SBL League Constitution Preamble We, the members of the Strat Baseball League, in order to establish and promote an enjoyable, fair, and competitive atmosphere among our members, do ordain this Constitution of the Strat Baseball League. Article I. League Composition A. The Strat Baseball League (hereafter referred to as the SBL) shall be composed of the managers of its 24 teams. B. The SBL shall consist of two leagues(cy Young League and Babe Ruth League) with three divisions(walter Johnson, Sandy Koufax, and Greg Maddux in the Cy Young, and Josh Gibson, Hank Aaron, and Cal Ripken in the Hank Aaron) in each league. C. Each division will consist of four teams. D. Each league will use the DH. E. Each member of the SBL shall be governed by the provisions of this Constitution. F. Each owner is to play his road games for the block. Play by CM is the standard method, but owners can netplay a series if they choose during the regular season. Netplay is required for playoffs(see below). Article II. League Schedule A. Each team in the SBL shall play a 162 game season. 1. The season shall be comprised of six sets, with each set consisting of home and away series. 2. Teams within the same division shall play each other twenty-two times 3. Teams in the same league but opposite divisions shall play each other twelve times 4. There will be no interleague play 5. For pitching purposes there will be "days off" between series entered manually by the person playing the series prior to the start of the series only. B. At the end of the regular season, four teams from each league will make the SBL play-offs. The first-place team in each division will make the play-offs. Then the next two best non-division winners in each league will be the wild cards.in the event of a tie, a one game playoff will be needed to determine results. 1. The Wild Card winners in each league will face off in a one game winner take all series, hosted by the team with the best record. If there is a need for tie breaker to determine the host only it is done by head to head record, then in-division record, followed by run differential. 2. The three division winners will advance to the Divisional Series Round. The team with the best record gets the wildcard, while the other two division winners will play. Tie breakers stated above to determine home team. 3. The winners of each series will play in the League Championship Series 4. The winners of the league championship series will meet in the SBL World Series. 5. Each playoff round with the exception of the wildcard playoff will be a best-of-seven series, with the home field advantage going to the team with the better regular season record. a. The team with the better record will be the home team for Games #1 and #2, and for Games #6 and #7, if necessary. b. The team with the lesser record will be the home team for Games #3 and #4, and for Game #5, if necessary. c. There will be a "day off" between Games #2 and #3 and between Games #5 and #6. 5. Ideally, all play-off games will be played face-to-face or via phone/internet. The
Commissioner will use his discretion to determine how games are to be played when these preferred methods are not an option for the managers involved. C. Commissioner shall provide each manager with a schedule prior to the start of the season. Article III. Rosters A. Each team shall have a roster of 40 players, of which 25 will be on the active major league roster. B. The initial rosters will be drafted from a pool of every player to appear in a game during the 2015 MLB season. C. There will be no free agency, so all players not taken in the draft will not be used during that season. D. If a player has more than one Strat-O-Matic card, the combined card will be used. E. Each team must inform the Commissioner of its 25-man roster prior to the start of each season. F. Roster changes may be made only at the beginning of a set. Players may not be transferred between a team's major and minor league roster during a set. The only exceptions are if you play with less than 25 players during your home games and activate a player only for the road games you play in order to help control use. You can de-activate your starting pitchers in the CM, but those players do count towards the 25 active players 1. The deadline for trades is prior to Block 5(August). Trade announcements must be emailed before midnight (Eastern) on the day of the deadline. Confirmation email by the other team can be sent the next day. 2. Beginning with Block 6(September), all players with cards may be brought up to the major league roster. The 25-man active roster limit is suspended for the balance of the regular season. G. Each team can keep 25 players per season out of your 40. Article IV. Minor League Draft A. The SBL will hold an initial 10 man minor league draft. Anyone who has not appeared in a MLB game as of the end of the 2015 season and is signed to an MLB team is eligible(japanese, Cuban, and college/high school players