World Internet Baseball League Constitution:



A. Playing the Game:

1. League rules are: 162 games; Home Team DH Rule; No Warmup Bullpen; Injury rating; Yes to automatic rest days, No to limit bench playing times, Yes to Weather Effects, and Yes to Save game-by-game stats; No Transactions; Yes to Inter-League.

2. Import the download by going into the Transfer menu and selecting Install League Database.

3. Play the games from the series to be played in the allotted time period. Series shall be played by the Home manager. Visiting team is controlled by the computer. Standard statistic/result packages shall be due on Tuesdays and Fridays at 20:00 PST (23:00 Eastern) unless otherwise noted (the download for the next series should be ready by the next morning). Face to face games via NetMeeting or in person are encouraged.

4. At the end of the series, go into the Transfer menu and select Export Statistics. Make sure you choose your team and your opponent's team and the new games that you played as well as any transactions made. Name the file in the following format [set number][vis. team abbreviation][home team abbreviation].zip. Example: 09VIRALB.ZIP would be the from the 9th set of games played that season, Virginia playing at Albemarle. Email the file as an attachment to wibl@mindspring.com

5. If you are releasing a player in that set, please do not release him yourself. Farm the player and then inform me and I will release him for you. You are allowed to add a player to your roster yourself, just inform me so I know.

6. If you're not satisfied with your computer manager with respect to any aspect (for eg. pitching rotation, specific lineups vs. particular starters, use of relievers during game, or pinch-hitters and defensive replacements during game) send an email to the home team manager and myself outlining some specifics on how you'd like your team managed. Example: Use of Pitchers -Pull Rivera and Tomlin in middle innings if +/- 3 runs. Bring in Beck anytime from 7th inning on if leading by 2 or more runs and batter represents winning run. If computer manager brings in Pat Gomez, never let him face a RH. (When playing Computer v. Human one can make those changes by selecting Change Options from the game menu and then switch to Human for Substitutions, make the change, and then switch back to Computer for Substitutions).

B. Player Eligibility:

1. All players are limited to 110% of their actual playing time (for batters this is based on plate appearances and for pitchers this is based on batters faced pitchers).

2. All batters and pitchers are limited to 250% vs LH or RH (This is to prevent a platoon player from batting against the platoon when he has very few PA from that side eg. Warren Newson has ~ 60 PA and batted .667 against LHP going 2-3).

3. Any pitcher (in addition to being limited to 110% of their actual playing time) is limited to 110% of their actual number of starts.

4. A player not rated as a catcher can only play at catcher if no other rated catchers are available on the active roster. A player can play at any other position even if they are not rated for that position.

5. Any player violating any of the eligibility rules (B1, B2, B3, or B4) must immediately be farmed and can no longer play the rest of the regular season and is not eligible to play in the playoffs.

6. If a manager is managing their team and a player will violate one of the eligibility rules (B1, B2, B3, or B4) during their next plate appearance or batter faced pitcher, that player must be replaced before violating the eligibility rule. If the player does violate the eligibility rule while the manager is managing their team, that player will be subject to the penalties associated with violating the eligibility rules.

7. If a player violates any of the eligibility rules (B1, B2, B3, or B4) during a road game due to the action of the computer manager making a move to compensate for injury, ejection, roster change, etc. then that player will not be subject to the penalties associated with violating the eligibility rules.

C. Carryover of Players from Year to Year:

1. 25 of the players on the 40-man roster at the end of the season can be carried over to the next year. Uncarded players count to the 40-man roster.

2. Players violating any of the player eligibility rules (B1, B2, or B3) can not be carried over.

3. If an uncarded player on the 40-man roster has not had a card in the past two years, the team loses rights to that player and he goes back into the rookie draft if carded in future years.

D. Rosters:

1. A team may have up to 40 players on their roster, INCLUDING players who are not carded (ie no stats provided by DMB).

2. Teams can not release players during the draft.

3. Regular Season Roster Size: Games played from April through August will be with a 25-man active roster. All other players MUST be farmed. During September, all carded players on the 40-man roster shall be eligible for play and should be promoted.

4. Post Season Play: Post-Season roster size shall be 25 men.

5. Two players rated at catcher must be on the active roster at all times.

E. Rookie Draft:

1. Prior to the draft, all teams must submit a list of up to 25 men that will be carried over to next season. All other carded players will be available in the draft.

2. The drafting order will be based on W-L record in the past season in their league. The AL will pick 1st in even years (the year referring to the season being replayed) with the NL picking 1st in odd years. Leagues will alternate picks with the following rank ordering. The team with worst record will draft 1st, 2nd worst record 2nd, and so on. In case of a tie, head to head W-L record will be used (with worse record drafting first). Next tiebreaker is inter- divisional record. Last tiebreaker is the infamous CCF (Commissioner Coin Flip).

3. In expansion years, the expansion teams will draft in the middle of the pack. Example: If a 26 team league expands to 28, the expansion teams will draft 14th and 15th (with order of expansion teams opposite that of their expansion draft; i.e. the team picking 1st in expansion will draft 15th in the rookie draft).

F. Free Agent Pool:

1. The first week following the rookie draft, teams can email in draft lists for the free agent pool with a list of players to be released and a list of players to be acquired (claim order is rookie draft order, one player at a time).

2. At all other times during the season, the claiming of players is based on email time stamp (i.e. first come, first served) except in the case of any player who has been released. Any player which is released/waived during the season will be frozen for a week to allow for any claims. Claim order will go from worst to best record in league that player is waived, and then worst to best in other league.

