ICBL

I. LEAGUE CHARACTERISTICS

 

A. NATURE OF LEAGUE

The ICBL is a continuous-ownership league. All players, once drafted, will remain with their team until traded or released.

*( With the exception of Prospects. See 3D below)

B. COMPOSITION OF LEAGUE AND SCHEDULE

1. The ICBL is composed of two twelve-team leagues, each containing three four-team divisions. The DH is used in both the American League and in the National League.

 

2. The season will start at a time in March determined by the Commissioner and will run for a period of 28 weeks. Each team will play 22 games versus the other teams in its own division and 12 games versus the teams in the other divisions in its league, for a total of 162 games. There will be no interleague play.

 

C. PLAYOFF QUALIFIERS

1. Playoff qualifiers will be the three division winners and the non-division winner with the best record. Ties will be resolved by a one-game playoff at the home field of the team that won the season series between the two.

 

2. In the event of a tie in the season series, the Commissioner will toss a coin to determine the site for the playoff game. In the event of multiple team ties, the Commissioner will devise a tie-breaking plan.

 

D. PLAYOFF STRUCTURE

Postseason playoffs will consist of three rounds:

1. The first round will pit the division winner with the best record against the playoff qualifying team with the worst record, with the other two playoff qualifiers facing each other. This round will be best-of-seven with games played in the following sequence: The team with the better record will be the home team for games 1, 2, 6, and 7, except that the wildcard team may not have home field advantage. In the event the teams have identical records, the season series result will determine which team has the home field advantage.

 

2. The second round - the League Championship Series - will be a best-of-seven series pitting the winners of round one. Home field advantage for games 1, 2, 6, and 7 will go to the team with the best regular season record, except that the wildcard team may not have home field advantage. In the event of identical records, the season series results will determine which team has the home field advantage.

 

3. The third round - the World Series - will pit the LCS winners. Home field advantage for games 1, 2, 6, and 7 will be awarded on a rotating basis with the American League team hosting these games in EVEN numbered seasons and the National League team hosting them in ODD numbered seasons. The actual calendar year is used in this calculation.

 

4. There will be one day of rest between the end of the season and the beginning of postseason play and between games 2 and 3 and (if necessary) 5 and 6 of each playoff series. For rotation purposes, LCS and WS start dates will be based on all series going their maximum duration and one day off between each series.

 

 

 

II. ICBL and BBW

 

A. PLAYING CONVENTIONS

The ICBL uses APBA Baseball for Windows (BBW) in full League Manager (LM) mode with Advanced Injury Management (AIM) activated. Virtually all league business, including transfers of files, is conducted by e-mail in order to hold down costs.

 

B. SEASON DISK

1. Each year the Commissioner will provide all teams with the official ICBL Organization Disk. However, all owners are legally and ethically required to purchase the APBA-copyrighted season disk even though a league disk is provided.

 

2. The ICBL uses a version of the actual APBA disk with "wizardized" pitchers' grades generated by The Wizard. The Commissioner will implement these adjustments or not at his sole discretion.

 

3, The PR for players whose AIM-calculated SF is not 1000 will be prorated and the SF adjusted to 1000 (e.g., a player with 985PR and 63SF will count as 621PR).

 

C. TRANSFER OF INFORMATION IN FILES

1. Default instructions in the form of franchise files (f-files) will be sent to the Commissioner before the season starts and throughout the year within a weekly time frame determined by the Commissioner. The Commissioner will compile these files and distribute Commissioner files (c-files) to the league on a weekly basis during the regular season and as necessary during the offseason.

 

2. Each manager will have the opportunity to change their default settings, rosters, and rotations in League Manager each week during the default file phase. If no default instruction changes are received by the scheduled weekly date, League Manager auto mode will handle the team in the upcoming series.

 

3. All games will be completed on time. If the results for a particular series are not in by the deadline, the games will be played in auto mode to keep the season on track.

