Strat-O-Matic Baseball is designed for the baseball fanatic, especially for those who value stats over whiz-bang graphics. Using the stats of virtually every team from almost every year since the inception of baseball, you can create your own teams and leagues and have them play against each other. By displaying the cards on the screen, this version demonstrates an important link to its roots in the board game. But with features like the maximized rules and this season's pitch-count fatigue, it seems to be breaking away from the boundaries of the board game and entering the world of computers. This version includes upgraded reports as well as game and information screens, and computer manager improvements (such as the new bullpen management system). This version also features the saving of reports in HTML format.

I. The Purpose The purpose of the Liberty League is to provide its members with a challenging simulation of the full spectrum of enjoyment that baseball provides, from the strategic aspects of building a team to the in-game tactical maneuvering that determines success over the course of a season, using the current version of the Strat-o-Matic Computer Baseball Game. Our principles are simple: integrity, gamesmanship, and creating a community which allows us to pursue our love of the game. While we recognize that Strat-O-Matic is not a perfect recreation of the game of baseball, the use of “Strat-ball strategies” in this league is vigorously discouraged.
II. The League
A. Structure. The Liberty League is managed by the Commissioner and the Rules Committee. The Rules Committee consists of the Commissioner, plus three other members nominated by the Commissioner and approved by a vote of the remaining League members.
B. Duties.
1. The Commissioner will oversee the operations of the league.
2. The Rules Committee will make necessary changes in the Rules, and will vote on the acceptance of new members, by majority vote.
C. Web Sites. The League maintains a number of Internet Sites:
1. A Yahoo Member Group, which is accessible only to League members, and is used for the exchange of all computer files necessary to play the game, and messages between members.
2. A League Web Site, which contains the League Directory, the Rules, and a History of the league,
D. Rules changes. Changes in these rules can be proposed by any member, but must be approved by the Rules Committee. Any in-season rule changes, or changes to be applied retroactively, must be done with unanimous concurrence of the Rules Committee. Changes which will be prospective for the upcoming season require a majority vote of the Rules Committee.
1. Objections by Members. If any three members object to a rule change, it will be submitted to a vote of all League members, through a poll on the group site which will remain open for two (2) weeks. Upon objection, any in-season or retroactive rule change requires two-thirds of those voting to make the change. Any other change requires a majority of those voting.
E. Expulsion. Expulsion of a member from the League is an extreme sanction, and will be imposed only for extreme violations of the rules, such as gross non-cooperation or cheating. Expulsion requires the concurrence of four-fifths of the members of the Rules Committee. Upon objection by any member besides the affected one, expulsion requires approval of two-thirds of the membership.
III. The Teams
A. Number. The Liberty League consists of twelve teams, organized into two divisions, the Ruth Division and the Aaron Division.
B. Stadiums.Each team shall select a home stadium from among those in the National League. If a new owner comes into the League, or if the actual National League team changes its stadium, either through relocation or renovation, a new stadium can be selected by the affected team, from among those not currently used. In such cases, the current owners affected by the relocation or renovation of their current stadiums shall have first choice of available stadiums not currently used, in the same order as they will have in the next free agent draft, followed by new owners, in the order in which they entered the league.
1. Change of Stadiums. Any team may change its stadium after five years. The intention to change stadium must be announced within sixty days of the end of the season. If two or more owners wish to change their stadiums, they will draft from among the available stadiums in the same order as they will have in the next free agent draft, with the exception that any current owners affected by the relocation or renovation of their current stadium shall draft first. The selection of a stadium by new owners will take place after the stadium draft.
C. Rosters.Each team must maintain a roster of no fewer than 37 and no more than 40 players at all times, except for the period from the end of the playoffs until the beginning of the Annual Draft.
D. Salary Cap. Each player has a salary, which is the actual salary he was paid during the previous year; if a salary cannot be determined, the major league minimum salary will be used. (E.g., our 2007 season will use player cards and player salaries from the 2006 season.) Each team will have a salary cap. The total salaries paid to all players on the roster cannot exceed the salary cap, except for the period from the end of the Playoffs until the Roster Cutdown Date.