are not eligible). Initial draft will be after MLB draft and will go in the opposite order. B. Minor league rosters can go down to as little as no players and as many as 15 players due to trades and future picks. C. The order of selection in the free agent draft will be in inverse order from the previous season standings. D. Each year the draft will consist of 2 more rounds of minor leaguers added to the rosters, but rosters can never exceed 15. E. Teams that are at the maximum and want to participate in the draft need to promote players(below) or release players prior to the start of the draft. If I have 14 players and I want to draft two players, I need to cut 1- otherwise I would only be allowed one pick F. Picks may be traded one year in advance. G. Players that make their MLB debut in the previous year must be moved to the 40 man roster or dropped. They do not count towards the 25 keepers in the year they get promoted. So if I own Jose Peraza in 2015 on the minor league team, he made his MLB debut in 2015. Heading into 2016 I could keep 25 players plus Peraza, or I could drop his rights and allow him to enter the draft. Article V Trading A. Teams may trade players, draft picks and/or minor league picks. Picks of any kind may only be traded one year in advance. So it is 2016 now, I could trade 2017 choices, but not 2018. B. Trades must be effective at the beginning of any set prior to the trading deadline. Managers must agree on the effective set of trades when they are made. C. The league schedule will include trading deadlines for trades that are to take effect in any given set. Trade announcements must be emailed before midnight (local time) on the day of the deadline. Confirmation
email by the other team can be sent the next day. D. As a courtesy to members, trade reports should be broadcast league-wide. E. Both managers must inform the Commissioner of a trade. The following information must be given: 1. The complete names of the players involved in the trade. 2. The teams involved. G. Unspecified future considerations may not be included in any trades. H. No trade will be official if one of the trading parties is currently late with instructions or results. I. Any trades made after the "trading deadline" will not be official until the end of the year. Trades can be negotiated, but not announced. They are non-binding at this point, however backing out of agreed upon trades is discouraged. Article VI. Pre-Season Draft A. The Commissioner shall conduct a draft of non-rostered players prior to the start of each season at a time, method, and place to be specified by the Commissioner. B. Each team shall participate in the draft until it reaches 40 players. C. Each team must inform the Commissioner of any players it releases by a date specified by the Commissioner. This date must be at least 14 days prior to the draft date. D. Draft will take place via email E. Teams shall draft in inverse order of their previous season's finish. F. Any team who has traded one or more of their own draft picks must still be drafting after their last traded pick. For instance, a team trading its 5th round pick must make a pick (either one of their own or a pick traded for) that comes later in the draft. Teams are encouraged to be careful when trading mid-round picks. Article VII. Playing Rules A. Most Strat-O-Matic super-advanced rules shall be used by the SBL, with exceptions being announced by the Commissioner prior to each season. Major additions to the game rules may require a league-wide vote before being adopted by the SBL. B. A player with an outfield rating may play any outfield position according to the Strat-O-Matic outfielder out of position rule. No other player can be used out of position in the SBL. C. Player usage shall be limited to 110% of the actual at bats or innings pitched listed on the basic side of their card. 1. Starting pitchers with an asterisk (*) before their names on the Strat-O-Matic roster sheet may start every fourth game. Other starters may start every fifth game. 2. No pitcher may start and relieve in the same series. D. Teams shall stay in the same ballpark with some exceptions. 1. No more then one team may play in the same ballpark. 2. Each team will use the updated ballpark ratings for each season. 3. If a manager has the option of choosing a new ballpark, the new ballpark must be selected before the new card set comes out. 4. There are several ways to change a team's ballpark: a. If the major league franchise moves to a new ballpark, the manager may select a new park with the current season's Strat-O-Matic ratings. b. When a new manager takes over a vacated franchise, the new manager may elect to use a different park. This change must be made at the beginning of the new manager's first full season in the SBL. c. If a SBL franchise has been in the same ballpark for three successive years, the manager may select a new ballpark for the upcoming season. E. The SBL shall use the designated hitter.
