RULES
OF THE CAPITAL BASEBALL LEAGUE (CBL)
February
2023
I.
LEAGUE ORGANIZATION
A.
The Capital Baseball League (CBL) is made up of 20 teams
divided into
four divisions of five teams each.
B.
All games will be played by computer using the current
version of the
Strat-O-Matic baseball game. Managers
must play games using the league file issued by the CBL statistician.
C.
The league will be overseen by a commissioner elected
annually by a
majority vote of managers. Candidates
for the position must declare themselves prior to September 1. The election will be
conducted by a non‑candidate
mutually agreeable to all candidates.
D.
League officers will also include a statistician and web
site
manager. Both
positions will be
appointed by the commissioner, but any manager may challenge an
appointment and
require an election similar to that described in Paragraph C above.
E.
Teams will play 160 games each season.
These will include 1) 5 home and 5 away games against each
division team
and 2) 4 home and 4 away games against each non-division team. These games will be
scheduled in one home and
one away series against each team, so that each team will have 19 home
and 19
away series.
II.
TEAM ROSTERS
A. Roster
Size. Each
team will have 33 players
on its roster at the start of a season and is limited to that many
going into
the free agent and waiver drafts. During the season, only 26 of these
players
may be active at one time, except for the one exception noted in C
below.
B. Roster
make‑up.
1.
Pitchers:
Active rosters must include at least 9 pitchers. There must be 5 pitchers
on the active roster
eligible to start. To
prevent usage of
starters in relief by the computer manager, any pitcher who is part of
the
regular scheduled rotation shall be set as inactive.
Before playing a series, the playing manager
is authorized to set that inactive designation to conform with this
rule
requirement for a computer manager that has not already done so.
2. Players: Active rosters must
include players for each
fielding position, with at least one
back
up for each position.
In meeting
this requirement, a player may be counted at no more
than 2 positions.
C. Roster
moves.
1.
A manager may make roster moves between quarters of the
CBL season.
2. All players eligible to be
active may be
activated at any time in the final quarter.
3. Roster changes may not be
made mid‑series,
except between home and away games of a
split
series.
1. Players may be active if
they have 125 or
more ABs.
2. Pitchers with only starter
ratings must have
40 or more IPs to be active. Pitchers
with relief ratings must have 35 IP or have appeared in 35 games to be
active.
III. TRADES
A. Trading
periods. Managers
may make trades at
any time, including during the free agent draft.
However, the commissioner will set a trading
deadline shortly before each season, prior to the waiver draft. Trades that occur after
that date will not be
effective until after the season.
B. Free
agent draft picks. Managers
may
trade draft picks for the next free agent draft only.
As soon as the free agent draft begins, picks
for the subsequent draft may be traded.
A manager may trade as many of his draft picks as he
wishes, but must
have at least six draft picks at all times, two of which must be in the
fourth
round or higher.
C. Waiver
draft picks. Managers
may not trade
picks for the waiver draft.
D. Reporting
trades. Managers
must immediately
report all trades to the commissioner or designated league official.
IV.
FREE AGENT DRAFT
A. Draft
administration. The
league will hold
a free agent draft the Sunday that is 11 days prior to Thanksgiving Day. If a manager cannot
participate in person or
by phone, he must provide a draft list or designate someone to draft
for him.
B. Players
eligible to be drafted
1. Players can only be drafted if they had at least 30 innings pitched, pitched in 35 games, or had 50 at bats during the major league season.
2. The commissioner shall designate a
manager or managers to
issue a list of players eligible to be selected in the free agent
draft.
If a player who meets the eligibility requirements is omitted from the
list,
that player may be added if the commissioner verifies his eligibility
and then
the player is listed on the league website. Any player not
declared
eligible through the list or posting on the website shall be ineligible
to be
drafted until the next year.
C. Length
of draft. The draft will be 8 rounds.