1. Calculation. The basic salary cap for all teams is calculated as follows: 35 times the average baseball salary for the preceding year, rounded upward to the nearest $50,000, plus 5 times the minimum baseball salary the preceding year.
E. Roster Cutdown Date. At least two weeks prior to the Draft, on a date designated by the Commissioner, each team must reduce their rosters. Teams which played in the championship game the previous year can retain 14 players; other teams which made the playoffs the previous year can retain 15 players; and non-playoff teams can retain 17 players. Players who did not play in the major leagues the previous season cannot be retained on a roster. As long as a player has a Strat card, either regular or computer, he can be retained, regardless of which league he played in.
1. AL Player Retention. Any player who finished the previous season on an AL roster can be retained on a Liberty League roster, subject to the following penalties: he counts as two roster spots, and his salary is assessed at 133% of actual. Example: Team X, which made the playoffs the previous year, decides to retain four players, each of whom finished on an AL team the previous season, and each of whom had a salary of $6 million. The four would count for eight roster spots toward the Roster Cutdown Limit, and would have a total salary of $31.92 million, instead of $24 million. Note that the roster penalty is only effective on the Roster Cutdown Date; in the example above, Team X would only be able to retain 11 players: the four AL players would count as 8 toward the limit of 15. Once the Roster Cutdown was achieved, Team X would have only 11 players on its roster, and would have to draft the necessary players to meet the requirement of having 37 to 40 players. After the Cutdown and prior to the draft, however, it could trade for as many players as it wanted, and the AL status would have no effect on this. Example: The above team, with a roster of 11, trades for two more players, one of whom is an AL player. It would then have a roster of 13 players; the AL player would not be counted as two roster spots.
IV. The Players
A. Eligibility: Roster Retention. Any player is eligible to be retained on a Liberty League team roster if he has a regular or computer Strat card.
1. Loss of Eligibility. A player will lose eligibility to play in the Liberty League if he (a) did not play in the major leagues during the prior season, or (b) is dropped from a Liberty League roster, and either finished the prior season on an AL team or does not have a regular Strat card. Any player who becomes ineligible will remain so until he finishes a season on an NL team and has a regular Strat card.
2. AL Players. Players who finished the previous season on an American League roster can be retained on a Liberty League team roster, subject to the penalties described in Section III.E.1.
3. Eligibility for Postseason Play.Any player who does not have a Strat card with at least 30 IP or 80 AB’s (adjusted usage) is ineligible for post-season play.
B. Acquiring players. Players can be acquired through either draft or trade.
1. Draft. The annual Liberty League Draft will take place each March, on a date designated by the Commissioner.
a) Draft Pool. The Draft pool for the Draft will consist of all Free Agents, who are defined as players who (1) are not currently on a Liberty League team roster; (2) who finished the season on an NL roster during the preceding year, and (3) have a regular Strat card. Note that a player who is dropped from a Liberty League roster must meet all three definitions to be placed in the Free Agent pool.
b) Split Cards. If a Free Agent played in both the NL and the AL the preceding year, his whole card will be available to be drafted, and his full salary will be used. If a player is retained on a roster, and that player played in both the AL and NL in the preceding year, his full card will be used; if he finished the season in the AL, he will be subject to the penalties described in Section III.E.1.
c) Draft Order. Draft order will be inverse to winning percentage in the previous season, with the exception of the first round.
(1) First Round. In the first round, the order of the lowest three non-playoff teams will be determined by a weighted lottery. The championship winner will draft last, regardless of winning percentage.
(a) Weighted Lottery: The weighted lottery will be conducted in the following manner: Beginning with the last-place team, each team will be given a certain number of chances, in the following order: 12th place – 1-3 (3 chances)
11th place – 4-5 (2 chances)
10th place – 6 (1 chance)
A random integer generator will then be used to generate a list of random numbers between 1 and 6. The seeding will then take place according to the numbers generated. (E.g., if the numbers 4 and 2 were the first two numbers generated, the seeding would be 11th place, 12th place, 10th place.)
