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CBL

CBL Constitution

I. ORGANIZATION 

1. Overview

The Computer Baseball League (the CBL) is a Strat-o-matic Baseball League containing 24 teams divided into an American League and a National
League. These two leagues shall be further divided into three divisions containing four (4) teams per division.

2. The Regular Season

All teams will participate in a 162-game unbalanced schedule within their respective leagues. All games will be simulated on the Commissioner's computer using the most current version of Strat-o-matic Computer Baseball (SOM). Owner/GMs are must own the latest verision of the game. Weekly reports of game results will be generated and sent to all GMs via e-mail. Game results and other statistics will also be posted on the CBL website.

During the course of the "Regular Season" it is the responsibility of each Owner/GM to send the Commissioner either written managerial instructions or an exported Computer Manager via e-mail. Instructions may be sent once per week and must be received by Friday at 11 pm Pacific Time. Instructions received after the deadline shall be implemented the following week.

All games will be managed by Strat-o-matic Baseball's "computer manager" HAL based on the programmed instructions of each Owner/GM. All SOM Computer Baseball rule variations will be set to the most super, advance settings available.
The DH rule will be used in all games played in an American League stadium.

Each Owner/GM shall be aware that HAL often makes decisions that seemingly contradict their programmed instructions. The League Commissioner is not responsible for these deviations from the intended instructions. In addition, the Commissioner is not responsible for errors of omission or commission when inputting teams' instructions. Such unintentional acts shall be considered Acts of God. Regular season games will never be replayed due to such mistakes.

3. Playoffs

League "Playoffs" shall commence two days following the end of the regular season.
The three (3) division winners and one (1) "wild card team" in each league shall advance to the Playoffs. All Playoff series, including the World Series, shall be a
best-of-seven (7) series. The team in each league with the best record shall play the team in their respective league with the worst record, whether or not the two
teams are in the same division. The remaining two "playoff teams" shall play each other.

The winners in Round 1 shall advance to their respective "League Championship Series" (LCS). The winners of each LCS shall meet in the World Series which shall
commence two days after the completion of the last playoff game. The winner of the World Series shall be considered the CBL champion.

In each and every Playoff series, the team with the best record during the regular season shall host games #1,2,6 and 7 with travel days after games #2 and 5.

Designated Hitters will be eligible to play in any Playoff or World Series games played in an American League stadium.

4. Stadiums

Each CBL team shall play in a current Major League Baseball stadium. Team Owners may not rename their stadium nor change the dimensions or weather.
(This insures that the Owner/GMs of "visiting teams" will know the specifications of the stadiums where their teams will be playing.) No stadium may be used by
more than one team. Owner/GMs may move their team to a new stadium if one is available in the same league. The League Commissioner has to right to
balance the divisions to ensure four teams per division. In general, divisions will be rebalanced in the season following a team's move so the strength of a division
will not be a factor for moving a team.

II. TEAM ROSTERS

1. Legal Rosters

Each team in the CBL shall have an maximum "Active Roster" of 25 players. During the month of September, the Active Roster may be expanded to a maximum of 35 players at the discretion of the Owner/GM. The Players may be "activated" and/or "demoted to the minors" once per week, at the same time that their managerial instructions are submitted to the Commissioner. Roster size during the Playoffs and the World Series shall be 25 players. Playoff and World Series rosters may only be changed between playoff series.

Each Owner/Gm is responsible for maintaining a "Legal Roster" at all times during the Regular Season, Playoffs and World Series. A Legal Roster must have at least two activated players eligible to play each position. Players rated at multiple positions may satisfy the requirement at each of their rated positions.

Before the start of each season, each Owner/GM is encouraged to have at least 650 At Bats at each position (including DH for American League teams) and 1500 Innings Pitched with at least 975 eligible innings for "Starting Pitchers".

2. The Rookie/Free Agent Draft and Protected Rosters

Prior to the start of each season, the league will conduct a draft of all "carded" rookies and any Free Agents who are not on any team's current roster. Before
the draft begins, each team is required to cut their team rosters to a maximum of 20 players. Teams may cut deeper if they desire. Any players not protected by
teams join the pool of eligible players in the annual draft.