D. Order
of draft. Draft order will be in inverse order of the prior
year
standings. Ties
will be decided by the
tied teams' records in the first of the following categories in which
the
teams' records are not tied: a) games against each other and b)
division
games. The team
with the better record
in the applicable category will draft ahead of the team with the poorer
record
in all rounds. If
the teams are tied in
both categories, a coin flip be used to determine which team picks
first in the
first round, and the teams will then alternate positions each round.
E. Draft
Lottery. The
The
lottery will be conducted in the
V.
WAIVER DRAFT
A. Draft
administration. A
draft of free
agents will be held prior to the start of each season.
The draft will be conducted by telephone or
on line on a pre-announced day. Managers
may also participate in the draft via mailed instructions.
B. Players
eligible to be drafted.
Prior to the
draft, each manager must designate a tentative 33‑man roster of active
and inactive players that complies with CBL roster rules.
All remaining
undrafted players eligible to be active will
be eligible for the
waiver draft. The commissioner
shall designate a manager or managers to issue a list of players
eligible to be
selected in the waiver draft. If a player who meets the
eligibility
requirements is omitted from the list, that player may be added if the
commissioner verifies his eligibility and then the player is listed on
the
league website. Any player not declared eligible through the list or
posting on
the website shall be ineligible to be drafted until the next year. In
addition, players cut during the waiver draft
meeting the minimum requirements to be active during the CBL regular
season
will be immediately available to be drafted.
D. Related
roster changes. When
making picks,
managers must also announce related moves to adjust their roster,
including
active and inactive players.
VI.
PLAYER USE AND LIMITATIONS
A. Use
limits.
1. Batter
limits. Batters
with 450 or
more ABs are unlimited. Others are limited to 120% of their PAs.
2. Pitcher
limits. Pitchers
with 175 or more
IPs are unlimited. Others are limited to 120% of their IPs.
B. Eligibility for
Starting a game.
1. ABs
needed to start. Only
batters with
200 or more ABs may start a game, with two
exceptions. A
batter with 150 or more ABs may
start at catcher, and any active batter may
start
one game in a series. Batters
that do
not otherwise qualify to start may do so if an injury
occurs
and
a connection exists between that player and the injury substitution.
2. IPs needed to
start. Only
pitchers rated as starters with at least
40 IP may start.
C. Batter/fielder
limitations.
1. Last
player at a position. A
manager may
not pinch hit or pinch run for the last player eligible to play a
position.
2. Outfield
defense. Players
rated in the
outfield may play unrated outfield positions with defense rating
adjustment
based on SOM rules.
3. Out‑of
position defense. A
non‑outfielder
may not play in a position for which he is not rated unless dictated by
uncontrollable play results.
4. Unrated
defensive rating. Defensive
ratings
at unrated positions will be based on SOM rules.
5.
Stealing
home.
Delayed steals of home are not allowed.
6.
Logical substitution in case of injury during game. If a
player is injured, any substitute player
rated at that position may take his place. If no other player
is rated at
that position, or the position cannot be filled by a rated player at
that
position, the most logical player must be selected to play the
position.
First choice would be someone who has played that position in a past
season. Second choice would be a someone who plays a similar
position,
such as an infielder playing another infield position. If
neither of
these are present, the opposing manager may select the substitute
player.
D. Starting
pitcher limitations
1. Number
of starts. Pitchers
are limited to
either 32 starts, or their actual number of starts if more than 32.
2.
Starting
pitcher
rest. Any asterisk pitcher may
start on 3-days
rest. However, any pitcher with less than 240 IP who does so,
even once,
must remain active for the entire CBL season and may not start more
games than
he actually started in the past Major League season.
A pitcher who is eligible to start on 3-days
rest, but does not do so in CBL play, is not restricted by these
requirements. All
other starting
pitchers require 4-days rest between starts.
(Also see Rule VI.E.3.)
3.
Starting rotations.
Starting rotations are continuous with no days off between
quarters.