(2) Ties. Any ties in winning percentage will be broken in reverse to the tie-breaking formula for seeding in the playoffs.
d) Rounds.The Draft will continue until all teams have reached a roster of 40 players, or have passed. No team may pass until it has at least 37 players on its roster. Owners cannot drop players from their roster during the draft, and cannot exceed the salary cap. 2. Trades.
a) What can be traded. Teams can trade players, Draft positions, or any combination of the two. Subject to salary cap and roster limitations, there are no restrictions on player trades. Trades for Draft positions are subject to the following rules.
(1) A draft pick may be traded, but only for the upcoming draft. E.g., a team may trade a draft pick for the 2013 draft at any point from the conclusion of the 2012 draft to the beginning of the 2013 draft, subject to the trading deadline (see below). A team could not trade away a 2014 pick until the conclusion of the 2013 draft.
(2) Subject to the trading deadline, there are no restrictions on trades of draft picks in Rounds 6 and higher. For draft picks in Rounds 1 through 5, the following restrictions are in effect: No team may trade away more than two of its draft picks in those rounds, and those draft pick/rounds cannot be lower than a total of five. E.g., a team may trade away its 1st and 4th pick, or its 2nd and 3rd pick. It could not trade away its 1st and 2nd or 3rd pick. This applies regardless of how many picks a team has in Rounds 1 through 5.
(3) The in-season trading deadlines do not apply to trades involving only draft picks, and not players. I.e., such trades can be made at any time from the conclusion of the draft until three (3) days before the beginning of the next draft.
b) When trades can be made.
(1) Seasonal trades. Trades can be made from the conclusion of the Draft until the conclusion of the 5th block of the season. During this time, no trade can be made that will result in a team’s roster being in excess of the salary cap, or having fewer than 37 players or more than 40 players. A team can come into compliance with this rule by releasing players within 48 hours after any trade. Any released player goes into the free agent pool, and, subject to eligibility, is not able to re-enter the league unless acquired during the following draft.
(2) Effective date of seasonal trades. The player(s) traded will become available to their new teams at the conclusion of the block during which they were traded. If a player is traded after a block is concluded, but before the beginning of the next block, the trade will not become effective until the conclusion of the upcoming block. Examples: (A) Player X is traded to Team Y during Block 5. He is added to the roster of Team Y at the end of Block 5, and can be included in the Computer Manager for Block 6. (B) A team makes a trade for Player X after the 3rd block is concluded, but before the 4th block begins. The trade would not take effect until the 5th block.
(3) Postseason trades. Trades can be made from the conclusion of the Playoffs until the Roster Cutdown Date. During this period, salary cap and roster limits are not in effect; owners can accumulate as many players as they want, and pay them as much as they want, as they long as they reduce the number of players to the necessary limits by the Roster Cutdown Date.
(4) Post Cutdown Trades. Trades can be made from the period after the Roster Cutdown Date until three (3) days before the start of the Draft. During this period, roster limits are not in effect; teams may, as a result of trades, go above or below the limit specified for them at the Roster Cutdown Date. (E.g., Team X is allowed 17 players, and trades a Draft choice for another player, bringing its total roster to 18. It does not have to cut any players; the roster limit is effective only on the Roster Cutdown Date.)
(5) In-Draft Trades. Trading is not permitted during the Draft. You may arrange for informal trades if you’d like; e.g., “I’ll trade you this reliever if you pick up this right-fielder in the next round.” You would then actually complete the trade after the Draft is concluded. Note that if the other party backs out of the trade, you have no means of enforcing it; trading during the Draft is done at your own risk.
c) Announcing a trade. A message announcing a trade should be sent by either team to all members through the Group site. The trade will become effective immediately upon confirmation by the other team.
d) Voiding a trade. The Commissioner reserves the right to void any trade as being contrary to the best interests of the league. If the Commissioner is the owner of a team in the league, such decision requires the concurrence of all of the members of the Rules Committee, and if objected to by any member other than one of the teams participating in the league, a vote of seven members of the League, with the Commissioner and the two teams affected by the trade not participating in the vote.
