ELITE BASEBALL LEAGUE
The Elite Baseball League (EBL) is a continuous ownership simulated baseball league founded in November of 2005.
The league was formed to be the most comprehensive 40-man keeper league available to DMB players. The league will always attempt to mirror the rules of MLB but is always willing to change or adjust rules in-order for the league to remain playable and enjoyable.
The
EBL League Office MAY AND WILL use its absoulte power on any matter it feels betters the league or is essential to the continued survival and fair competitive spirit of the EBL.
Owners that are ABUSIVE, NEGLIGENT, CHEAT or fail to attempt to play a reasonable amount of their games H2H (head to head) WILL be removed from the league without requiring any league wide vote.
By accepting an EBL franchise you automatically ACCEPT and ABIDE by all EBL rules and Regulations.
Failure to do so will result in your immediate and swift removal from the EBL.
All owners are required to own a registered copy of Diamond Mind Baseball 9.0 (with the most current patch, if applicable), and a registered copy of the current player disk.
The league will NOT charge dues. Owners must be ACTIVE, HONEST, and willing to play H2H (head to head) whenever humanly possible.
1) The league consists of 24 teams split into 2 leagues. Each league will consist of three divisions of 4 teams each.
The American League will employ the designated hitter. The National League pitchers will bat.
EBL Spring Training has been voted out as of Feb. 1st 2007.
The EBL will use a 162 game schedule.
2) A MANDATORY All-Star game will be played mid-season. The commissioner will select all players for the game and manage the entire game. Any injuries that occur unfortunately will be reflected on the following disk, just like REAL-LIFE. No team can restrict a player from appearing in the All-Star game unless the player is injured or on the 15 or 60-day disabled lists. As in real-life injured players can be named to the team based on the performance prior to their injury.
3) Duties of the Commissioner will include: maintenance of the league disk, direction of draft, communication where necessary with Diamond Mind, final arbitration of disputes, and discretionary power to clarify the written language of the constitution and set up procedures for the reporting of game results. Amendments to the constitution that involve changes in rules will be subject to 2/3 league vote. Wording clarifications may be accomplished at the commissioner's discretion.
4) The commissioner may appoint deputies at his discretion, to help mediate in trades that are controversial, to help adjudicate decisions where a conflict of interest involving the commissioner is apparent, and to help with the distribution of disks/information in the event that the commissioner is unable temporarily to perform these duties.
5) Any votes by the league must have a 2/3rds majority in order to pass. All other decisions made by the commissioner are final. Some rules WILL NOT be voted on if they are deemed immediately vital to the well-being of the league. Some rules may be changed or re-worded during the season without vote to ensure smooth regular season play.
6) In the off-season members are encouraged to suggest rule changes or the tweaking of any current EBL rule. At the end of any rule suggestions and/or discussions, any new or tweaked rule may be subject to a 2/3rds vote or may be put into immediate action as seen fit by the commissioner. But none of the fundamental EBL rules are up for change, such as Injuries On, 40-man keeper rosters, and the 60% minimum usage rules as these were the fundamental reasons the EBL was created.
1) Games: 162 Regular Season and Playoffs
2) Injuries: ON
3) Bullpen: No Warm-up rule
4) Weather Effects in use
5) Automatic saving of boxscores and scoresheets
6) Clutch Ratings: On
If you will be unable to exercise full control over your team for ANY reason during any part of the year, you must notify the commissioner in advance so that appropriate measures may be taken. Create your manger's profile to reflect the upcoming games that you will be absent. Your home game will be autoplayed according to the instructions you leave with the commissioner. While the league office will attempt to monitor your team to its best advantage, any penalties your team may accrue during this period of non-involvement will ultimately be your own responsibility. If it is determined that the non-playing of games has become a matter of your own convenience rather than circumstances beyond your control, the league is then authorized to seek a replacement. Occasionally events occur that may prevent prior notification (computer failure, sudden illness or accidents). Such incidents will be evaluated on a case by case basis and, if deemed appropriate, the league may provide relief.
The EBL is an active-participation league. The league is authorized to seek replacement ownership if it is determined that a member has fallen out of good standing.
A Stadiums draft will be held prior to the Inaugural Player Draft. Teams may move to a new stadium that is not currently in use only during the off-season. No more than one team may occupy the same stadium at the same time. In the event a real-life team moves to a new stadium, the team currently in possession of the team's former stadium will have first chance at the new park. If said team opts to change stadiums entirely, the new stadium will become available to the first claimant.
1) Rosters may expand to 50 players during the Rookie & Free Agent Draft. Their will be a short period to allow for after draft trades before rosters must be back down to 40-man prior to the start of the EBL Season. All cuts will be added to the in-season free agent pool. (RULE AMMEDED Feb.1st, 2007)
2) During the regular season rosters may never exceed 40 players.