4. Relieving
a starter. Starting
pitchers must
remain in the game until one of the following occurs: a) 5 IPs, b) 3
runs
allowed, or c) POW reached. These
restrictions do not override pitching substitutions made by the
computer
manager, unless specifically requested by the opposing manager.
5. “Do
not let HAL remove” button.
When
setting up a team’s computer manager, a manager is not allowed to check
the “Do
not let HAL remove” button for any of his pitchers.
E. Relief
pitcher limitations
1. Tire
Factor for Relievers. Tire
factors
for relievers will be based on SOM rules.
This includes the rule that a pitcher is tired if he
relieves two days
in a row, but this will not carry over from one series to the next.
2. Eligibility
to relieve. During
the regular
season, pitchers not rated in relief may not relieve, unless the last
available
pitcher with a relief rating is injured.
A pitcher limited by Rule VI.E.3. is considered
unavailable. However,
a relief pitcher who is tired is
considered available.
3. Relieving
before/after a start. A
pitcher may
not relieve 2 days before or 2 days after a start.
This rule carries over from one series to
the next. It
is the opposing manager's
responsibility to advise the manager playing games about pitchers
affected by
this rule who have both starter and reliever ratings.
The manager playing the games should ensure
adherence to this rule by de-activating the pitcher for the games
involved.
4. Closer:
All
teams must have a closer or closers with a rating of 3 or more (for
example,
three pitchers with a rating of 1 or 1 pitcher with a rating of 3 or
more).
F. Injuries
1. Injury
duration. The
maximum duration of
all injuries is the rest of the game.
2. Limit
based on actual games played.
A
player may not be injured for more games than the number of games he
missed in
the major league season. Once
he reaches
this limit, he may only be injured for the remainder of a game.
G. Shortened Major
League season. In
the event a Major League season is cut
short because of,
but not limited
to, natural disaster, acts of war, or major league strike/lockout, all
player
requirements (AB or IP) for the league
will be adjusted according to the following calculation:
A
factor shall be calculated utilizing the fewest games played by any
Major
League
team regardless of league, divided by the
total games scheduled for the season.
This
factor will be applied to all player
eligibility requirements including draft (both free
agent and waiver drafts in Rules IV.B. and
V.B.) and player eligibility limitations
(Rule
II.D.). Additionally,
use limits will
also be adjusted using the same factor
(Rules
VI.A, VI.B., VI.C., and VI.D.).
H. Penalties for
Overuse. If
a batter or pitcher exceeds the usage
thresholds in section by more than five percent, the manager shall be
penalized
by loss of a fourth round pick in the upcoming free agent draft.
I. Special
Provisions for 2021 CBL Season.
The provisions of Rule VI.G are modified
herein only for the 2021 CBL Season.
The
“factor” referenced in Rule VI.G shall be three, meaning the following
limits
shall apply (corresponding rule in parentheses):
1.
Each team will have 35 players on its roster at the start of a season
and is
limited to that many going into the 2021 free agent draft. During the
season,
only 27 of these players may be active at one time.
(Rule II.A)
2. Players may be active if
they have 42 at
bats. (Rule II.D.1)
3.
Pitchers with
only starter ratings must have 14 innings to be active.
Relievers must have 12 IP or have appeared in
12 games to be active. (Rule
II.D.2)
4. Players can be drafted if
they had 10 innings
pitched, 12 games pitched, or 17 at bats in the 2020 major league
season. (Rule
IV.B.1)
5. Batters with 150 or more
at bats are
unlimited. (Rule VI.A.1)
6. Pitchers with 59 or more
innings pitched are
unlimited. (Rule VI.A.2)
7. Batters with 67 or more at
bats may start a
game, with two exceptions. A batter with 50 or more at bats more start
at
catcher, and any active batter may start one game in series. (Rule
VI.B.1)
8. Only pitchers with at
least 14 innings may
start. (Rule VI.B.2)
9. Other than the exceptions
in Rule VI.B.1,
players with fewer than 67 ABs may serve only as a) pinch hitters, b)
injury
replacements, c) pinch runners, and d) defensive replacements. (Rule
VI.C.1)
10. No starter can start on 3
days rest in the
2021 CBL season. (Rule
VI.D.1 and
VI.D.2, Rule IX.G.2)
11. Players will be limited to
25 percent of
their MLB ABs/IPs in each playoff series.