C. Usage
1. All players shall be limited to 105% of the at-bats (AB’s) or innings pitched (IP’s) they actually accumulated during the season. This will be referred to as the Adjusted Usage. This usage adjustment will be implemented by the commissioner via “adjust league stats” prior to the start of each season. Any additional use is considered overusage.
2. Any pitcher with an 'SP' rating can start every 5th day (4 days of rest). Any pitcher with an asterisk (*) rating can start every 4th day (3 days of rest.) Note that this does not override the usage limitations of the preceding paragraph; e.g., Pitcher A has an asterisk rating and 210 innings of adjusted usage. If he pitches every 4th day during the season, he will probably acquire far more than 210 IP, and thus will be overused. The “4th day” rule should be reserved for rare occasions when you want a particular pitching matchup.
a) Playoff exception. Regardless of the asterisk rating, no starting pitcher may start more than two games during any one playoff series.
3. During the course of the season, any non-pitcher who accumulates more than 35 AB’s more than his Adjusted Usage, or more than 10% of his Adjusted Usage, whichever is less, loses his eligibility for further play during the season, including the playoffs. The loss of eligibility takes place at the end of the block in which overusage occurs.
4. During the course of the season, any pitcher with an S rating who accumulates 15 IP or more than his Adjusted Usage, any pitcher with an S/R rating who accumulates 10 IP or more than his Adjusted Usage, or any pitcher with an R rating who accumulates 5 IP or more than his Adjusted Usage, or any pitcher regardless of his rating who accumulates more than 20% of his adjusted usage, whichever is less, loses his eligibility for further play during the season, including the playoffs. The loss of eligibility takes place at the end of the block in which overusage occurs.
5. Examples of overusage:
a) Player A has 410 AB’s of Adjusted Usage. During the season, he accumulates 415 AB’s. He has been overused, and his team will not be eligible for the non-overusage bonus (see Section E., below), but he is eligible for the playoffs.
b) Player B has 410 AB’s of Adjusted Usage. By the 7th Block, he has accumulated 452 AB’s. Since he has accumulated more than 35 AB’s in excess of his Adjusted Usage, he becomes ineligible for further play, including the playoffs, at that point.
c) Player C has 83 AB’s of Adjusted Usage. By the 6th Block, he has accumulated 98 AB’s. Although this is not more than 35 AB’s in excess of his Adjusted Usage, it is more than 10% in excess of his adjusted usage, and he becomes ineligible for further play, including the playoffs, at that point.
d) Pitcher D is rated as starter only, and has 185 IP of Adjusted Usage. By the 7th Block, he has accumulated 205 IP. Since this is more than 15 IP in excess of his Adjusted Usage, he becomes ineligible for further play, including the playoffs, at that point.
e) Pitcher E is a reliever only, and has 21 IP of adjusted usage. By the 6th Block, he has accumulated 26 IP. Although this is not more than 5 IP in excess of his Adjusted Usage, it is more than 20% in excess of his adjusted usage, and he becomes ineligible for further play. (He would not be eligible for the playoffs in any event, because he does not have at least 30 adjusted IP. See Rule IV.A.3.)
6. You need to Draft players with sufficient AB’s and IP’s so as not to exceed the usage requirements. To avoid overusage, it is strongly recommended that you Draft players totaling the minimum AB’s and IP per position, as follows:
a) All fielding positions (CA, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, each OF position): 650 AB’s per position. Note that utility players can “spread” their AB’s among the positions. If you have five OF’s on your roster with a combined 2700 AB’s, you’ll be fine.
b) Starting pitching: 850 IP.
c) Relief pitching: 650 IP. Note that Starter/Relievers can also be “spread” among both categories; however, don’t make the mistake of double-counting those pitchers. For example, if you have 750 IP by “pure” starters, 550 IP by “pure” relievers, and 100 IP by Starter/Relievers, don’t add 100 innings to both your starting and relief corps.
d) As a reference point, the average number of AB’s for an NL team last year was 5573, with pitchers getting about 350 of those. The average number of IP per team was 1446. In the past five years, no team has had more than 5687 AB’s or 1468 IP in a season.