 

D. MICROMANAGERS

1. All teams should have available for use by their opponents all of the "official" 1990s managers, available by free download at various websites including <http://www.thedigitalskybox.site/>. Required micromanagers are: Buck Miller I-IV, Felipe Hernandez, Tony Anderson, and Tony Soprano.

 

2. A manager who wishes to use a different micromanager is responsible for sending that micromanager to his opponent (or otherwise confirming that his opponent has him) before each series he wants that micromanager used.

 

E. DEFAULT PLAYING INSTRUCTIONS

1. Default instructions will be created through Advanced Draft (AD) and League Manager (LM). In AD, managers will set their rosters, moving players between their active and farm team rosters in accordance with league rules. In LM, managers should do the following:

a) Assign lineups versus RHPs and LHPs.

b) Designate a micromanager for road games. The default micromanager for teams that do not indicate one will be Buck Miller IV.

c) Establish a pitching rotation.

 

2. None of these LM settings are required. If a manager chooses, he may let the game choose rotations and lineups for all games. However, he still needs to review the team status reports (in AD or LM) to monitor the fatigue levels of his players and adjust his roster as needed.

 

3. During each series, LM will handle pregame fatigue and injury substitutions for the visiting team (so that AIM injuries will be avoided) and the designated micromanager will handle in- game strategy moves.

 

F. PROVISION FOR LOSS OF MANAGER

Should a manager drop out of the ICBL in the middle of the season, his team will be monitored by the Commissioner for player fatigue and the automode of League Manager will handle the team until a new manager is found.

 

 

III. ROSTER RULES

 

A. ROSTER SIZE AND COMPOSITION

1. Regular season rosters will be limited to 36 carded players plus up to 6 prospects for a total 42-man roster.

a) A “carded player" means a player who is on the official APBA disk.

b) “Prospects” may be minor league players, amateur players, or uncarded major league players.

 

2. A team must be able to cover the season with its 36 carded players or else forfeit its right to "free" emergency waiver claims for any position not fully covered (see section VI, "In-Season Waiver Claims").

a) 1100 Play Rating or PR at each position for hitters. A player's PR may be distributed among multiple positions, but cannot be double-counted.

b) 7000 MBF for all pitchers, including at least 4500 MBF among pitchers with a starting grade.

 

2. During the offseason, there is no limit on the number of carded players a team may have; however, prospects under contract (see below) may never exceed six.

 

B. REGULAR SEASON PLAYING ROSTER

1. Regular season league play rosters will consist of 27 players, including at least one backup for each position and at least nine pitchers.

 

2. Each team must have at least two players rated at each position, and no player can qualify as one of the two at more than two positions.

 

3. If during the season a team no longer has two players at a position due to injury, it will be required to obtain a new player via either trade or waiver claim.

 

4. Rosters may be adjusted during each weekly update cycle.

 

5. Transfers of players between playing roster and farm roster should take place within AD using the "transfer" command. Any player simply "dropped" off a roster may be considered part of the waiver or free agent pool at the discretion of the Commissioner.

 

C. FARM ROSTER

Regular season farm rosters will consist of the nine carded players that can be transferred to the ACTIVE roster during the update cycle and up to six prospects (who must remain inactive).

 

D. PROSPECT DEFINITIONS

1. Uncarded prospects carry a three-year contract that binds them to their team until the player receives an APBA card, the three-year contract expires, or the player dies.

 

2. If a player does NOT receive an APBA card in three years, he is automatically waived at the completion of his third year and prior to the preseason draft and is eligible to be drafted by any team during that draft.

 

3. Prospects carry their three-year contracts when traded; the time does not reset with the new team.

 

4. A prospect can move to the regular roster ONLY if he gets rated on the data disk. He CANNOT move up to the regular roster as an uncarded player.

 

5. A player may become a prospect (receive a minor league contract) by being drafted as an uncarded player in the annual free agent draft or waiver draft or by being an uncarded veteran retained by his current team at roster cutdown time prior to the waiver draft.

 

 

IV. PRESEASON DRAFT

 

A. TIME AND PLACE

The preseason draft will take place at a time, location, and method determined by the Commissioner. The

most likely method will be by using google sheets and will be administered by the Commissioner and/or his designee.