(Rule IX.F.1)
12. A batter must have at
least 67 Major League
ABs to start a playoff game, except that a
batter with at least 50 Major League ABs may start at
catcher. (Rule
IX.F.2)
VII.
GAME PLAY AND REPORTING
A. General
solitaire game instructions.
At the
start of each season, managers must provide general computer settings
and
lineups for home games, as well as a tentative season-long pitching
rotation
for both home and away games. Instructions must reach the commissioner
or
designated official by the deadline that he sets.
When playing solitaire, managers will play
their away games, not their home games.
B. League
disk. The
commissioner will use
these instructions to prepare the league disk with a list of
anticipated
starting pitchers for each game. The
league disk will include a schedule identical to the quarterly league
schedule. Managers
will play off this
schedule. Each
team's planned starting
pitchers for each game will be recorded on the disk.
This rotation will be utilized if a manager
fails to play games or does not provide an alternative rotation to a
manager
within prescribed deadlines. Managers
may be penalized if this information does not reach the commissioner on
time. All
computer managers shall be unlocked when sent to the
statistician. If a
manager locks his computer manager he will immediately notify the
statistician
of the password when the CM is sent.
C. Supplements
to solitaire series instructions.
Managers may, but are not required to, send limited
supplemental
instructions to opposing managers or submit them for posting on the
league web
site. These
instructions should be
limited to pre‑game computer manager adjustments, pre‑inning lineup
changes, or other straightforward instructions that do not interrupt
the flow
of play on the computer. The
commissioner shall rule on any questions concerning the propriety of
supplemental instructions. If
a manager
does not receive supplemental instructions within a week after the
series start
date, he may play the series based on the general instructions and
pitching
rotation on the league disk.
D. Reporting
series results. Game
play and
reporting is the responsibility of the visiting
manager. Managers
are required to submit export files
for each series to the league statistician no later than the final day
of the
quarter in which a series is scheduled.
At the same time, the manager playing the games must also
forward the
export files and box scores to the opposing manager and a brief summary
of the
series to the league web page manager.
The series visiting manager may be penalized if he does
not meet the
deadline, as explained in Rule X.C.
Regardless of what block in the legal schedule
they belong to, all statistics
will be imported as soon as they are received.
E. Auto-play
when series results not received.
The commissioner will authorize games to be auto-played if
the league
statistician has not received game results by the deadline.
F. Computer
play. The
following computer options
are to be used when playing league games.
Using the "SCHEDULED GAME" method, these screens may be
accessed by clicking on "UPDATE GAME OPTIONS" after selecting
"SCHEDULED GAME."
1. UPDATE GAME
OPTIONS Screen
DESIGNATED HITTER ‑ USE
DESIGNATED HITTER RULE
SUBSET STATS ‑ CREATE/UPDATE
SUBSET STATS
2. UPDATE GAME RULES
Screen
(a) First Page
MAIN
RULES – MAXIMUM LEVEL
BALLPARK/CLUTCH
‑ BALLPARK/CLUTCH:YES, WEATHER:NO
STEALING
‑ SUPER ADVANCED
STRATEGY
‑ SUPER ADVANCED
MISCELLANEOUS
‑ USE MISCELLANEOUS RULES
FATIGUE
- USE PITCHER FATIGUE AND PITCH COUNT RULES
INJURIES
- USE INJURIES
CLOSER
‑ USE CLOSER RULES
GROUND
BALL A ‑ ALLOW GBA
OVERUSAGE
‑ IGNORE OVERUSAGE
(b)
Second Page for Maximum Rules
The
following maximum rules shall be utilized:
1.
Bunt for Base Hit
2.
Improve Baserunning Realism
3.
Robbing HR Rule
4.