2) Active rosters must not exceed 25 players; at the point of the schedule on the league disk corresponding to Sept.1, rosters may expand to 40 active players.
3) 10 pitchers including a minimum of 5 starters must be active at all times.
Because reporting periods consist of 3-4 games, it may be tempting to farm tired starters/relievers and bring up fresh ones. (A not-infrequent occurrence in other leagues) This contradicts the spirit of realism involved in rules 2 and 3 (which are there to make roster usage consistent with realistic play). Such manipulation also gives an undue advantage, effectively increasing roster size beyond 25 players. In order to prevent unrealistic and hence improper shuttling of starting players between the farmed and active lists, any transaction (farming or promotion of a player) must remain in place for a full week (two play periods). Immediate exceptions will be granted in case of injury, though any substitutions will await the new disk and new profile submitted in time for the new disk. As transactions are tracked on the disk, this will be simple to monitor.
4) Two catchers and two short-stops must remain active at all times.
5) Injured players cannot be sent to the minors, but they may be put on the DL. If they are not put on the DL and remain on the active roster they will be counted against the 25-player active roster limit.
6) Anyone put on the disabled list must remain on the DL for at least 15 days.
7) An injured player may also be placed on the 60-day disabled list. The team then frees up a spot on both the active major-league roster and the 40-man roster; the player may not play for at least 60 consecutive days. Each team may only have 2 players at any one time on the 60-day DL.
8) DL moves can be made retroactive to the day after the injury occurred.
9) If a player has already been drafted or traded by a team but is not represented by a record in the next season's DMB disk, the team who controlled his record at the last time he was rated may retain rights to this player. If they exercise this option, he will be represented on the team's roster by a record created by the league office. This record will take the form of having the player's full name and position recorded as if creating a player from scratch, and, in the "Short name" section a symbol, such as "--NR," will be added his name.
At no point may a non-rated player be activated (and if at any point he is seen as active, he will be released immediately). However, he will count against the 40-man roster limit. However, if such a player is released to the free agent pool, he may not be drafted again until he is rated again by DMB. But, such players may be freely traded.
In-Season Free Agent Pick Ups/Waiver Rule:
1) Only players who appear on the current DMB player disk are eligible to be claimed.
2) Players who spent the entire year on injured reserve, or players returning from Japan, or any players with past major league experience may not be selected unless they appear on the current player disk.
3) Minor leaguers or college players who have had no major league experience are ineligible to be selected.
4) Free Agents may be picked up during the season. First come first serve. You must release a player from your 40-man roster or currently have a player on the 60-Day Disabled List (See rosters rule 7 for more details on the 60-day DL).
5) Any player released during the season is immediately put on waivers. The waiver period lasts for no more than one play period, from the release of the league file after the player is released to the release of the next league file. If more than one team claims this player during the waiver period, his rights will be awarded to the team with the worst W-L record on the most recent set of league files. If the player goes unclaimed during that period, his waiver status lapses and he will then be treated the same as other undrafted free agents in the pool.
6) Players signed after the trade deadline are not eligible for post-season play.
7) Any player signed after June 1st on the game disk will be placed back into the Free Agent pool at seasons end. The league office will track and provide a list within the Notes section on the EBL game disk.
1) Draft picks can be traded. You can only trade picks within the current year until the start of that years draft. (For example, during the 2006 season you may trade 2007 draft picks, you cannot trade 2008 draft picks until the 2007 draft begins).
2) There is NO trading of future considerations or any "players to be named later." All terms of the trade must be announced when the trade is announced. A trade MAY stipulate that it will be implemented at a later date. However, at no point may one team have simultaneous control of a player traded and the player for whom he was traded
3) All trades will be reviewed by the commissioner. If a team appears to be dumping players in order to strengthen another team while getting no real value in return, the trade will be held up. Both teams will then have a chance to put in writing their reasons for making the trade and the trade will be re-examined. Those who would challenge trades should consider the following: managers have competing philosophies concerning the relationship of current to future value, and the comparative valuation of players at different positions. The league takes no rigid position on these basically philosophical considerations.
4) Trades are not official until both teams report the trade and it is announced by the commissioner through e-mail. Trades go into effect with the release of the next set of league files.
5) All trades will be performed by the commissioner on the league disk, though individual managers may execute trades on their own disk for the sole purpose of generating new manager profiles. In fact this is recommended. No games may be played using traded players until the trade is included on the official league disk.