F. Managers must use the current computer version of the game with the patches provided by SOM. G. All teams must have a replacement player (a player who has a rating for that position) for every position on their major league roster. This rule is waived if a team has a player who cannot get injured. H. The SBL will turn off the injury setting of the CD-ROM game. I. A player may not be removed from a game if he is the only player available to play a position. 1. If a situation would arise where a team would have to choose between playing a player out of position and losing their DH for the game, the team must lose the DH. 2. If a situation would arise where a team must choose between overusing a player and playing a player out of position, the manager must overuse the player and undergo the penalties listed in Article IX, unless that choice is brought about by injury. Article VIII. Playoff Playing Rules A. All playing rules set forth in Article VIII shall be in use in the playoffs, with the following exceptions: 1. The rule in Article VII, Section C, Paragraph 1 shall not apply in the playoffs. Instead, any starter may start every fourth day (3 days rest). Remember to give both teams"1 day off between Games #2 & #3 and Games #5 & #6. B. Each team may only have 25 active players on their playoff roster. C. Pitchers who are starters-only may be used in relief in the playoffs. 1. A starter only who is used in relief shall be limited to ten innings pitched per playoff series. 2. A starter only who is used in relief shall have a POW according to Strat-O-Matic rules. D. All players are limited to 10% of their PA's or IP's in a play-off (seven game) series. E. All batters are limited to 1% of their PA's in a one game playoff. Batters with under 100 PA are ineliglble for this one game series. Starters with the correct rest may start, and relievers with 10+ innings can be used. F. There is only 1 day off between playoff series so any pitcher who started games 6 or 7 will not be eligible until the 4 th day from their last start. Article IX. Player Overuse 1-5 PA/IP =no penalty 6-10 PA/IP over= lower 4th pick 10 spots 11-20 PA/IP over= lower 3rd pick 10 spots 21-30 PA/IP over= lower 2nd pick 10 spots 31-40 PA/IP over= lower 1st pick 10 spots 41+ PA/IP over= loss of 1st pick, more than this will be decided by commissioner. Over usage is a total for all players overused. -Traded picks mean the next highest pick is penalized. -For playoff teams overusage eliminates player from postseason -Commissioner will hear appeals regarding usage due to extenuating circumstances. -Overused players may be protected on the 25-man submitted roster at the price of TWO roster spots. E.g. Dodgers overuse Kershaw and Stanton. They can be kept but would reduce the amount of protects for the Dodgers to 21 plus Kershaw and Stanton who count as two each. Overused players cannot be traded before 25-man rosters are submitted.
Article X. Playing Procedures A. Each manager shall send instructions for his team to the opposing (home) manager for all his away games by the dates specified in the league schedule. B. Managers may include any special instructions they desire. Instructions must include a current major league roster. C. Away team managers shall play all away games using the instructions provided by the home team. D. Upon completion of each block, the away team manager shall send the league copies of the game files and compiled statistics. Export, Print, and PBP files are needed. E. If instructions have not been received within ten days of the date they are due, managers should ask the Commissioner for instructions for how to play the series. The Commissioner will then forward the visiting team's generic instructions to manage the visiting team, and will provide a pitching rotation based on previous results or IP's on the SOM card. F. If, when reviewing the game files, a visiting manager feels his instructions were not properly followed, he may file a protest with the Commissioner. 1. A detailed explanation of the protest must be sent. 2. The Commissioner will then contact the opposing manager for his explanation. 3. The Commissioner shall resolve the protest in any manner he sees fit, including possible forfeiture of the game or replaying the game. Article XI. Statistics A. Statistics will be reported as per the Strat-O-Matic computer game. B. At the periods specified in the league schedule, the league statistician shall report current statistics to each franchise. C. Teams are responsible for keeping track of combined usage of player acquired in a trade, and this combined total is applied to Article VIII, Section C.
Article XII. Tiebreakers A. In the event of a tie for first place in either division, a single game playoff shall be played. These should be played face-to-face or via phone or Net Play. Otherwise the Commissioner will play the game using instructions from both managers. The winning team shall finish in first place and the losing team shall finish in second place. B. In the event of a tie for the fourth best record in the league, a single game playoff shall be played. These should be played face-to-face or via phone or Net Play. Otherwise the Commissioner will play the game using instructions from both managers. The losing team shall not participate in the playoffs. C. If one of the teams involved in a tiebreaker is managed by the Commissioner, he and the other manager involved shall agree on another manager to play the single playoff game if face-to-face or phone or Net Play is not possible. Article XIII. League Communications A. Upon receipt of the results of each block, the Commissioner shall prepare a standings update and send it to each manager. B. The Statistician shall prepare and distribute a statistics report. 1. Statistics will be posted to the league web site several times during the season. 2. New roster and statistics files will be sent to the league between certain designated sets. After importing these into Strat-O-Matic, all managers will have the complete SBL statistical database on their home computer. C. The Commissioner shall communicate with any of the league's members when necessary to facilitate the smooth operation of the league. These communications shall normally be conducted through e-mail and the league web site. Certain matters may also require the Commissioner to communicate by phone at league expense. Article XIV. Vacancies A. If a managerial vacancy should occur, the Commissioner shall act to find a new manager for the franchise as soon as possible. B. Until a vacancy is filled, the Commissioner shall appoint someone to operate the franchise. The appointed person shall send instructions and play games for the team until a replacement can be found. The Commissioner may request that the opposing manager play both home and away games for the series. C. When a new manager takes over a franchise, the Commissioner may award that franchise special draft picks to replace any future picks which have been traded away. These special picks will be placed at the end of any round in which the former manager has traded away a draft choice. The intention of this rule is to make a weak franchise which has been vacated more attractive to new managers. Article XV. Amendments A. Any member in the SBL may propose amendments to this Constitution. B. The Commissioner shall publish proposed amendments in the next league communication after receipt of the proposed amendment and solicit reactions to the proposed amendment from the league's managers. C. After allowing time for debate via e-mail, the Commissioner will request that managers vote on the proposal. D. If at least 2/3 of the league's managers approve the proposed amendment, it shall be incorporated in the Constitution at the beginning of the appropriate season. E. The Commissioner will determine which season the new rules will take effect. Article XVI. Manager's Responsibilities A. All managers shall be bound by the provisions of this document.