Allow More Baserunning Decisions
5.
Pitch Around Option
6.
Allow Errors on Bunts
7.
Allow Errors on Pickoffs
3. Annual
Update. The
commissioner will
appoint a group of managers to review these options before the start of
each
season and, with other managers' input, this group will determine if
SOM game
changes require the above options to be revised.
Decisions will be reported to all managers at
least 10 days before the start of league play.
Any manager disagreeing with the group's decisions may
contact the
commissioner to request further review.
4.
On the Lineups and Usage Options Screen. Check the box "Use actual
pitchers
batting cards."
VIII. BALLPARKS
A. Selecting
a ballpark. Managers
may select an
actual ballpark or build their own.
If
building their own, numbers must be at least 4 and no greater than 16. The difference between
righties and lefties
may be no more than 4. In
selecting
actual ballparks, more than one manager may choose the same park.
B. Changing
ballparks – permanent. Once
selecting or building a ballpark, managers must retain them for 3 years. A manager may change his
basic ballpark by
notifying the commissioner of the new ballpark one CBL season in
advance of
when it will be used.
C. Changing
ballparks – annual. Managers
may
adjust the L and R single and HR numbers of a ballpark by 2 in any
given
year. Such changes
must be made before
the start of the season in accordance with the deadline set by the
commissioner. Restrictions
contained in
Rule VI.A. still apply.
D. Ballparks
for new managers. If
a franchise
changes managers, the new manager will be provided a reasonable time to
select
a new ballpark.
E. Deadline
for announcing changes.
Except for
new managers, selection of a new permanent ballpark must be made before
opening
day of the season before it will be used.
Annual ballpark changes must be made prior to the start of
the season by
a date determined by the commissioner.
IX.
PLAYOFFS
A. Playoff
teams. Eight
teams will make the
playoffs: the four division winners and four wild card teams. The wild card teams will
be the four teams
with the best records among the 16 teams that did not win a division.
B. Playoff
opponents and schedule.
1. Round
one. In
the initial playoff round,
the eight teams will be ranked 1 to 8.
The first four will be the division winners, listed from
best record
down to worst record. The
next four will
be the wild cards listed in the same manner.
In the first round, opposing teams will be 1-8, 2-7, 3-6,
and 4-5, with
division winners having home team advantage.
2.
Round two.
For the second
round, teams will be ranked 1 to 4, similar to the manner as
explained previously.
Opposing teams will be 1-4 and 2-3.
Teams 1 and 2 will have home
team advantage.
3.
Final round.
In the final
round, the team with the best record will have home team advantage,
except that a division winner
will always have home team advantage over a wild
card team.
4. Series
format. All
playoff series will be
best-of-seven, with a 2-3-2 format.
5. Breaking
ties. In
case of ties in seeding
playoff series, other than the one exception that follows, the team
with the
best record will be considered to be 1) the team with the best
head-to-head
record, or if still tied and in the same division,
2) the team with the
best division record, or if still tied 3) the team with the best run
differential (runs scored minus runs allowed), or of if still tied 4)
the team
with the most runs scored. However,
if
1) teams tie for a division championship with no chance to qualify for
a wild
card 2) teams tie for the
final
wild card, will play a
best-of-five playoff series. The home team will be decided by
other
current tie breaking rules.
Any
play-in series is to be
treated as a playoff series and not extra regular season games. Player limitations rules
for playoffs apply.
6.
For
purposes of calculating pitcher rest, the playoffs will operate on a
37-day
playoff schedule as shown in the table below.
C. Off
days. Off
days are scheduled between
games 2 and 3 and between games 5 and 6.
D. Team
without a manager. A
team qualifying
for the playoffs without a manager will be disqualified from
participating. If
the disqualified team
is a division winner, the team will be replaced by the league team with
the
best won-lost record that is not a division winner.
If this replacement team had been a wild card
team, its wild card position will be taken by the league team with the
best
won-lost record that is not yet in the playoffs.