 

B. ELIGIBILITY

All players (professional or amateur) not currently on ICBL rosters will be eligible for drafting.

 

C. STRUCTURE

1. The draft will consist of eight regular rounds, for a total of 192 picks. However, because of waiver claims, some picks may be moved from earlier rounds to the end of the draft (see section VI).

 

2. The draft order will be reverse order of the teams' records from the previous season.

a) The eight playoff teams will draft in the last eight positions regardless of record. Their order will be Division Series loser with worst record (17th), DS loser with third best record (18th), DS loser with second best record (19th), DS loser with best record (20th), LCS loser with worse record (21st), LCS loser with better record (22nd), WS loser (23rd), and WS winner (24th).

b) The order for ties will be determined by teams' home record for the previous season, with the team with the better home record drafting first. If home records do not break the tie, the teams will alternate their order in successive rounds, with a coin flip made by the Commissioner determining which team picks first in Round 1.

c) If there are rounds after Round 8 (caused by waiver claims), teams picking in these rounds will do so in the same respective order as in previous rounds.

 

3. The Commissioner will announce the complete order for all rounds prior to Draft Day, including information on all traded or moved draft picks.

 

D. DRAFTING OF PROSPECTS

A manager may not draft any more prospects once he has reached the maximum of six. Drafted prospects that put a team over the limit will be voided by the Commissioner.

 

 

V. WAIVER DRAFT

 

A. PRESEASON ROSTER CUTDOWN

1. At the conclusion of the preseason draft and following a brief trading period, active rosters will be cut to their regular season levels of 36 carded players and up to six prospects.

 

2. Veterans who did not receive a card in the previous year must be cut or signed to a three- year minor league contract (provided the team has an open slot) prior to the preseason draft.

 

3. Managers who don't make their cuts by the deadline will be excluded from the waiver process.

 

B. WAIVER POOL AND RULES

1. All unowned carded players on the official ICBL disk will be available in a waiver draft.

 

2. Any team making selections will be required to drop as many players as necessary to stay within the 36-man roster limit. These dropped players will then be available to teams picking later in the process.

 

3. The order of selection will be the same as the original draft order for the preseason draft. Teams will draft in the order of the original, end of season draft order before any trades of draft picks were made.

 

C. WAIVER DRAFT PROCESS

The waiver draft will follow this procedure:

 

1. All teams interested in making a selection during the initial phase will submit a ranked list of desired players, along with instructions on which player to cut if the claim is successful. This shall be done for each round up to the four rounds in the waiver draft.

 

2. The Commissioner, at his discretion, may hold the Waiver Draft through E-Mail.

 

3. Observing the official order of selection, the Commissioner will follow each team's instructions about adding and dropping players and then release the results.

 

4. Players cut in one round are available to be picked in subsequent rounds.

 

5. A team may pass or pick in any round.

 

6. The Waiver Draft will consist of four (4) rounds, one player selected per round.

 

7. The trading of waiver picks is not allowed.

 

VI. IN-SEASON WAIVER CLAIMS

 

A. PURPOSE OF IN-SEASON WAIVER POOL

During the season, teams will be able to acquire additional players from the player pool through either an Emergency Waiver Claim or a Usage Waiver Claim to meet emergency roster voids caused by injury or to fulfill coverage requirements not adequately prepared for. Requests for waiver claims will not commence until after opening day.

 

B. COMPOSITION OF IN-SEASON WAIVER POOL

The waiver pool consists of every player not currently affiliated with an ICBL team.

 

C. EMERGENCY WAIVER CLAIMS (EWCs) THIS SECTION CURRENTLY NOT USED

1. If a team's starter or only defensive backup at a position is injured AND it has no other rated defensive player to cover as a backup, it must obtain another player before the beginning of its next scheduled series to meet the requirement of having a backup for every position. The requirement may be fulfilled via either trade or EWC.