7. Emergency Waiver Rule. In order to avoid overusage penalties such as playoff ineligibility, a team may select a player from the Free Agent pool at the end of the 6th Block in order to meet usage requirements. Such selection is subject to the following rules and restrictions:
a) The selecting team must drop a player from its roster. Such player must have accumulated 90% of his adjusted usage. That player is placed in the Free Agent pool the following year, if he otherwise meets the eligibility requirements.
b) The player selected from the Free Agent pool cannot have an OPS (On-Base Percentage plus Slugging Average) of more than .660, or an ERA of less than 5.10. If a batter, he must have a Fielding Rating of 4 or 5. He must have a balance rating between 4L and 4R.
c) The player can accumulate an unlimited number of AB’s or IP from that point on. The player is returned to the Free Agent pool at the end of the season, if he otherwise meets the eligibility requirements.
d) The player’s salary is not pro-rated. He cannot be selected if his salary would cause the selecting team to exceed its salary cap, after reduction for the player(s) dropped from the roster. e) The selecting team will be penalized an additional $2 million from the next season’s salary cap.
D. Positional Usage Limits and Requirements.
1. Designated Hitter. Designated hitter will never be used.
2. Positions. With the exception specified in Section IV.D.7. below, no player may appear at a position he isn’t rated for with the exception of outfielders, as long as they have a rating for one outfield position, subject to the following: Any player with a rating for center field may play either left field or right field. Any player with a rating for left field or right field of 4 or 5 may not play center field. Position players may not pitch.
3. Pitcher Pinch-hitting. A manager may not use a pitcher as a pinch hitter if there are more than two bench players remaining during a particular game.
4. Pinch-hitting. A manager may not deliberately remove, pinch-hit for, or change the defensive position of the last player eligible to play at a position.
5. Exhaustion – Pitchers. If all eligible pitchers have been used, the current relief pitcher must remain in the game, even if weak or in excess of IP limitations. A manager may not deliberately remove nor pinch hit for the last eligible pitcher.
6. Exhaustion – Players. A manager may not deliberately remove, pinch-hit for, or change the defensive position of the last player eligible to play at a position.
7. No Defensive Rating.Any player not given any defensive rating for any position by Strat can only play 1B, and will be given a rating of 1B 5e25
8. HAL. The term “manager” in this section applies only to human managers. HAL can, and will, do whatever he wants. However, an owner cannot set his computer manager to do things which violate these rules, e.g., provide that a starting pitcher will be removed after giving up fewer than 5 runs.
E. Non-overusage Bonus. Each team which has accumulated no overusage during the course of the season will receive a bonus of one roster spot during the following league cut-down. E.g., teams which played in the championship series will be allowed to keep 15 players (taking into account the penalty for AL player retention), other playoff teams will be allowed to keep 16 players on its roster, and non-playoff teams will be allowed to keep 18 players.
V. The Season
A. Blocks. The Liberty League season will be divided into three blocks of 24 games, followed by three blocks of 21 games, one block of 15 games, and one block of 12 games. The latter two blocks shall occur in September, and expanded rosters will be allowed during those blocks.
B. Computer Managers. The first step in each block will be the preparation of the team’s computer manager. The computer manager will be posted in the appropriate section on the Group site. The Commissioner, in his discretion, can auto-generate a computer manager for any team which has not posted its manager on the site within three days after the time designated for completion and submission of Computer Managers. A Computer Manager must contain the following settings:
1. Players. Exactly 25 players must be activated for each of the first six blocks. During the 7th and 8th Block, all players may be activated. Active rosters can change between blocks and must contain, in some fashion, (2) two players eligible at each position, beyond the eight positional players that will be in a lineup at any one time. For example, if your regular second baseman also plays short and third, and your regular shortstop also plays second, this does not constitute a backup for those positions; you would also need a utility infielder who could play at least one of the infield positions.
