Madison Baseball Association Local Rules and Regulations Major League Rules of Play (Age 11-12) RULES APPLICABILITY a) Madison Baseball Association Major League is comparable to Dizzy Dean Freshmen League. b) Dizzy Dean Common Rules and Dizzy Dean Freshmen League Rules apply except where amended by the following MBA Major League Local Rules. Unless amended by these rule sets, Major League Baseball rules apply. c) For All-Star tournaments, the MBA Major League Local Rules are NOT applicable. For this age group, All-Star play is governed by the Dizzy Dean Common Rules and Dizzy Dean Freshmen League Rules. 1:00 PLAYING FIELD 2:00 EQUIPMENT a) All players should wear the league supplied uniform. Dizzy dean Rule 2:01 does not apply to MBA Local League (Supersedes Dizzy Dean Rule 2:01) b) Two league-approved, playable baseballs shall be provided by the Umpire in Chief for each game. Additionally the home team should have on hand and readily available additional playable replacement baseballs. The Umpire in Chief shall be the sole judge of the fitness of the balls to be used in the game. 3:00 RE-ENTRY SUBSTITUTION The following local rules supersede Dizzy Dean Rules 3:01, 3:02, 3:03 and 3:04 a) All players present at game time shall be placed in the batting order. Any player arriving after the beginning of the game shall be added to the bottom of the batting order. b) No player (including any team member and replacement player) shall sit out on defense more than two innings in any game. The two innings must not be consecutive. The penalty for not meeting this rule is forfeiture of the game. c) If a regular team member arrives after the start of the game, the inning in which the player arrives (as well as any previous inning) will NOT count as an inning sitting out IF the player arrives after his team has taken the field for defense in that inning. d) Substitute players may re-enter the game freely. e) Teams shall use a continuous line-up. 4:00 MANAGERS AND COACHES a) Rule 4:10 does not apply due to use of continuous lineup. b) On defense one coach may be outside the dugout but must stay within 3 feet of the door to the dugout. (Exception to Dizzy Dean Rule 4:03) MBA Local Rules Major 1
5:00 REGULATION GAME a) The time limit for regular season games is 1 hour and 45 minutes. Only in tournament play shall the game continue past the time limit in order to break the tie. No new inning may start after the time limit expires. Once started, a new inning must complete regardless of the time limit. Note: A new inning is considered to start immediately after the final out is recorded to end the previous inning. b) During the local tournament championship game and the if necessary championship game there is no time limit. c) It is a regulation game when a team is ahead by (10) runs after both teams have batted four times, or in the case of the home team when it is leading after three and one-half innings. The 15 run exception to Dizzy Dean 5:05b does not apply in local league rules. 6:00 PITCHING RULES Dizzy Dean Rules 6:01, 6:02, 6:03, 6:04, 6:10, 6:14, 6:15, 6:20, 6:21 and 6:22 do not apply and are replaced by the following for all local league play. Maximum Pitching Inning s: Regular Season Local Tournament Required Rest Per Week 6 10 Game or Day without Requiring Rest 2 3 2 Calendar Days Absolute Maximum in a Day 6 6 a) No pitcher may pitch more than the maximum/day from the above table in a calendar week. For MBA purposes a calendar week is Monday through Sunday. In the case of makeup or suspended games, the innings pitched count for the week in which they were actually pitched. (Supersedes Dizzy Dean Rule 6:14) b) Any player who pitches more than game or day innings without requiring rest from the above table may not pitch the following two (2) calendar days. (For Example: a pitcher who pitches 3 innings on Friday would not be eligible to pitch again until Monday during the regular season. (Supersedes Dizzy Dean Rule 6:20) c) One pitch to a batter counts as a full inning. d) Once a pitcher has been removed from the mound, he may not return to the mound in the same game. (Dizzy Dean Rule 6:05) e) Games in which an ineligible pitcher is used shall be declared forfeited. If an ineligible pitcher is discovered at any time prior to delivering a pitch to a batter, they shall be removed from the mound without penalty. This is the coach s responsibility. f) The starting pitcher may warm up by using not more than eight throws. When a pitcher is replaced during an inning or prior to an inning, the relief pitcher may not use more than eight throws. At the beginning of each subsequent inning, the pitcher may warm up by using not more than five throws. g) The MLB Rules for balks are in effect. 7:00 FORFEITURE, APPEALS, AND PROTEST Dizzy Dean Rules 7:01, 7:08 and 7:09 do not apply. a) The MBA Policies and Procedures Manual Defines Rules for Game Protests. (Supersedes Dizzy Dean Rules 7:01, 7:08 & 7:09) b) A defensive team shall consist of no more than 9 players with a maximum of 6 infield players including the pitcher and catcher. The minimum number of players to begin a game is MBA Local Rules Major 2
