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IRBL Constitution We the Owners and Managers of the Immortals Retro Baseball League declare that this document shall take precedence over any loophole in any written rule. Attempts to circumvent the intent of the rules will be dealt with by all owners in the league. Whatever their decision, that decision is final.
1. INTRODUCTION The Immortals Retro Baseball League (IRBL) was born out of a desire to play a retro league based on the latest version of APBA Baseball for Windows and League Manager Power Tool. While the league will be full of competition, it's main purpose is to have fun and to promote camaraderie amongst its members. 2. LEAGUE STRUCTURE The IRBL will be composed of 12 teams within 3 divisions in the league. Teams are placed in divisions roughly according to geography at the commissioner's discretion. The data disk used for each season will be created using Bill James Encyclopedia sold by the APBA Game Company and/or Miller Associates. Miller Associates Wizard for Windows program will be used to create a data disk. The ONLY changes to these data disks will be as follows: The DH will not be used in either league. This will be a continuous ownership league and all players, once drafted, remain with your team until traded, released or they retire. An annual draft of all rookies and free agents will be held at a time determined by the commissioner, usually in late November or early December.
Schedule and AIM Rules:
Rules For Organization:
Each team must pick a Stadium. No two teams may occupy the same park. Each team will use its assigned park for the entire season. The only parks (ratings) that will be available are those that were actually used in MLB in the current IRBL year. Teams may keep their park for as long as they wish as long as the park was actually in use in that IRBL year. Teams that want to move to a new stadium may do so at the end of any season. They may choose from any available stadium. Steps the Commissioner will follow to assign parks for a season:
Steps 1 - 4 will be repeated until all teams have a park Expansion Rules: Whenever we expand the league, teams will be permitted to protect 22 players. The expansion teams will then select 1 player from each roster. The existing teams then get 4 additional players added to their protected lists. The expansion teams then complete their selections with one more player from each existing roster. Expansion picks may NOT be traded. The player must be selected and then dealt. Each expansion team will receive free agent picks after all other teams, but before the 2 championship round teams. So they will select immediately after all playoff teams. 3. REGULAR SEASON The regular season will consist of 22 games versus each team in your Division (66 Games), 12 games versus the teams in your league (96 games) for a total of 162 games. The schedule will be generated using League Manager. The season will start at a time determined by the commissioner, usually early January, and will run for a period of 28 weeks. A team will play home games for the week on there own computer. Ball park Effects will be enabled, so rainouts are possible and will be rescheduled by the commissioner. The commissioner will send a "commissioner file" (c-file) to each manager prior to the league draft. This c-file will contain all teams pre-draft rosters and the schedule for the upcoming season. Another c-file will be posted after the league draft that will include all of the post-draft rosters. Each manager shall send a default "Franchise File" (f-file) to the commissioner prior to the season start date. This default f-file shall include a pitching rotation, a lineup vs. right-handed pitchers, a lineup vs. left-handed pitchers. Each manager will have the opportunity to override the default f-file settings each week by sending the commissioner a new f-file. If no f-file is submitted, the current rotation and lineups will be used. In League Manager, before creating an f-file, each manager should do the following: Assign lineups vs. LHP's and RHP's Designate a MicroManager for your road games (the default MicroManager will be Jake Conley). Put in a pitching rotation (this can be done for the upcoming series or for any length of games in the future). Prior to playing games, managers do not need to send an f-file to the commissioner if they've made no roster changes, but they do need to download the latest c-file from the website to insure they have the latest update to the team they are facing. Managers playing home games are required to send an f-file to the commissioner after playing their home series for the week. This f-file shall be received by the commissioner no later than the published deadline or the games will played under AUTOMODE by the commissioner in order to keep the season schedule running on time. File submission schedule:
4. POST SEASON Playoff qualifiers will be the three division winners and two wildcard teams. There will be one day of rest between the end of the season and the beginning of post season play. There will be one day of rest between games 2 and 3 of the Wildcard Series. There will be one day of rest between games 2 and 3 and between games 5 and 6 of the Semi Final Series and the World Series. For rotation purposes, all subsequent post season series start dates will be based on all series going their maximum duration and one day off between each series. So if one or more or all series end early, the pitching staffs will gain maximum rest time. Playoff Seeds: Round 1 - Wildcard Series (WCS) The wildcard teams will face each other in a best of 5 series. The highest seeded wildcard team will host games 1, 2 and 5 (if necessary) of this series. Round 2 - Semi Final Series (SFS) The 2nd seeded division winner will face the 3rd seeded division winner in a best of 7 series. The 2nd seeded team will host games 1, 2, 6 and 7 (if necessary) of this series. The winner of the Wildcard Series will face the 1st seeded team in a best of 7 series. The 1st seeded team will host games 1, 2, 6 and 7 (if necessary) of this series. Round 3 - World Series (WS) The winners of the Semi Final Series will meet in a best of 7 series. The highest seeded team record will host games 1, 2, 6 and 7 (if necessary) of this series.