 

2. If making an EWC, the team will notify the Commissioner of its intentions and the Commissioner will make the necessary roster adjustments regarding the injured and claimed players.

a) The eligible player from the waiver pool will be added to the team's active roster, where he must stay for the duration of the claim.

b) The injured player will be moved to the farm roster, which may add a few extra days to the duration of the injury.

c) At the end of the injury the injured player will be moved back to the active roster and the player acquired from the waiver pool will be returned the waiver pool.

 

3. Teams will be allowed three EWC claims during the year with no penalty. If a team requires coverage help a fourth time, it will have to use a Usage Waiver Claim.

 

4. In order to be eligible for "free" emergency waiver claims, must be at the required level of coverage (see Section III.A.2.) for the position at which a claim is made during the season. When PR requirements are met by a player who contributes to PR requirements at more than one position, all of those positions must be in coverage compliance in order to qualify for an EWC at any of them.

 

5. Players who were injured because their RUse fell to 0% cannot be used to justify an EWC.

 

D. USAGE WAIVER CLAIMS (UWCs)

1. If a team has not properly staffed itself to adequately cover player usage for the season (see section III, "Roster Rules"), it may claim an eligible player from the waiver pool to replace a player currently on the roster, in accordance with the following guidelines:

 

2. When claiming a player from the waiver pool, a team will also designate a player from its carded roster that it will release (permanently) to the waiver pool.

 

3. The claimed player is on the team's roster only for the current season; he reverts to the free agent pool immediately after the season.

 

4. The payment for a UWC is the removal of one draft pick to the end of the draft.

a) Waiver claims start affecting the 7th round pick. If the claiming team does not have a 7th round pick, the 6th round pick is moved and so on upward toward number 1.

b) If the team has multiple picks in the round to be moved, the pick from the team with the worst record at the time of the UWC will be the one moved.

c) If the team has no picks available it cannot make a waiver claim. It must make a trade instead. NOTE: This situation may be grounds for further punitive action against the manager in question, in the interest of the rest of the League.

d) As waiver claims are made, extra rounds are added to the end of the draft. Round 9 would be first waiver claims, round 10 second waiver claims, and so on.

 

 

VII. PLAYING RULES - REGULAR SEASON

 

A. USE AND AVAILABILITY OF PLAYERS

1. Players are allowed to play only the positions listed on their "cards". The ONLY exception is when the last player at a position is injured during a game or series.

 

2. When using a player in a position not rated on his card, the substitute should be a reasonable choice, subject to the judgment of the Commissioner should there be a complaint (e.g., a utilityman should be the first choice if possible, a player who played the position in question in a previous year if necessary, and a lefthanded thrower should not play in the infield other than first base unless there are no other options).

 

3. If a team cannot cover a position for the first game of a subsequent series due to injury, a trade or waiver claim must be made (coverage of a position means there is a starter and a backup for each position, according to the Roster Rules above). NOT APPLICABLE AT THIS TIME

 

B. STARTING PITCHERS

There are no restrictions on how long a starting pitcher must remain in the game after he faces a batter, but the pitcher must have had at least one start in the previous MLB season in order to start a game in the ICBL (with the exception of a team being physically decimated on the road and the automode of League Manager choosing a reliever to start; see section G.1 below).

 

C. PITCHERS AS HITTERS, HITTERS AS PITCHERS

1. A pitcher cannot be used as a designated hitter or pinch hitter unless he was used as such in MLB, with this exception: A pitcher may be used as a pinch hitter provided all other players on the bench have been used in an extra inning game.

 

2. Pitchers can be used as pinch runners. If a pitcher is injured while pinch running, the length of the injury will be what is reported by the game.

 

3. Hitters may be used as pitchers in blowouts if necessary, but total appearances on the mound by all hitters on a team should not exceed six in a season and total innings pitched by all hitters on a team should not exceed nine in a season.

 

D. HIT-AND-RUN PLAY

The H&R play can be used anytime the score is within six runs, up to a maximum of nine times per game per team. It may be used once every two innings after the ninth inning. A hit and run attempt that results in a foul ball or a base stealing attempt does not count against the maximum number usable.

