U.S. Internet Baseball Association Constitution
01.0.0 The Game
The game that will be used in this league is Sierra's Front Page Sports:
Baseball Pro'98. The league will use Bill Harris' PB.ini file. It is recommended
that each Owner possess his/her own personal copy of Front Page Sports Baseball
(Pro '96 or Pro '98), for the purpose of having experience with how the game works
and using league files.
01.1.0
This is a simulation league. Games WILL NOT be played head-to-head.
01.2.0
The league will be provided for your enjoyment free of charge.
02.0.0 League Offices
The league has three officer positions. These offices are Commissioner and two
League Presidents. The offices of Commissioner as well as both League Presidents
positions must be filled at all times by a present USIBA owner. The three
positions together create the executive council.
02.1.0 Commissioner
The Commissioner will be responsible for simulating the games and sending the
results to each Owner. The Commissioner must also make the league files
available and update a World Wide Web page on a timely basis. The Email each
owner will receive will consist of scores of the simulated games, updated standings,
the next simulation schedule and updated injury information. Playoff games are played
every other day in order to give teams ample time to prepare.
The commissioner should try to keep all the teams human owned at all times if
possible. The commissioner will be responsible along with the other league
officers in seeing to the needs of the league. The Commissioner should try to
insure that no other owner is taking advantage of another owner with unfair
trades, etc. This should also be a goal of all the league presidents as well.
02.2.0 League President
This is the chief officer of the American or National league. His/her duties are
to settle minor disputes that may occur in his/her league, to review trades for
evaluation to see if the trade is fair, and to make sure the commissioner is not
taking unfair advantage of owners.
02.3.0 Officer Replacement
Should any officer decide to step down, he/she will appoint a successor. If
he/she does not, then a vote will be taken to choose a successor. A two thirds
majority is required for a new officer to be elected to office. If a two thirds
majority is not met, votes will be taken until one is reached.
03.0.0 The Owners
Each member of the league is considered an owner.
03.1.0 Collusion
No owner may own more than one team. No owner may collude with another owner, or
group of owners to unjustly enrich any team. If a case of collusion is ever
suspected a three man committee (the Commissioner and both League Presidents)
will decide the guilt or innocence of the parties involve. If any owner is
found to be guilty of collusion he/she will be permanently expelled from the
USIBA by the executive council.
03.2.0 Lame Duck Owners
Each owner is expected to participate in the day to day activities of his/her
team. If the commissioner does not hear from an owner for 15 days, the owner
will receive a notice. If the owner does not respond to the notice within the
allotted time (Usually one week) on the message, then his team will be given to
a new owner.
03.3.0 Leaves of Absence
Any owner that is going to be away for an extended period of time should notify
their league president and the Commissioner. Doing so will avoid being branded a
Lame Duck Owner. See section 03.2.0 Lame Duck Owners.
03.4.0 Loss of an Owner
If an owner quits or is relieved of his duties, a new owner will be found as
soon as possible. It is important to keep all teams owned, and not under
computer control, as all computer controlled teams are restricted from being
involved in any trades.
03.5.0 Conduct unbecoming an owner
If any owner is perceived to be acting in a way that is detrimental to the overall
good of the league an executive council will be held to determine what actions
will be taken to restore harmony to the league. This does'nt mean that the USIBA
will not tolerate friendly chiding in the spirit of the game, we encourage it.
But please, keep yourself under control.
04.1.0 Conflicts and Resolutions
If a dispute arises between two or more owners, it will be referred to the
league president, who will then render his decision. If one or more of the
involved parties feel that the decision is unfair, he may appeal the decision to
the Executive Council. If any party involved in the dispute is also a member of
the Executive Council, that member will be replaced by another owner chosen by
the Commissioner and League Presidents. Any dispute that involves either
the Commissioner or either League President will be referred to the Executive
Counsel immediately minus the involved member or members.
05.0.0 The Teams
The teams will be composed of players from the 1997 Season major and minor
league system found on Tim Krazniewski's BBPro page. The stats were compiled
by an independent source not related to this league. The league will also be
comprised of 28 teams until such time that a decision is made to expand the
league. Teams may not be moved or renamed unless their MLB counterpart does
this in the real world. This is only if the owner wants to and is not mandatory
for him to do so.
06.0.0 Initial Draft
The initial draft will be used to create the teams for the first season only.
Step 1: 10 players form the original team will be chosen by the team owner.
These 10 players are protected from the initial draft and remain property of
their original team. The protected players must, however, spend at least the
first half of the 1997 season on the Major League roster.
Step 2: The remaining players will be placed in the free agent pool which will
be available on the homepage. (free agents draft pool)
Step 3: Each owner must submit a draft list to the commissioner. Each list
should contain enough players for 3 rounds of drafting.(About 40 players)
Owners are also encouraged to give drafting directions such as, "Draft a
starting pitcher unless I have already drafted X amount of starting pitchers
already." After the 3rd round results will be posted and owners will send
in another list of players for rnds 4-6. This process will continue until
each team has drafted 15 players, giving them a complete 25 man Major League
roster.
Step 4: The computer will then be allowed to draft each teams remaining 15
players. These players will be placed in a teams AAA roster.
07.0.0 Spring Training
In order to keep things running quickly, the computer will run all spring
training. As far as I can tell, the computer handles spring training just
as well as a human would.
08.0.0 Rosters
Rosters have to set using the following format:
Active 25
AAA/DL 15
Low Minors 10 (maximum, you may have less)
No team may have more than 50 players at any given time. Once a player is placed
on the DL it is the owner's responsibility to take him off once he is healthy.