5. ROOKIE/FREE-AGENT DRAFT The pre-draft may be held via e-mail or Delphi Chat Room. The start date for each season's draft will be determined by the commissioner. Starting with 1947, the draft order for the 7 teams who did not make the playoffs (Draft Spots 1 through 7) will be in reverse order of the teams records from the previous season. The 5 playoff teams will draft in the last 5 positions regardless of record. Their order will be World Series winner (12th), WS loser (11th), SFS loser with better record (10th), other SFS loser (9th), WCS loser (8th). In case of a tie for draft order, following will be
used:
6. ROSTER RULES There is a 40 player limit to a team's roster at any given time after the pre-season draft. (This will be based on avalibility) Managers must ensure that they have enough coverage at all positions for the entire season. Active roster size for league play during the season is as follows (all dates below are season schedule dates, not actual dates): From week 1 to week 23 - 25 player limit From week 24 to end of season - up to 40 players Players may be moved between the farm team and the "big league" club during the season as many times as you wish. Managers will use Advanced Draft to make these moves. Players may only be moved before a series starts and are not allowed to be moved in the middle of a series.
7. FREE AGENTS Free Agents may be picked up before the start of the next series. The Manager(s) will need to notify the Commissioner via E-mail that he is interested in that player. If by Tuesday 9 PM EST no other Manager shows interest in this player he will be added to your roster. Also at the time of E-mail notification you must let the Commissioner know who you will be dropping from you roster if necessary due to 40 Player Roster limitation. If two or more teams want the same player, that player will go to the team with the worst record. When a free agent is picked that player can go to ether the Active roster or Farm Team. If picking up the Free agent brings your team over the 40-man limit you must cut a player to bring you roster down to the 40-man limit. You will have a chance to pick up Free Agents to replaced players you've waived. Free agents may be picked up between week 3 and week 22.
8. TRADES Trading is allowed, with the following restrictions: No players to be named later. Teams must retain at least one pick in the first five rounds of the draft. During season play, only draft picks for next season are allowed to be traded. During season, the trading deadline will be end of week 22. In uneven-numbered trades, the teams receiving fewer players can pick up Free Agent(s) to fill the roster spots. The team which receives more players must immediately cut players to get down to the 40-man limit. Off season trading is allowed after the conclusion of the post season. During the off-season, draft picks for upcomming draft and the following season draft may be traded.
9. PLAYING RULES - REGULAR SEASON Starters -- Only pitchers who had at least one start may start a game, unless the automode of League Manager chooses otherwise due to the unavailability of any rested starting pitchers. Pitchers can be used as pinch runners and pinch hitters. If an injury occurs to your last player at a position, you must use the most logical substitute. Preferably, the player has played the position in the or will play that position in the future The 'logical' aspect is highly debatable, but generally following these guidelines:
In the event of a rainout, and if the game is not official, the game will stand as not official and the commissioner will reschedule the game for a later date, if necessary. If the rained out game is a tie, it will be replayed at the end of the season if it has a bearing on the pennant race. Players are allowed to play only at positions at which they are rated unless, due to an injury during a game or series, that player is the last player rated at a position. When using a player out of position, the substitute should be a reasonable choice.
10. PLAYER RESTRICTIONS - REGULAR SEASON AIM will handle all maximum restrictions on players and pitchers. This includes all attempts made during Hit & Run plays and squeeze plays.
11. PLAYER ROSTER/RESTRICTIONS - POST SEASON The post season roster will only include 25 players per playoff series. You will be able to adjust the roster between rounds in the playoffs, in the event of an injury. Player restrictions for the post season are based on AIM allowances. Fatigue is carried forward from the regular season, including injuries. All post season pitchers MBF will be set to 20% of their regular season MBF for the entire post season. This will limit the use of high graded pitchers with very low MBF during the post season.
13. COMMISSIONER'S ROLE The commissioner's role is a position to best serve the interests of the IRBL Computer Baseball League. The commissioner shall have the authority to mediate disputes on organizational issues and make final decisions when all sides of an issue have been presented and are still unresolved. The commissioner shall have the authority to assess penalties and/or suspend managers and/or players for overuse of players, habitually late f-files and late league correspondence. The commissioner, above all, shall strive to be accessible to the league members and help promote communication and understanding among the members of the IRBL Computer Baseball League |