 

E. RAINOUTS

All managers will make their home field "domed" in League Manager so as to avoid rainouts. In the event of a rainout in which the game is not official, the Commissioner will reschedule the game for a later date if necessary. If the rained out game is a tie, it will be replayed only if it has a bearing on the pennant race.

 

 

F. INJURIES THIS SECTION CURRENTLY NOT USED

1. With Advanced Injury Management (AIM) being used, injuries will last for the duration of the injury as determined by LM.

 

2. Players in an injured status may be removed from the active roster.

 

G. RESPONSIBILITY FOR INTEGRITY OF USAGE

1. Home managers should be aware of the identity of the visiting team's starting pitcher before beginning a game. Since LM may chose another pitcher when the scheduled pitcher is not available, the home manager should confirm that the choice is appropriate, and if the choice seems questionable, either contact the visiting manager or commissioner for advice or use good judgment and make a better choice (i.e., use a starter rather than a reliever, a reliever with plenty of innings remaining rather than a closer, etc.).

 

2. Hitters inserted out of position in the starting lineup by LM (indicated by display of position in purple rather than red or yellow) should also be checked for appropriateness and changed by the home manager if necessary (see section VII, A, 2 for guidelines).

 

VIII. PLAYER USAGE RESTRICTIONS

 

A. PITCHERS

1. A pitcher may start a game only if he started a game in MLB.

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2. Starting and relief pitchers with grades 5 and 6 will have their Maximum Batters Faced (MBF) doubled to a maximum of 1080 for starters and a maximum of 500 for relievers. 

 

3. Starting and relief pitchers with grade 7 will have their Maximum Batters Faced (MBF) total increased by 25%. 

 

4. Starting Pitchers with grade 3 or 4  will have their MBF changed to 1080 MBF.

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5. Split-grade pitchers with either a starting grade or relief grade of 8 or above will have no change to their grades.  Split grade Pitchers with either grade a 7 or below will refer to VIII A 2.

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6. Relief pitchers with grade 3 or 4 will have their MBF changed to 500 MBF.

 

7. All pitchers receiving grades 1 or 2 on the data disk will be upgraded to grade 3.

 

8. Days of rest required for pitchers is determined by AIM and therefore there are no restrictions.

 

9. Each team will be allowed to request adjustment of up to two relievers in efforts to dictate to the micromanager how they are used (e.g., closer, setup, etc.). Allowable adjustment is to the actual save values.

 

B. NONPITCHERS

1. Players' usage is totally controlled by AIM, which will usually limit a player to at or near his real-life games total or plate appearance total.

 

2. Players with an OPS below .600 are automatically assigned a PR of 930 and can exceed their actual totals.

 

C. STEALING

1. Base stealers will be limited to their actual stolen base attempts plus 15%. This includes attempts made during hit & run plays and squeezes.

EXAMPLE: 32 SB + 8 CS = 40 attempts x 1.15 = 46 attempts allowed.

 

2. Stolen base attempt amounts will be checked periodically during the year; however, it is the responsibility of each manager to monitor his own players' usage.

 

3. Flagrant violation of SB or H&R usage restrictions may result in sanctions imposed by the Commissioner.

 

 

 

IX. POSTSEASON USAGE RESTRICTIONS

 

A. ROSTER RULES

1. Any player on a team's ACTIVE (36-man) roster at the end of August (according to the LM schedule) is eligible for the playoffs.

 

2. The actual playoff roster will consist of 26 players (essentially removing the 5th starter, though individual managers may construct their rosters however they see fit within the 26 player limit).

 

3. Moving players from farm to playing roster during the playoffs can be done only between series, even in the case of injury. Should a team be reduced to one player at a position due to injury, it will have to finish the series shorthanded.

 

B. AIM AND FATIGUE

1. AIM will remain in effect throughout the playoffs, so managers should be aware of fatigue issues throughout the season and beyond.

 

2. According to LM, hitters will receive a bump in their RUse at the beginning of each playoff series to enable them to play at the same proportional rate at which they were available during the regular season.