6) Trading may be freely conducted from the end of the previous World Series through July (August 1st trade deadline). In August, trades may only be made after all players in the trade clear waivers (see rule 7 for more details). No trades may occur from September through the end of the World Series.
7) After the August 1st deadline (August 1st on the league disk). Teams can complete a trade if all players involved clear waivers. If a player involved in the trade is claimed (waiver rules still apply, see Waiver rule 5). The team has 2 options.
1) They can reclaim the player or players (thus negating any trade).
2) They can elect to take compensation from the claiming team in the form of a 2nd and 6th round draft pick or a 3rd and 5th round draft pick in the Free-Agent/Rookie Draft. The choice is made by the team losing the claimed player.
1) Players in the field are restricted to positions for which they have ratings, with the exception of when there is an injury or late in a game (after the 7th inning), as a result of substitutions. The following are the guidelines for players:
2) It is required that managers see that all their players play a minimum of 60% of their real playing time stats and no more than 115% of their real playing time stats (adjusted, if necessary). Penalties will be assessed as stated below in the Penalties section for violations above 115% and the player will become a free agent if under 60% or over 115%.
3) Batters will use Plate Appearances (PA) and Pitchers will use Batters Faced (BF) as the measurement.
4) Any batter with less than 100 plate appearances and any pitcher with less than 100 batters faced are exempt from minimum usage.
5) Any player who plays over his 115% rating will be considered overused. Overused players will be immediately farmed and unusable for the rest of the season.
6) In order for a player to play in post season he cannot have violated the maximum usage limit.
7) In addition to being held to the overall 115% maximum, ALL BATTERS will be restricted to 150% of their split plate appearances (i.e. vs. RHP and vs. LHP). Some clemency will be extended in cases where it is determined that the overuse was accidental. Players who exceed their split plate appearances (either side) will cause a win penalty to be assessed to their team; if they exceed the percentage by more than 5% they will be lost to the team. (RULE AMMENDED Feb 1st, 2007)
8) Pitchers are limited to their 115% overall playing percentage. There are no restrictions on them facing LH or RH batters. This was decided as for the most part its very hard to ensure the type of match-ups starters and some relievers face as the advantage is always in the managers hand in setting line-ups and pinch hitting. But keep in mind any abuse of such free limitations will be monitored and dealt with on a case by case basis. (RULE AMMENDED, Feb 1st, 2007)
PLEASE Keep in mind the EBL was created with the idea of realism in mind, that being said if its unlikely to happen in MLB we DO NOT WANT to see it happen in the EBL. Any type of abuse or creative use of the EBL rules will be dealt with on a case by case basis. We are here for fun and realism. Please respect the rules and the spirit of why the EBL was created.
1) For every player that exceeds the 115% usage limit, a penalty win will be assessed to the team based on the following criteria:
· Over-usage penalties:
Every plate appearance over 115% usage maximum = 0.1 penalty wins
Every batter faced over the 115% usage maximum = 0.1 penalty wins
Every plate appearance over the 150 % maximum split = 0.1 penalty wins
Any one player who accumulates 2 or more penalty wins throughout the regular season is INELIGIBLE for post-season play, and will be lost to free-agency at seasons end
****Rule Amended January 8th, 2008***
2) Penalty wins are then subtracted from a team’s total for playoff consideration and added to the total for a team’s upcoming draft position. In addition, any player that exceeds 115% of his playing time becomes a free agent..
3) Specific cases may be appealed to the commissioner. If a new owner takes over a team at a point too late in the regular season to prevent penalties and before the subsequent draft, any inherited penalties may be cancelled at the discretion of the commissioner.
4) Any altering of player ratings in the league file will be considered cheating and will result in permanent expulsion from the league.
5) Starting in 2008 the minimum and maximum usage rules will be applied very strictly, you may still appeal any under or over usage to the USAGE COMMITTEE but you must show proper evidence of misuse not caused by your own negligence. This rule must be enforced very strictly as we are a complete keeper league. The strict enforcement allows the potential of more talent to be released into the Free Agent and Rookie draft for the following season.
The USAGE COMMITTEE is comprised of 3 league members appointed by the EBL's commisioner.
If a league member has a vested interest in a usage decision in any manner (division rival or their team making the appeal), they will not be involved in the vote.
The Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner will step in and take that party or parties place in any required vote. If a 3rd deciding vote is necessary.
All decisions made by the 3-man USAGE COMMITTEE are considered final.
1) The post season will consist of 8 teams, the 6 divisional winners and a wild card team from each league (AL/NL).
2) In the first two rounds teams will play with in their respected leagues (AL/NL). The team with the best league record will play the Wild Card team (unless they are from the same division, mirroring the MLB playoff format), and the remaining two teams will play each other. At no time can the Wild Card have home field advantage. In the 2nd round the series winners in each league will play each other. The final series will be between the league winner of the AL and the NL.