If the disqualified team is a wild card team,
the team will be replaced by the league team with the best won-lost
record that
is not yet in the playoffs.
E. Rosters. Roster moves involving
active and inactive
players may be made after the end of the regular season and before the
start of
the playoffs. Any player who was active for at least 1/2 of the regular
season
is eligible for the playoffs.
A team
need only have four rated starting pitchers active in each series.
1. Players will
be limited to 10% of their Major League ABs or Ips rounded to the
nearest whole
number in each playoff series. If
a
playoff game goes beyond ten innings, innings pitched and at-bats
accumulated
after the tenth inning will not count toward the 10% usage
limit.
2. A batter must have at
least 200 Major League
ABs to start a playoff game, except a
batter with at least 150 Major League ABs may start at
catcher, and any
active batter may start one game in a playoff series.
G. Starting
pitcher usage limit.
1. Pitchers with
fewer than 100 IP for a
CBL team in the regular season may start only one game per series
2.
Only
starting
pitchers who pitched 240 IP for an MLB team may start on three days
rest.
H. Using
starting pitchers in relief.
One
pitcher rated only as a starter may be designated for bullpen duty
during a
series. Their POW
will be 3. Once so
designated, they may not start in the
series. Such
designation is only for one
series at a time; however, the pitcher must be properly rested to start
in a
subsequent series on the following schedule: 3 days rest before
starting
is required if 4 or fewer
innings are pitched in relief in the series and 4 days rest
if 5 or more innings are pitched.
I. Injuries. The maximum duration of
any injury in the
playoffs shall be the rest of the game.
J.
Other
rules. Where
not modified in A to I,
all other CBL roster, eligibility, and playing rules apply.
K. Active
Management of Playoff Series.
Except
for good cause and with permission of the Commissioner, all playoff
series
shall be played face-to-face, via NetPlay, via TeamViewer, or through
some
similar technology that allows the two managers to actively manage
their
teams.
X.
LEAGUE ADMINISTRATION
A. The commissioner
1. Duties. The league is directed by
a commissioner. The
commissioner is responsible for seeing that league matters are kept
current. This
includes:
·
establishing
a league structure;
·
assessing
dues from each manager based on expected expenses and reporting past
league
expenses;
·
running
player drafts;
·
preparing
a league schedule and setting game play deadlines;
·
establishing
any necessary administrative rules to address circumstances not
included in CBL
rules, such as SOM game changes;
·
obtaining
general game instructions from managers;
·
preparation
of a league disk and consolidated general instructions and pitching
rotations;
·
providing
regular newsletters to the league;
·
warning
delinquent managers and assessing penalties where appropriate; and,
·
overseeing
annual votes on rule changes.
2. Assistance
from managers. When
conducting these
duties, the commissioner is expected to obtain information from other
managers
when appropriate and to reasonably consider their input. He is encouraged to assign
responsibilities
to other managers on a volunteer basis.
3. Election
of the commissioner. The
commissioner will be elected by a majority vote of managers. All candidates must
declare themselves by
September 1. The
election will be
conducted by a non‑candidate mutually agreeable to all candidates. The league member
conducting the election
will establish rules for distributing candidates, platforms to the
league
membership in a fair manner; he will distribute and count ballots and
disclose
the final vote. The
new commissioner
will assume office immediately after the free agent draft.
4. Best
Interest of the League Committee:
A
five-man committee will handle all matters not otherwise covered in the
Constitution.
This committee will handle grievances against a particular manager and
any
other matters the commissioner deems necessary.
This
committee should consist of
1. CBL Commissioner, 2. CBL Statistician,
3. CBL Rules
Committee Chairman, and two other members selected by the
Commissioner. Each
division must have representation on the
committee. If necessary, the commissioner may add members to
the
committee to accomplish this objective.
In selecting the remaining slots, the commissioner should
take into
consideration tenure in the league, past Commissioners, and league
diversity (i.e,.
geographic and friendship/family ties).