G. Expansion Draft:

1. When teams are added at the beginning of a year, an expansion draft of 3 rounds of 8 picks per expansion team will be done. Players from teams in both leagues (regardless of where expansion takes place) are available in the draft.

2. Each team may initially protect up to 10 players. Teams may only have one player selected in a given round (unless the round consists of more picks than existing teams). All teams may protect up to an additional 5 players after each round.

3. Any manager not providing a protection list will have his team subject to the discretion of the Commissioner.

H. Roster Moves:
1. The rules regarding roster moves are meant to reflect the way MLB teams handle roster moves.

2. A team may make as many roster moves as they desire. The only proviso is that when a player is farmed, they can not be recalled to the active roster for 10 days unless they are replacing a player just placed on the DL.

3. If a player is injured they can not be farmed - they must be placed on the DL or remain on the active roster.

4. If a player is traded as a PTBNL (player to be named later) they must be traded to the receiving team within 90 days of the trade being announced.

5. Sort of like MLB, a player has 3 options within a year i.e. a player can only be farmed 3 times during the season (injury-related farming does not count, including being farmed due to another player being activated from the DL). If a player is farmed a 4th time, that player is effectively released and enters the free agent pool.

7. A player may be placed on the DL only if injured (managers are not required to do so if a player is injured). A player placed on the DL must remain on the DL for at least the duration of the category he is placed in. The standard DL categories are 15 days and 60 days. If a player is placed on the 60-day DL, as in MLB they do not take a spot on the 40-man roster, hence, a free agent could be signed to the 40-man roster (if one is available). Example: Tim Raines is injured for 12 days: the manager may put him on the 15-day DL in which case he'll be eligible to be activated 15 days after he was injured; the manager may do nothing and play 12 days with a 24 man roster. (Note: Rest days count as days injured and days on the DL).

8. Injury-related roster moves and all other roster moves can be performed between games.

9. Injury-related starting lineup changes will be made by the computer manager if the injury is less than 10 days. If a player is injured for 10 or more days, an attempt should be made to reach the team's owner in order to perform a roster move. If the team's owner is not available, the home team manager will make the best choice available. DL assignments will be made retroactive to the injury, once the visiting team owner makes a decision. Any disputes will be settled by the commissioner. If a dispute cannot be resolved, disputed games will be replayed on the commissioner's computer using the computer manager for both sides.

I. Post-Season Play:

1. Each league has 3 divisions -- the winners of each division plus the 2nd place team with the best overall record make the playoffs in each league. Each series will be a 7-game series; 2-3-2 format of home/away. 4 seed (always the wild card) plays 1 seed (who has home field advantage); 3 seed at 2 seed. However, the wild card will play the 2 seed if they are in the same division as the 1 seed; 3 seed would then play 1 seed. League champions play in World Series with home field advantage decided according to MLB (i.e. in odd years AL has home field advantage).

2. Post-season rosters are 25-man. (regular season roster rules apply).

3. A player is eligible for the post-season only if one of the following is true:
a) he's on the 25-man roster at midnight August31/September 1.
b) he's on the DL at midnight August31/September 1.
c) he replaces someone in category (a) who is subsequently disabled

4. Playing time limits for the playoffs are as follows:
Batters:
Any batter with more than 250 PA can play an unlimited amount in the playoffs. All others are limited to the prorated % of PT based on a 7-game series (PA *1.1*7/162).

Starting pitchers:
The number of starts a pitcher can make in a playoff series is based on the number of actual starts: 0-4 real life starts, no starts; 5-14, 1 start; 15-24, 2 starts; 25 and up 3 starts. The starting pitcher is allowed an unlimited amount in any of their starting appearances.

Relief pitchers:
Any pitcher with more than 250 BFP or 40 relief appearances can play an unlimited amount in the playoffs except if they've made a starting appearance. If they have made a starting appearance, they need a minimum of 500 BFP or 40 relief appearances to also pitch an unlimited amount in relief. Any pitcher not meeting these criteria is limited to the prorated % of PT based on a 7-game series (BFP *1.1*7/162).

J. Miscellaneous Rules:

1. This league parallels Major League Baseball lagging 1 year.

2. Trades must be posted in a message to the commissioner by ALL managers involved in the trade. The commissioner's confirmation is acceptable as one of the messages.

3. Any team without a manager shall be controlled by the computer for all games until a manager is found (unless another manager from the other league is willing to run it temporarily).

K. Commissioner's Powers:

1. The commissioner has final power over any move or action in the league, in order to act in the best interests of the league, and final say over any dispute. If a team owner is not satisfied with any decision by the commisioner, he may take the decision to the other owners for a vote. For the commissioner's decision to be overturned a 2/3 majority must vote against the decision.

2. The commissioner shall designate one or more managers to be a vice-commissioner to act as commissioner when the commissioner is unavailable or unable to perform the duties.

L. Managers' Responsibilities:

1. Participate. Any manager who has vanished in the opinion of the league shall be subject to replacement. All efforts will be made contact that manager, but notification is not required.

2. Honesty. Please help keep this a legal league. Buy your software. Please do not cheat. Don't play a game as many times as it takes to win it. This league depends a lot on trust.

3. Please make arrangements with the Commissioner or Vice Commissioner if you will be unable to play due to vacation, business trip, or illness, etc. Arrangements can be made.

4. If for any reason you decide to part with our league, please inform the Commissioner so we can offer the team to someone else. Please don't just disappear.

5. Have FUN!!!!