3) All series will be 7 games series. In a 2-3-2 format. With the team with the better record playing games 1,2,6, and 7 at home. The host team of each series will be granted to the team with the better regular season record, with one exception as the Wild Card team may never have home-field advantage.
4) If two teams are tied at the end of the regular season, the tie will be broken by a one-game playoff. Home-field advantage will be set by a) divisional W-L record, b) head-to-head record, c) difference between runs scored and runs allowed.
5) Fatigue and injuries carry over from the regular season through the playoffs.
6) Playoff and World Series rosters shall be limited to 25 active players. At the beginning of the playoffs the teams involved must submit their playoff roster for processing on the official league playoff disk. The active roster may be changed only between rounds.
7) Limitations are as follows: (These rules are guidelines, the general tone of the EBL is to mirror MLB, so anyone planning to abuse that spirit will be removed from the league.)
All playoff MP's will be approved by the EBL office prior to the beginning of the playoff round. Please use common sense as this leagues focus is to mirror MLB so abusing the spirit of that idea will be enforced prior to the start of any series. Please use your own common sense when creating playoff line-ups to avoid any obvious points of contension.
8) All Playoff Series MUST be played Head to Head, relief pitching and other factors will be limited by fatigue ratings.
9) Prior to the first round of playoffs, the statistics will be zeroed out on the "playoff disk." This will be repeated prior to the League Champioship Series and the World Series. The 10% clock will also be reset at this time. However, players will not be rested by the league at any point during the post-season. A new league disk will be sent out for each round of the playoffs, or for each change of venue within a round of the playoffs.
1) The Rookie and Free Agent draft will usually occur within a month of the release of the next seasons players disk by DMB.
2) The order of the draft will be the reverse order of standings for non-playoff teams. Playoff teams will draft according to when they are eliminated and then record.
3) Teams will be allowed to draft until their roster reaches 50 players. Teams may also finish or "opt out" of the draft once their roster reaches 40 or more players.
4) The draft will consist of at least 10 rounds, longer if any team had pre-released players, in order for them to reach the 50 player plateau.
5) Only players that appear on the DMB player disk and are not currently on a roster are eligible to be drafted.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PLAY AND REPORTING:
SCHEDULE:
The EBL will have two files (league disks) per week. Deadlines are Thursday night (11pm EST) and Sunday night (11pm EST).
Like Major League Baseball the EBL will be have a road trip and home stand type schedule, but may change to a home and home type schedule in the future in order to better facilitate Head to Head play.
If any owner fails to report their series results 2 weeks in a row their team will be considered dead and they will be removed from the league and a replacement will be found. The EBL League office will run the team until a suitable owner is found.
ABSENTEE NOTICE:
Please inform the league office in advance if you are going out of town or find that for some reason you are unable to play your games in any given week. The EBL does allow people to go on vacation and ofcoarse work, but please let us know about any absences or tims when your games cannot be played on your end. The EBL wants almost NO series to be simmed, with owners help and consideration this can be done.
The Sunday night deadline is FIRM because we need to have a firm deadline each week in order to stay on schedule. Any results not received by Sunday will be autoplayed, but I may allow (not always) the away manager to play the results if the home team has given permission or has not reported.
YOU MUST FOLLOW ALL OF THE FOLLOWING STEPS:
A. PRIOR TO RELEASE OF NEXT LEAGUE FILE:
1. Check your manager profile. Make any changes you would like to it and send them to the LEAGUE OFFICE. You may send profiles to your hosting opponents. Special instructions sent to your hosting opponent, ALWAYS TAKE PRECEDENCE over anything on the league disk.
2. You may also send any special instructions regarding starting lineup or starting pitching selection, to your hosting manager.
B. PRIOR TO PLAYING GAMES
1. Wait 12 hours after receipt of league disk before playing your games, to allow your visiting manager to send special instructions, if any. This is a common courtesy. If you do not hear from your visiting manager in that time, go ahead and play the games, using the computer manager to select pitcher and lineups. It is possible that the manager set up the profile to satisfaction with the league office prior to the release of the disk.
2. DO NOT zero out stats under any circumstances. We play on cumulative stats.
3. Only play using the latest file sent by the commissioner via email or posted on the league web site.
4.When starting games, make sure that Generate Boxscore and Generate Scoresheet are both set to "yes" and that the boxscore generated is in "Expanded" format. [expanded is preferable to news format for this purpose, because it contains more info.] If you are like me, you will leave your DMB set this way and you will not have to think about it every time you go in.