The draft will consist of 12 rounds. Teams are allowed to draft players until they reach a roster size of 32 players

3. Free Agents Pickups

All players not selected during the draft remain Free Agents. Teams are allowed to acquire these players during the season to avoid "Overusage" of its players.

These mid-season Free Agent pickups are released at the end of the season. Teams that acquire a Free Agent this way have no rights to the player except for the right to use the player during the regular season.

Requests for Free Agents must be made by Wednesday , 8pm PST to be eligible for placement on a team's roster for the following week's games. In the event two teams
request the same Free Agent, the team with the lower winning percentage at that time shall be awarded the Free Agent. No Free Agents shall be eligible to play in either the
Playoffs or the World Series.

If the acquisition of a free agent brings the roster to over 32 players, a player must be released at the time of the free agent acquisition. The exception to this rule is the last two weeks of the season when a team may add up to three free agents with out releasing a player.

Free agents may be traded but will still be released at the end of the regular season.

4. Trading Players

Trades between teams are permitted at any time. A player must be on a teams roster by September 1 to be eligible for the playoffs.

The following types of transactions are not allowed in the CBL:
Trades involving 2 teams "owned" by the same General Manager
Players to be named later
Loans of players
Unethical trades

All trades must be reported to the League Commissioner. Trades reported by Wednesday, 9pm PST shall be incorporated into the respective rosters for the
following week's games. The Commissioner must receive confirmation of all trades from all parties involved before they go into effect.

There is no trade committee or approval process but the Commissioner reserves the right to block and/or rescind any transaction that is detrimental to the league.
(see above) This action will never be used to prevent baseball stupidity, only collusion and/or other unethical behavior between Owner/GMs.

Trades made in the one-month period prior to an Owner/GM resigning from the league shall be reviewed. The League Commissioner may, under advisement
from other Owner/GMs in the league, rescind such trades if there is evidence of collusion or wrongdoing from any party involved in the trades.

III. PLAYER USAGE

1. Usage Limits

Players shall be limited to 110% of their actual usage during the season being simulated. When a player's available At Bats (ABs) or Innings Pitched (IPs)
have been completely utilized, the League Commissioner shall remove said player from the team's Active Roster and said player shall be placed in the
Free Agent Pool until the end of the start of the next Regular Season. Players in this situation may be traded to another team but they will remain ineligible
to be placed on any team's Active Roster. These players may not be be picked up as free agents by another team.

The League Commissioner shall remove players from a team's Active Playoff Roster once the available ABs and IPs have been utilized. Batters may start a game if they have at least 3 Abs available. Pitchers may start a game if they have at least 5 innings available. If overusage occurs under these circumstances, no penalty will be assessed.

Usage during the Playoffs and World Series shall be restricted to 27% of a player's allotted usage during the Regular Season. (That is, 27% of the 110%
of the player's actual usage during the season being simulated.

During the playoffs starting pitchers must have 4 days rest between starts.

It is the responsibility of each and every Owner/GM to notify the League Commissioner whenever an active player is in violation of the usage limits
so they may be removed from their team in order to prevent further over-usage.

2. Penalties for Overusage

Overusage may occur despite the best efforts of the League Commissioner and the Owner/GMs. Owner/GMs who try to milk every last AB and IP from their
players risk Overusage. There will be penalties for these violations:

All excess player ABs and IPs shall be calculated and totaled for each team. An Owner/GM whose team had Overusage shall incur a one-time penality which shall be based on the following chart.

Overusage less than 25 ABs or 10 IPs: no penalty
Overusage 25-50 ABs or 10-20 IPs drop 1 draft slot position
Overusage 51-75 ABs or 21-30 IPs drop 2 draft slot positions
Overusage 76-100 ABs or 31-40 IPs drop 3 draft slot positions
Overusage > than 100 ABs or 41 IPs drop 4 draft slot positions

For teams contending for a playoff position an additional rule applies that only applies to the standing regarding the playoffs. All other penalities still apply to the draft.

