CONSTITUTION - 1999
3/01/23
Table of Contents
The purpose of the NCABL shall be FUN. Our constitution is perhaps not as detailed in many areas as other league constitutions, and more detailed in a few areas. The reason for this is simply that in a league where competition is secondary (as is the case in most "retro" leagues such as this one), history tells us that it is just not necessary to have many inviolable rules. However, the Commissioner does reserve the right to investigate any allegations of improper play.The constitution may be amended by the Commissioner, subject to approval by a majority of league owners.
2.1 CommissionerThe commissioner shall have the power to oversee the league, to make such decisions as are necessary to ensure the smooth running of the league, to levy penalties against members when appropriate, to run the annual rookie and free agent draft, and to perform whatever duties are required. The commissioner shall have the right to collect dues from members, and to set the level of dues as appropriate to cover expenses incurred from running the league.
There shall be two leagues, with each league consisting of two divisions of five teams. Prior to the 1993 season, two teams shall be added to the National League. Prior to the 1998 season, two teams shall be added to the American League. The Designated Hitter shall be used in the American League. Beginning in 1998, leagues shall consist of three divisions of four teams.Expansion of the league shall be undertaken when appropriate, based upon a majority vote of the league membership.
Each team shall play in a real life major league ballpark used in the corresponding MLB season. Changes in these assignments are allowed to occur only when a new manager joins, changes parks, thus making another park available. Ballpark effects will be turned off.
All starting pitchers who did not have any at bats shall be given a bunt rating of 4.
4.0 Requirements for Membership
To participate in the league, each member must own the current version of Dave Koch Sports' Action Baseball Game and the appropriate season's data disk. In addition, before beginning the season, members must be in good standing with respect to dues owed.
5.0 Format of Play - Weekly Deadlines
Before the season begins, pre-season files shall be distributed which includes the season's schedule for all teams.5.1 Manager's Duties - Between Series
On Tuesday evening the commissioner will send out the week’s results. Managers are to load this file into their game's NCABL folder.Each manager will set his team’s roster (transfer to and from the farm team), rotation, at least one lhp#1 and rhp#1 lineups and manager preferences for the upcoming series. He will create a manager file. This file must be received by the commissioner no later than Thursday noon EST.
5.2 Home Manager's Duties - Series Play
The commissioner will compile all of the manager files, create a new set of league files to be sent Thursday evening.All managers must load and install these files, play their games, and export the results. The results file must be received by the commissioner by Tuesday noon EST. A copy of the file should also be sent to the visiting manager.
The cycle repeats, returning to step 1 above. Games for which files are not received on time will be played by the commissioner using computer managers for each team.
5.3 Rainouts
The rainout option is not used.5.4 Playoffs
At the end of the season, the top team in each division plus the one non-division winner in each league with the best winning percentage ("wild cards") shall qualify for the playoffs. In each league, the wild card team with the lower winning percentage shall play the division winner with the higher winning percentage; the two remaining division winners shall play. The winners of these series shall play to determine the league's representative in the World Series. These playoffs shall be a best of 7 series. In the first pairings the division winner with the higher winning percentage shall host the first two games of this series. Games three, four and five shall be hosted by the wild card team or division winner with the lesser winning percentage. Games six and seven shall be held at the same site as games one and two. For the second series, if two division winners, the team with the better winning percentage shall host the first two games of this series, with games three, four and five shall hosted by the team with the lesser winning percentage. Games six and seven shall be held at the same site as games one and two. The same concept applies if two wild card teams meet. If a wild card team meets a division winner, the division winner would host games 1, 2 and if necessary, 6 and 7.At the conclusion of the League Championship Series, the World Series shall be held. The World Series shall be a best of 7 series. The World Series shall be scheduled in the following format: the team with the better record plays the first two games at home, then the team with the worse record plays three games at home, then the team with the better record hosts the last two games.
If at the end of the regular season, there is a tie for first place or a wild card, a one game playoff shall be held. The home site of this playoff shall be determined by the run differential. Statistics generated in this game shall be accumulated with those for the regular season.