eight. After the game has started, the number of available players may drop below 8 without forfeit, unless the immediate cause of falling below 8 players is due to an ejection of one or more players. However, the minimum number of batting positions remains at eight throughout the game. As a result, if a team is playing with eight or less players and a player is removed from the game for any reason other than ejection, the batting position of the player(s) removed shall be counted as an out each time that position(s) comes around. The batting position of an ejected player shall be counted as an out each time it comes around regardless of how many players are present in the batting order. If a runner must be removed from the game for any reason other than ejection, the last batted out may take his place on the bases. A player who must leave the game due to injury or illness may return if able. (Supersedes Dizzy Dean Rule 7:02) 8:00 SCHEDULE 9:00 SPECIAL RULES a) The home team has third base dugout and is responsible for keeping the official book and completing the game summary sheet. The visiting team shall operate the scoreboard. Failure to do so may result in a forfeit, however, no protest shall be allowed after the game and corrective action may be taken during the game without penalty. The Umpire in Chief shall give the game start time to the official scorer who will document it in the official book. b) Both teams may take the field for warm-up as soon as it is available, each getting half the field. The home team gets from second base to the center field fence and around left field to the fence in foul territory on the left side of the field. The visiting team gets from second base to the center field fence and around right field to the fence in foul territory on the right side of the field. The home team can use third base and take infield on the third base side of second base. The visiting team can use first base and take infield on the first base side of second base. Neither team is allowed to use second base. No pitching warm-up will be allowed from the mound during this time. During the coaches meeting with the umpires, the visiting team will immediately leave the field, and the home team may take full infield and their pitcher may warm up off the mound. c) A team may "play up" a child from the (age) league immediately below when there are not enough regular team members to fully field a defensive team. Only enough players can be played up to fully field a defensive team (9). This new player will be considered a "replacement" player. Under no circumstances shall a replacement player pitch. A player may NOT be used as a replacement if he has a game (regular season or tournament) with his regular league team on the same day with a starting time of less than 4 hours AFTER the start time for the team he is playing up for. It is the coach s responsibility to make a reasonable effort to verify this. If a player(s) must be benched due to the total number of players exceeding the maximum defensive positions (resulting from replacements who have started playing and late team members arriving), no regular team members, who arrived on time, shall sit out defensively more innings than the replacement player(s). Regular team members arriving late and replacement players are still subject to only sitting out defensively two nonconsecutive innings maximum, as is any regular team member. Replacement players must be present and added to the official roster before the start of the game. Replacement players may not be used to replace a player that is ejected, injured, sick, or leaves the game for any other reason. MBA Local Rules Major 3
d) Courtesy runner for catcher. At the batting team coach s discretion, with two outs, the last batter to record an out may run for the batting team s catcher that will catch in the next half inning, if that player occupies a base as a runner. The head coach must declare that the player being run for will be used as a catcher in the next half inning. The home team may not declare a courtesy runner in the bottom of the 6th inning. The head coach that declares that a player will catch in the next half inning, uses a courtesy runner, then fails to have the declared player catch in the next half inning, will serve a one game suspension and the game will be subject to a forfeit. (Supersedes Dizzy Dean Rule 9:20) e) Headfirst slides are not permitted, unless the runner is returning to the bag. The penalty for doing so is a called out at the base by the umpire. 10:00 TEAMS 11:00 ALL-STAR TOURNAMENT TEAMS 12:00 PLAYER ELIGIBILITY 13:00 BIRTH CERTIFICATE 14:00 PLAYER REGISTRATION 15:00 SELECTION OF PLAYERS 16:00 LEAGUE REGISTRATION 17:00 TEAM SPONSOR Not applicable 19:00 TOURNAMENTS MBA Local Rules Major 4
Revision Notes Date Revised By Comments 1/10/2014 Jim Graves - 2014 Major Player Agent Change: Modified document for change to Dizzy Dean League. Why: League Affiliation Change Change: Adopted Dizzy Dean Rule 6:05 stating that once a pitcher has been removed from the mound they may not return to the mound during that game. Why: Player safety. More potential for injury after arm has cooled down following large number of pitches. Change: Added tournament pitching limit rules. Why: Each year new rules are adopted during tournament play and this has been a source of confusion. In addition those rules allowed pitchers to pitch 3 inning per game each game of the tournament allowing the potential for pitchers to pitch too many innings during a tournament. Change: Pitching Week Changed to Monday - Sunday. Why: Match Dizzy Dean Rules. MBA Local Rules Major 5