Overusage less than 25 At Bats and/or 10 Innings Pitched = no penalty
Every additonal 10 ABs and/or 5 IPs of overusage = 1 game lost for playoff purposes

These penalties exist to discourage overusage not to penalize. No Owner/GM should ever be fined more than 4 draft slots if they are taking any interest in their
team.

3. Player Positions

Players may play any and all positions for which they have a SOM fielding rating. Outfielders may play any outfield position whether they are "carded" for that position
or not. However, their fielding ranges shall be adjusted according to SOM's optional rule. Centerfielders may play any outfield position without any penalty. rightfielders
may play leftfield with no penalty but play centerfield with a +1 added to their range. Leftfielders may play rightfield with a +1 range penalty and they may play centerfield
with a +2 range penalty.

Pitchers may start and/or relieve based on their SOM pitching rating. Starting pitchers may start as many games as they have available innings for. During the Playoffs and World Series, starting pitchers with no relief rating may be used in relief. Asterisk starters may start games 1,4 and 7 in a post-season series but need 3 days rest (days off included) before being able to start again without being tired. Pitching rotations in the post-season will carry over from the final five games of the regular season, and from series to series in the Playoffs.

IV. OWNER/GMs' RESPONSIBILITIES

Lineups

Owner/GMs are responsible for submittinmg to the League Commissioner, via e-mail, before the start of the season:

their exported CM from the game program or if they don't own the game their 25-player Active Roster
starting lineups vs. LHP and vs. RHP
any default lineups
starting pitching rotation
closer and setup-men designations
any defensive replacement changes
manager tendencies
super Hal bullpen manager set-up (this is optional)

Behavior

There is and never will be any charge to participate in this league. In exchange for all the effort maintaining a league entails, all the League Commissioner asks is
that all Owner/GMs display good sportsmanship at all times. Mistakes will inevitably be made in the running of this league. It is necessary and essential that all
disputes between GMs be handled calmly and rationally and with as much cordiality as possible. The CBL was founded for the sole purpose of having fun!

V. LEAGUE COMMISSIONER'S RESPONSIBILITES

League Maintenance and Preservation

The League Commissioner shall do whatever is necessary to preserve the CBL and to maintain the integrity of the league. It is the intention of the
League Commissioner to treat each and every Owner/GM fairly and equitably.

The Commissioner shall be responsible for filling league vacancies, maintaining league files and data. The Commissioner shall send the Owner/GMs weekly reports
via e-mail which shall keep the Owner/GMs apprised of such things as standings, player usage and other relevant data necessary for the Owner/GMs to overseer their
teams. This will be done in as timely a manner as possible.

The Commissioner shall have the right appoint other Owner/GMs to various league positions in order to delegate some league responsibilities and functions as he finds
necessary.

2. Adjudication of Disputes

Most importantly, the Commissioner has the responsibility to settle disputes among Owner/GMs and between Owner/GMs and the league. The Commissioner reserves
the right to act unilaterally, under advisement from the rest of the league, for the express purpose of preserving the CBWL. Remedies may include expulsion from the league.

VI. MISCELLANEOUS

1. Loopholes

It is the intention of this constitution to describe all rules of the CBL. In the event that an unintentional "loophole" exists which contradicts the spirit of this constitution
the League Commissioner has the right, under guidance from the members of the league, to make any ruling for the benefit and preservation of the League as well
as the authority to rule on any point not specifically covered in these rules.

2. Rule Amendments

Rules may be amended by a league-wide vote which receives a 2/3 majority .
Owners are not required to vote on every issue. The 2/3 majority will be based on
the actual number of votes received.
All voting will occur during the "off-season". No rules will be amended once a
CBL season begins unless an "emergency" arises which jeopardizes the league.

Roch Doran
Commissioner, CBL

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Changes last made on: February 9, 2009