Fatigue and injury status shall carry over into all playoff series. Playoff games will be played as part of a 21-game post-season.
All playoff games must be played head to head.
The number of days of rest at the end of the season will be the same as the number of days of rest used in the corresponding MLB season.
5.5 Pitch-By-Pitch Mode
Pitch-by-pitch mode may be used (a) when playing vs. the computer, at the discretion of the human team; (b) when playing human vs. human, only when both managers agree to use it. It may be used at any level (men on base, all the time, 7th-inning on, etc.) but usage should be consistent (ie - not just when certain hitters are batting).5.6 Miscellaneous Rules
No starting pitcher may be removed from a game until he has given up 3 runs or pitched 5 innings.Managers shall not take advantage of "gamisms" inherent in Action baseball. Examples of gamisms include: using a pitcher with good hitting stats and limited at bats to pinch hit, or using a pinch runner who is slower than the original runner.
Members wishing to protest the decisions made in a game must notify the Commissioner within 2 days of receiving the game results. When notifying the Commissioner, the protesting member must list the reasons for the protest, and demonstrate flagrant misplaying of his team. The Commissioner will then rule as to whether or not the game(s) in question must be replayed. If the games shall be replayed, the results from the protested games shall be wiped clean, and those games (and statistics) will not count towards league standings.
Each team shall consist of 36 players. For each series, 26 of the 36 carded players will be "active" and eligible for play with the other 9 transferred to the appropriate farm team. The 26 man roster must contain at least two players carded at each infield position and at least five outfielders. A player may not play out of position unless an emergency occurs and there is no available player rated at that position. Outfielders may play other outfield positions under these guidelines: (a) A rated CF is allowed to play either corner OF spot without a rating; (b) A rated corner OF can play the other corner but not CF without a rating. The game will assign a rating during the game. (We are not using the check box in the rules section of the game). Team rosters must have ensure that they have enough AB at each position (total minimum of 5800 PA) to field a team, and must have enough starters and innings pitched from pitchers (total minimum of 1400 IP).No team is permitted to have a team salary below $100,000,000 during the regular season. During the off-season, if a team has a team salary below $100,000,000 they may not make any transactions that cause their total salary to decrease. Trades that maintain or increase the team salary are permitted.
If through trades or cuts a roster contains fewer than 36 players, the team may not add an additional player except by trade until the rookie and free agent drafts of the following year. If through trades or cuts a roster contains more players than the above 36 roster limit, that team must immediately specify a player or players to be cut to come down to the 36 limit.
Beginning with the first series that starts in September, teams may expand their active rosters beyond the 26 man limit. The expanded roster applies for the remainder of the regular season.
Players rated solely as a Designated Hitter shall be edited to play a logical position (1B, LF usually), with range factor 3, arm 3.
7.1 Ownership of Players
Teams shall retain continuous ownership of their players from year to year.7.2 Uncarded Players
Uncarded players may not be drafted. However, if a player is carded for one year, and uncarded the next, the owning team retains the rights to that player. Player rights may also be traded. If a team wishes to retain uncarded players, it may do so by counting the uncarded players toward the 36 man limit. Teams doing so must still be able to meet seasonal usage limits at all positions.If a team wishes to retain uncarded players, it may do so by counting the uncarded players toward the 36 man limit. Teams doing so must still be able to meet seasonal usage limits at all positions.
Playing time for both position players and for pitchers shall be regulated by the Action game's fatigue settings. Injuries encountered during the playing of games shall carry over to subsequent series. Injury duration shall be set for a maximum of 10 games.8.1 Position Player Limits
Batters’ use shall be regulated by a 50% fatigue penalty assessed at 110% of plate appearances. Players with more than 650 plate appearances will not be subject to fatigue.Batters who reach the 110% usage limit are considered fatigued and must be made inactive for the remainer of the season.
The Action game will regulate stolen bases.