 

3. According to LM, pitchers' MBF is reset at the beginning of each playoff series.

 

4. Regular season injuries will carry over to the playoffs. NOT APPLICABLE AT THIS TIME

 

C. STARTING PITCHERS

1. In order to be eligible to make postseason starts, a pitcher must have made at least five ICBL regular season starts AND have at least 25 ICBL regular season innings.

 

2. There are no restrictions for appearing as a relief pitcher.

 

D. LIVE PLAY

1. At the request of the visiting manager in each game, all playoff games should be played "live" via the internet, through sharing software, over the phone, or in person so as to reduce the element of unpredictability with regard to micromanagers.

 

2. In the event that good faith negotiations to play "live" do not result in mutually satisfactory arrangements, the visiting manager shall be given the option to play the game on his computer using a micromanager for the home team.

 

 

X. TRADING

 

A. IN-SEASON TRADING

1. The in-season trading period will begin on opening day and close after the last series of August (per LM schedule). There will be no restrictions on interleague trading throughout the trading period.

 

2. There is no restriction on the number of players that can be traded, but trades must remain within roster limits. If a team acquires more players than the limit, cuts must be made, with the cut player(s) assigned to the team's trading partner. At no time are trades involving "future considerations" or "player(s) to be named later" permitted.

 

3. Trades are effective after the series in which they are completed and require notification of the Commissioner by both parties.

 

4. The Commissioner will perform the actual transfer of players between rosters and include it on the next official c-file. Unless otherwise notified, the Commissioner will use his judgment about placing traded players on the playing or farm roster of their new teams. Managers will then have to adjust their rosters, rotations, and lineups in AD and LM to incorporate the new players.

 

5. Any player involved in an approved in-season trade is eligible for the playoffs for his new team. Trades not reported by the end of the last series in August will not go into effect until after the season.

 

B. OFFSEASON TRADING

1. At the conclusion of the regular season trading period (end of last series in August according to LM schedule) the offseason trading period will commence. Trades made during this period do not take effect until the postseason (playoffs) is completed; however, once recorded they are official (unless one of the managers leaves the league before the end of the postseason period).

 

2. During this period until roster cut down day after the free agent draft, roster restrictions are relaxed, allowing the procurement of more players via trade than the roster limits stated above.

 

C. TRADING DRAFT PICKS

1. Draft picks may be traded only for the immediate upcoming preseason draft. Trading of future draft picks (more than one year hence) will not be allowed. The conclusion of the preseason draft marks the time that the next year's draft picks can be traded.

 

2. Waiver draft picks may never be traded.

 

D. TRADING ETIQUETTE

1. Trades are deemed complete when BOTH managers notify the Commissioner. If the Commissioner does not receive notification from both parties, the trade will not be processed. However, this should not be construed as a way of backing out of an agreed- upon trade.

 

2. Managers should not make formal trade offers involving the same player(s) to more than one team at the same time unless the prospective trading partners are made aware of the simultaneous offers.

 

3. At the same time, managers should respond to trade offers from other league members in a timely manner.

 

4. The Commissioner will have final say on the disposition of any trade should a complaint involving any of the above points be made.

 

 

XI. COMMISSIONER'S ROLE

 

A. The Commissioner's role is to best serve the interests of the International Computer Baseball League.

 

B. The Commissioner shall have the authority to mediate disputes on organizational issues and make final decisions when an issue remains unresolved even after all sides have been presented.

 

C. The Commissioner shall have the authority to assess penalties and/or suspend managers for improper use of players, habitually late league correspondence (including file submission), and other transgressions of the ICBL constitution. Penalties may include, but are not necessarily limited to, repositioning or loss of draft pick(s).

 

D. The Commissioner may designate a subcommittee of league managers on an ad hoc basis to assist him in resolving or attending to a particular matter. Participation, should it be requested, would be appreciated but not mandatory.

 

E. Above all, the Commissioner shall strive to be accessible to league members and help promote communication and understanding among the members of the International Computer Baseball League.