If
a grievance involves a member of the
committee, that member should be replaced for that issue by a selection
from the highest
remaining rank stated above, using the criteria set forth
above.
The
committee can vote to bring up a
manager's expulsion up for league vote for any reason. This
would require
a majority vote in Committee and a 2/3 vote of league managers - not
including
the manager in question.
The
committee shall be able to
penalize a manager draft picks in the upcoming rookie draft should an
infraction be deemed punishable. The committee will discuss
the
infraction and render a decision within two weeks of a grievance being
reported. The decision of the committee is final but can be
appealed by
the offending manager by means of an email to all committee
members.
These members will discuss the penalty, impose the penalty, and adjust
if the
appeal is reasonable. The decision of this committee will be
enforced in
the subsequent rookie draft in November.
B. League
Statistician. A
centralized league
statistician will keep all stats.
1. Reporting series
to the statistician. Each
manager must download the export files
to the
statistician after they play
each series via PKZIP and the Internet.
Those without computers
should
promptly forward stats by mail, and those without Internet should send
them via
floppy
disk.
2. Notification of
upcoming deadlines. Between
one and two weeks prior to the end of
each
quarter, the statistician will
notify all managers of any and all series scheduled during the quarter for which he has not
received results.
3. Auto play of late
games. Two
days after a quarter has ended, the
statistician will notify
the
commissioner of all scheduled games for which he has not received
results. The
commissioner
or his designee will then auto play all late games.
These games will be
completed promptly, to allow the statistician to e-mail
updated league statistics to managers
within
one week after the end of each quarter.
C. The
Season Schedule. With
appropriate
input from managers, the commissioner will draw up and announce the
league
schedule each season. The
schedule will
designate both 1) series dates shown in the computer schedule and 2)
deadlines
for series to be reported. The
statistician will create the league schedule so that all games are
scheduled
within the same time period the games are to be played by managers. For example, if the second
block of series is
to be played between May 1 and June 15, the games in those series will
be scheduled
between May 1 and June 15 in the computer.
D. Penalties
for late game play and reporting
1. Responsible
managers. As
stated in Rule VII.D., visiting
managers are responsible for game play in accordance with
schedule
deadlines. They may be penalized if they do not meet schedule
deadlines, which
includes forwarding game files and box scores to their opponent for the
series
reported to the league statistician.
Penalties also will be assessed for turning in computer
manager and
pitching instructions late.
2. Penalties. Penalties will
normally be in the form of
draft pick fines, per the following schedule:
| 1st
offense | 6th
round pick |
| 2nd
offense | 5th
round pick |
| 3rd
offense | 4th
round pick league |
| 4th
offense | vote
for expulsion |
3. Waiver
or reduction of penalties.
The
commissioner may waive or reduce penalties in the best interests of the
league
or if the manager explains to the commissioner's satisfaction that the
delay
was caused by extraordinary circumstances beyond the control of the
manager
involved.
E. Rule
changes.
1. Managers
will be provided an opportunity to change CBL rules once a year. The
process
shall follow this schedule, unless adjusted by the Commissioner.
| Activity | Duration | End
Date |
| Call
for rule change proposals | 0
days | Aug
31 |
| Managers
submit initial proposals | ~30
days | Sept
30 |
| Commissioner
consolidates and distributes proposals | 1
week | Oct
7 |
| Managers
review | 1
week | Oct14 |
| Chat | 0
days | Oct
14 |
| Managers
revise and resubmit |
1
week | Oct
21 |
| Commissioner
consolidates and distributes for vote | 1
week | Oct
29 |
| Vote | 1
Week | Nov
5 |
| Commissioner
reports results |
1
day | Nov
6 |
2.
Unless the rule change proposal includes a provision
specifying when it
goes into effect, all changes to the rules take effect after the next
free
agent draft and before the next CBL season.
3. A proposal will pass if 60% of eligible league managers vote‑for it; any manager not returning his ballot will be assumed to have voted with the majority. All rule change proposals should be voted on before the free agent draft.