2. Pitchers. If using individual pitcher settings, the setting for “Remove after allowing ? runs” cannot be set to less than 5 for starting pitchers.
C. Playing the Games. Games will be played either solitaire, through netplay, or by autoplay. “Netplay” includes play by chat-text program or by phone.
1. Unless arrangements are made for netplay, each team must solitaire play or autoplay their road games during each block.
2. Any teams may, by agreement with their opponent, netplay any games in each block.
3. Any series which has not been completed and posted on the Group site within 24 hours of the end of the block will be autoplayed by the Commissioner or a member the Rules Committee whom he selects.
4. If a team solitaire-plays a series without using the correct computer manager of the home team, the aggrieved player can require any or all of the games to be replayed, either by the visiting team or through autoplay by the Commissioner. The home team waives any objection to improper use of its computer manager if it does not bring it to the attention of the Commissioner within 48 hours after the game results are posted in the Group site.
D. Other Instructions. Other than the Computer Manager, no separate instructions may be specified for the play of games for Blocks One through Six. Separate instructions can be given in Blocks Seven and Eight, subject to the following restrictions: (A) The only instruction permitted is to deactivate one or more players, and (B) The instruction must be separately sent, by email, to the opposing manager. A general notification by email to the group site is not sufficient.
E. Penalties for Noncompliance. An owner who fails to submit his game files or Computer Manager within the time allotted by the rules, resulting in a series being autoplayed or a Computer Manager being auto-generated, will be subject to the following penalties: First violation: warning. Second violation: loss of 10th round draft choice in following year’s Draft. Third violation: loss of 8th round draft choice in following year’s Draft. Fourth violation: Loss of 5th round draft choice in following year's Draft. Fifth violation: Reduction of following year’s salary cap by 5%. All penalties are cumulative. In extreme cases, such as computer failure, the penalties may be suspended at the discretion of the Commissioner. New owners shall not be subject to penalties incurred under this Section for violations by the team’s previous owner.
F. League Files. At the end of each block, the League Commissioner or someone he designates will prepare the League CM File and post it on the Group site. Members will download the file and use it to prepare their Computer Manager for the next block, and post the Computer Manager on the Group Site. The League Commissioner or someone he designates will then incorporate the Computer Managers into a Playball File, and post that on the Group Site. The Playball File will then be used to play the series for that Block.
VI. The Games
A. Optional Settings. Rules, Max Rules, Lineups and Usage, and Autoplay/Boxscore will be set in the League Files, and may not be changed. Other than designation of the computer player and human player, which will be home and road, respectively, any other settings under Options may be changed in the player’s discretion.
B. Game Settings. The following settings will be used for all games:
1. Rules: Maximum rules, Super Advanced Steal System, Miscellaneous Rules, Do Not Use Injuries, Allow GBA on Pitcher Cards, Ballpark Effects, Weather Effects, Clutch Hitting, Super Advanced Strategy Charts, Use Closer Rules, Use SADV Fatigue and Pitch Count.
2. Max Rules:All except Improve statistical accuracy, Force daily injuries, and Allow extra pre-1920 errors, and any rules pertaining to injuries. EXCEPTION: Home Field Advantage will not be used in Netplay games, nor during the Playoffs.
3. Autoplay/Boxscore:Output Boxscore, PAC and Scoresheet, Output Save To File, Output Always, Display Game Story on Boxscore, Create Game Result Files, and all Subset boxes.
C. Starting Pitcher Rule. During the regular season, the Visiting Team starting pitcher in solitaire games, and both team’s starting pitchers in netplay games, must throw a minimum of five innings (5) per start unless they have given up five (5) or more runs. During the playoffs, each team’s starting pitchers must throw a minimum of four (4) innings per start unless they have given up three (3) or more runs.
D. Playing the Games.
1. Download the current league CM file from website at the beginning of the Block. These files are designated with an “LZP' extension; click on it and save it to the “/CDROMBB/BACKUP directory.