If a player is needed to be released to take a player off of DL then the
commissioner must be notified in advance of the cut player. To place a player in
the low minors the player must be 26 or under. The best way to send in rosters
with all your moves is to send to the commissioner in an email your lineup
for each position and be sure to send vs. LHP as well as vs. RHP. Please follow
this format:
Batting Order vs. RHP Batting Order vs. RHP
# Pos Full Name # Pos Full Name
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
7 7
8 8
9 9
Be sure to include the full name of the player.
EXAMPLE
Batting Order vs. RHP
# Pos Full Name
1 CF Deion Sanders
2 SS Barry Larkin
3 1B Hal Morris
4 3B Willie Greene
5 RF Reggie Sanders
6 C Eddie Taubensee
7 LF Jon Nunally
8 2B Bret Boone
9 P Pitcher's Slot
PITCHERS
You must have at 5 starting pitchers in your starting rotation.
Pitching rotations should be submitted in the following format:
S1 (Starter)
S2 (Starter)
S3 (Starter)
S4 (Starter)
S5 (Starter)
LR1 (Long Relief)
LR2 (Long Relief)
MR1 (Middle Relief)
MR2 (Middle Relief)
SU1 (Set Up)
SU2 (Set Up)
CL1 (Closer)
CL2 (Closer)
*NOTE:It is not necessary to fill all relief roles.
POSITION PLAYERS
Position Players may play any position, but will face the normal penalties if
they aren't qualified for that position.
08.1.0 Trades
Trades between teams may be made at any time up until the trading deadline of
August 31. All trades made between the beginning of the season up to the trading
deadline, will go into affect immediately. However, any trades made between
September 1 and the beginning of the next season, will not be processed until
after the completion of the World Series.
A trade is considered official when both teams have e-mailed their trade to the
league president, he has approved it, and both players have forwarded the trade
and new lineups (If necessary) to the commissioner. Once a trade is accepted by
both teams, it cannot be reversed unless agreed upon by both teams. Should any
team be computer owned for any length of time, all trades it attempts to make
will be void, due to poor Artificial Intelligence.
08.2.0 Promotion / Demotion of Players
Until the September 1 roster expansion, no team may have more than 25 players on
the Active roster, 15 players at the AAA / DL level, and 10 players at the Low
Minors level. From September 1 till the end of the season, no team may have more
than 40 players at the Active / AAA / DL level, and 10 players at the Low Minors
level.
Players may move between the Active and AAA rosters freely. However, in order
for a player to be placed in the Low Minors, that player must be received in a
trade from another team's Low Minors roster or claimed as a free agent. Players
assigned to the Low Minors may not have previous experience in the majors, and
may not be over 26 years of age.
INJURIES
Roster moves should be in by midnight EST on the night before each set of games
are to be simulated. It is the owner's responsibility to move a player to the DL
and to make sure his roster spot is filled. If a player is injured and a move is
not made, the next player on the lineup who is qualified to play that position
will be moved in the injured players spot. If no qualified player is available
then a player who is not qualified will be chosen for his spot.
********It is recommended for all owners to send in a list of subs for each
position in the event that a player is injured during a sim of 3,4 or 7 days.
This list can include players in the AAA if you send a list of the player you
want moved down to take his place. Injuries do happen in FPS BB98 so it is wise
to plan for the worse scenario and send in a sub list just in case. Once the
games are simmed the commissioner will email all owners, post the results and
update the website as soon as possible.
08.3.0 Outright Release
Players may be released outright at any time.
08.4.0 Playoff Rosters
40-man rosters (for September) may carry over into the playoffs. Changes to the
playoff roster for each playoff series may be changed only prior to the playoff
series starting.
08.4.1 Announcement of Roster Moves
During the playoffs and World Series, all roster moves must be sent to the owner
of your opponent. A roster move is defined as any replacement of an injured
player, activation of a healed player, or any change to the lineups or pitching
role assignments.
08.5.0 Free Agent claims
Free agents may be claimed at any time during the season. As many as three
players may be claimed at one time. If a team already has a full 40-man roster,
the claim must include the name of the player to be released if the claim is
successful (unless the player is assigned to the Low Minors, in which case a
player to be released must be included if the owner has 10 players in the Low
Minors). In cases where several teams claim the same player, the team with
the worst record (during the current season) will sign the player.
9.0.0 Amateur Draft
The Amateur Draft will be held after forty percent of the season has passed.
Once the league files have been posted, each team will have approximately two days
afterwards to send their lists of picks to the commissioner.
10.0.0 Retirement
Retirement occurs immediately after the World series and the awarding of the
USIBA Championship Trophy.
11.0.0 Free Agent Draft
A draft of free agents will be held prior to spring training every year.
12.0.0 Free Agency
Players on your team that are at least 25 years of age after the season are Free
Agents every 3 years. (ex. If Player A is 25 years old and has 3, 6, 9, 12, or
15 years of experience he is a free agent.) All teams can protect 2 pitcher and
2 position player. The protected players must remain on the protected list for
three years before they may be removed or changed.
15.0.0 Franchise Players
Each team is permitted to name one franchise player. That player is exempt from
free agency and will remain with the team until he retires. Teams may not name
a different franchise player until their current franchise player has retired.
Franchise players may be traded. Upon the completion of the trade, a new franchise
player may be named.
14.0.0 Salary/Salary Cap
There is, and will be, no salary cap. The free agency system above will create
parity among the league.
15.0.0 Amendments
Amendments to the ByLaws may be made at any time. Each Amendment must be
approved by a 2 thirds margin of the USIBA Ownership.
16.0.0 Credits and Gratitude
Much thanks goes to Lance Lintner, Comissioner of the IFBL and FCFBL.
Many of these rules are taken directly from his page, with some of my
own adjustments thrown in.