue factor shown on the fielding report is NOT to be used. I.E. no one can ever start on one or two days rest even if the fielding report says they could. And even if the fielding report shows them to have 3 days rest fatigue, they can only start on 3 days rest if they have a (*) rating.
3. Starter/relievers must be designated at the beginning of each month as a starter or a reliever and that may not change during the month. Any pitcher who is designated to start at least one game in any month will be considered a starter for the whole month. If you have designated a pitcher as a starter & you're using Super Hal, you MUST put that pitcher at the bottom of your Super Hal lists. If you don't, he can be used as a reliever, thus designating him as both starter and a reliever, which is against the rules.
4. If a pitcher has less than 36 IP remaining, then the maximum number of games he can start during a month will be limited based on the chart at the top of the next column: In order to Start this many games: At least this many IP must remain:
Starts-innings remaining
1-1
2-8
3-15
4-22
5-29
6-36
NOTE: Even if a pitcher runs out of innings before a start, if that pitcher was allowed to start based on this chart, then he will start the game as normal without any penalty.
POSITION PLAYER RESTRICTIONS
1. Position players are limited to actual AB's or PA's. A batters will only be removed from a roster after he runs out of BOTH AB and PA. If a batter has either PA or AB remaining, then they can continue in the next series.
2. Players may not start a game out of position with the exception that an outfielder playing another outfield position with the defensive rating subject to Strat rules: Someone who is rated in CF can start RF or LF without penalty. Someone who is rated in RF can start LF with no penalty but is -1 for CF. Someone who is rated LF only is -1 for RF and -2 range for CF.
3. There have been a couple of occasions where HAL would not allow certain outfield positioning even though it was within the rules as per #2. To correct this, the appropriate outfield ratings can be added to that player's cards. Each team, however, will be limited to adding OF ratings to at most two outfielder cards per season.
4. If a position player is approaching his at-bat limit, a substitute should be declared in the event that he runs out of at-bats during the month. A position player will be eligible to bat as long as he has at-bats or plate appearances remaining at the start of a series. The replacement will bat in the same spot in the order as the player he is replacing in all Line-Ups. Other reasonable defensive changes can be specified in the even of substitution, but manager profile settings cannot be changed. Whatever manager profile is set up at the start of a month will remain in effect for the entire month regardless of usage.
SPLIT CARD PLAYERS 1. Split card use has been eliminated.
EMERGENCIES 1. For any situation that arises that is not explicitly covered in the rest of the rules, the commish has discretion to use his best judgment and make a decision. The commish may consult with other managers as time permits, but is not obligated to do so. When the commish makes such a decision, he shall immediately announce the decision with an optional explanation. If any manager involved disagrees with the decision, then that manager has 15 days in which to call for a vote among the other managers in the league. If a total of 9 or more managers vote to veto, then the decision is overturned and it goes back to the commish to render a new solution.
REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPUTER FORMAT After the draft: Each manager must establish a computer manager strategy profile and a 25 man Major League roster. Have them done & submitted to the league secretary by the 5th of the month. ALL managers must have access to email, as that's how info will be sent out. We are not responsible if you have a problem.
By the 9th of Each Month: Each manager must submit his pitching rotation for the upcoming month's games, along with any roster changes for the month. He may also submit strategy and manager profile changes. If the manager fails to submit a Pitching Rotation Card for a given month, then his rotation will be the last five starters used the previous month, or the last four if only four were used.
By the 15th of Each Month: The league secretary will publish the pitching match-ups for the month, including a copy of your updated computer profile, and send out the Line-Up Cards.
By the 24th of Each Month: Each manager must submit 2 to 5 Line-Ups on the Line-Up Card. The manager must declare which line-up is to be used for each of the upcoming games that month based on the starting pitchers published on the website. Final strategy and manager profile changes may also be submitted. If a manager fails to submit a Line-Up Card for a given month, then his lineups will be the default A and B lineups from the previous month, with eligible substitutes used for any players who were sent down to the minors.
By the 1st of Each Month: The league secretary will publish the Newsletter including complete stats, standings, league leaders, next month's schedule, trades, rosters, draft listings, your current computer profile and the Pitching Matchup Card.
EXPANSION AND DRAFT INCLUSION RULES
1. In the event of expansion following the second or third season after the beginning of this league, the followning rules apply.
a) In the event of expansion in year two or three, expansion managers will randomly be given order to pick from the top three teams in the exclusion pool. The new managers will create their initial 15 man protect list from the chosen team and then be included into the draft with the 5th, 10th and 15th picks in each round respectively. In the case of 4 team expansion, the top 4 teams are used and the expansion managers recieve the 13 thru 16 picks in each round.
2. In year two, three teams from the exclusion pool will be released into the regular draft. The three teams release will be the teams with the best records(excluding the best if we expand.)
3. Beginning in year three, one additional team will be released every year until all teams are included in the available draft pool.
5. As of year 6, new expansion rules will need to come into place since these rules will no longer be viable. The commish will be responsible for appointing a expansion committee to examine alternatives as of the end of year 5 if needed.