1. For 2. For B. When a manager is aware of outside conflicts which would temporarily affect his participation (such as a planned vacation), he must contact the affected opposing managers and the Commissioner and make arrangements to play these games either in advance or as soon afterward as possible. C. If an unexpected outside conflict should arise, the manager should contact the Commissioner and explain the situation. The Commissioner will make arrangements to resolve the situation. D. Managers are encouraged to participate fully in the SBL. For example, contributions to the league web site are welcome. Any actions which would promote the success of the SBL are encouraged. Article XVII. Penalty System For Lateness A. All managers will be given a league schedule at the beginning of the year with dates when items are due. B. One penalty point will be given to any manager if: 1. The Commissioner or the opposing manager does not receive that manager's home results by the specified due date. A "grace period" may be extended at the whim of the Commissioner, and this will be announced with the annual schedule of due dates. a. If late instructions caused the delay (as shown by forwarded copies of the visiting team's e- mail), the visiting manager will be given the late point instead. 2. The Commissioner does not receive a required response to a league mailing for which a due date is announced. 3. For each visiting player misused despite instructions to the contrary. a. The visiting manager retains the option to have the series in which one or more players were overused replayed. The penalty points will not be assigned in this case. C. Penalties for the accumulation of late points will be assessed according to the following schedule. The Commissioner will adjust the penalties as necessary for offending teams which have already dealt away the draft picks in question. 0-2 penalty points there is no actual penalty. 3-4 penalty points, a team loses its third round free agent pick for the following season. 2. For 5-6 penalty points, a team loses its second round rookie pick for the following season. 3. For 7-8 penalty points, a team loses its first round free agent pick for the following season. 4. For 9 penalty points, a team loses its first round rookie pick for the following season. D. If a manager accumulates ten late points over the course of two successive seasons, the Commissioner will revoke that manager's franchise. E. If the Commissioner and statistician do not receive results from a manager within one month after the scheduled due date, that manager will have his franchise revoked. Article XVIII. Commissioner's Powers and Responsibilities A. The Commissioner shall have all rights and responsibilities of the other managers in the SBL. B. The Commissioner shall ensure that the provisions of this Constitution are followed. C. The Commissioner shall have the following specific powers and responsibilities: 1. The Commissioner shall establish the league schedule. 2. The Commissioner (or his delegate) shall keep official team rosters, keep track of player movements and options, and compile league statistics. 3. The Commissioner shall have the power to restrict of rescind the trades of any manager if: a. The manager has announced his intention to leave the SBL. b. The manager is, in the Commissioner's opinion, engaging in transactions in a capricious manner in an attempt to damage the league. 4. The Commissioner shall conduct all player drafts. 5. The Commissioner shall control all league finances.
6. The Commissioner shall have the power to remove a franchise from any manager who does not adhere to the provisions of this document. 7. The Commissioner shall have the power to veto amendments to this document. 8. The Commissioner shall maintain league communications as called for in this document. D. The powers of the Commissioner shall not be limited to those powers specifically listed in this document. He shall be empowered to take any actions he deems necessary for the welfare of the SBL. E. The Commissioner shall not take any action with the intent of giving a competitive advantage to his own team, or to any other individual team.