8.2 Pitcher Limits
Pitchers’ use shall be regulated by a 50% fatigue penalty assessed at 110% of innings pitched.Pitchers who reach the 110% usage limit are considered fatigued and must be made inactive for the remainder of the season.
8.3 Minimum Usage
All players eligible for play in the NCABL must achieve a minimum of 1/3 of their actual plate appearances or innings pitched during the corresponding NCABL season. Players who do not achieve the minimum 1/3 usage will be released at the end of the season.8.4 Catcher Fatigue
The catcher fatigue option will be used.8.5 Playoffs
For the League Playoff Series and World Series, fatigue status and injuries shall carry over from the end of the season. In addition, the following restrictions apply:Pitchers with 40 or more IP are exempt from fatigue rules (their usage is dictated by pitch counts).
Batters with 400 or more PA are exempt from fatigue rules.
Batters must have a minimum of 50 plate appearances in either real life or the ncabl regular season, in order to qualify for the playoffs.
Pitchers must have started at least 10 games either in real life or in the NCABL season to qualify for a starting pitching spot in the playoffs.
Pitchers must have a minimum of 25 innings pitched in either real life or the ncabl regular season, in order to qualify for the playoffs.
Trades may be made between teams. All trades must be for carded players, player rights and/or subsequent draft choices. No trades may be made for "players to be named later" or which are conditional based on team drafting order. The only draft picks which may be traded are picks in the next scheduled draft (ie. no trading of draft picks more than one year in advance) and only for rounds 1 through 5.Both teams involved in the trade must notify the Commissioner before the trade takes effect. The Commissioner has the power to disprove of any trade which is blatantly one-sided.
Trades become effective at the start of the series following approval of the trade. Players may not be used until the trade has been approved.
9.1 Trading Deadline
The deadline for trades is the 100 game point in the season. When the "results" files that contains the 100th game's result are sent, trading is closed.
Owners wishing to resign should notify the Commissioner of their intention to do so 30 days before resigning. The Commissioner shall then secure a replacement owner. However, if a replacement owner is not readily available, the league shall be responsible for playing the team's games, but shall not be involved in any trades of any sort.
There shall be a draft of rookies and free agents annually. The draft shall be a round by round draft proceeding as follows:11.1 Round One
Round 1 will be a reverse order draft, with the following exceptions: (1) A lottery will be conducted among the seven lowest ranking teams (based upon winning percentage) for draft positions 1 through 4 in the first round, with the worst team picking no lower than 4th; (2) All non-playoff teams draft prior to any playoff teams; and (3) The World Series teams will draft in the last two positions, with the winning team drafting last.11.2 Subsequent Rounds
Rounds two through five shall be conducted in reverse order of finish, with non-playoff teams draft prior to any playoff teams and the World Series teams drafting last. Teams must cease drafting when their roster reaches 36 players. Players may not be released during the draft to allow a team to continue drafting.
The free agent pool is available for use after the draft and before the beginning of the season. During this period, players may be drafted from the free agent pool. For each player drafted, a player must be cut from the roster if by adding this player a team's roster is in excess of the 36 limit.The Commissioner must be notified of players drafted and cut during this period. In the case that two teams both claim the same player on the same day, the team with the higher position in the draft shall receive the player (this list is referred to as the "waiver list"). Each time a team claims a player, that team drops to the bottom of the waiver list.
Beginning June 1 of the schedule, waiver claims may be made for any reason. Adjusted rosters must comply with all roster composition and salary rules. For each player claimed, a corresponding player must be released. Any free agents claimed during the regular season would be ineligible for the playoffs and will be released at the end of the season.
League Dues shall be set by the Commissioner. Members shall send the dues payment by deadline set by the Commissioner, or they shall be penalized appropriately.
a. For a playoff berth - a 1-game playoffb. Ties for the division title between teams where both make the playoffs or for any playoff seeding:
1. Head to head record
2. Record in the division
3. Run differential
c. Ties in pre-lottery draft order - lottery or coin toss - with alternating positions throughout the draft
d. Ties for a lottery position - teams "split" the lottery chances (in the event the league uses a weighted lottery).