2. Use the 'Restore League' function to incorporate these files into your own home Strat-O-Matic game. If you have questions on how to use this, please consult the HELP section within your game or ask a league member.
3. All teams will create or revise a Strat-O-Matic 'computer manager' each block so that opponents may use this as a substitute for face-to-face or Netplay of Liberty League games. Computer managers must be uploaded to the Group site at the beginning of each block. They will then be incorporated into the Playball file, which will then be posted on the website, and also sent in an email attachment. Download and restore the Playball file. This is the file you will use to play games for that block. DO NOT play the games without downloading and restoring that block’s Playball file.
4. Remember, you will be playing your team’s ROAD games. If you receive an error message of any kind while attempting to import an opponent’s computer manager, please report this via the group to all other owners. Do not attempt to play the games with that computer manager.
5. When you open the game to begin a series, select “give 15 days rest.“ Do not select this option for each game. Make sure that “Computer Manager” is selected as the Home Team’s default manager. Most importantly, make sure the “export game files” box is checked or unable to be checked off accidentally. No export files means REPLAY, no matter what happened.
6. At the end of each game save “boxscore and PAC” as one file for each game in the following way: CAQ@WESx, where x is the number of the game in that series. (E.g., CAQ@WES1.)
E. Reporting Games.
1. Combine the game files, the print files, and the boxes into a zip file. Label the zip file in the format starting day_visiting team@home team_ending day, e.g., CAQ@WES.
2. Upload the zip file into the appropriate folder on the Group site. Be sure to check the box marked “send a message to the group announcing this file.” You can put anything you want in the description, as long as you include the names of both teams which participated in the series (city or nickname), and the outcome of the series, e.g., “CAQ 2, WES 1” or “Quakes sweep Ripcats.” If you played a particularly interesting series or game, you might want to write a more detailed account of it and send it to the group as an email.
3. Upon receiving a notice that your team played in a completed series, the home team manager should check the boxscores and play-by-plays to make sure correct starters and lineups were used. Alert the Commissioner of any error. Any error requiring a replay of any of the games in the series – e.g., correct Playball file not used, improper lineup settings -- must be reported within twenty-four hours after the results are posted on the Group site. The aggrieved party has the choice of accepting the results or having any or all games in the series replayed.
VII. The Playoffs
A. Qualifiers. Each team finishing the season with at least 82 wins will qualify for the playoffs.
B. Rosters. The playoffs will commence seven days in real time after the conclusion of the regular season. Three days prior to the commencement of each round of the playoffs, each playoff team will submit its playoff roster of 25 players. No changes to that roster can be made for the duration of that round of the playoffs.
C. Seeding and Rounds. The playoffs will consist of however many rounds are necessary for one team to prevail as champion. Each round will be seeded, with the team with the best record playing the team with the worst record, the team with the second-best record playing the team with the second-worst record, and so forth. (As long as a division-winner is involved in the playoffs, that winner will have a higher seed than a non-division-winner, even if the latter has the better record.) If two teams have the same records, ties will be broken according to head-to-head record, then margin between runs scored and runs allowed, then intradivisional record, then a coin flip.
D. Games. Each series will consist of seven games in a 2-3-2 format, with the higher-seeded team having the extra home game. For purposes of calculating starter usage, there will be two off-days between the regular season and each round of the playoffs, and an off-day after the 2nd and 5th game of each series.
E. Byes. The playoffs will be structured, and byes given out, so that no team gets a bye after the first round; thus, either two or four teams will be in the playoffs by the second round. This works as follows: IF THREE TEAMS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS: Seed #1 gets a bye.
IF FOUR TEAMS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS: No one gets a bye.
IF FIVE TEAMS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS: Seeds #1, #2, and #3 get a bye.
IF SIX TEAMS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS: Seeds #1 and #2 get a bye.
IF SEVEN TEAMS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS: Seed #1 gets a bye.
IF EIGHT TEAMS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS: No one gets a bye.
F. Game Play. All playoff games will be played via netplay. If a team owner is unable to play via netplay, the Commissioner or a member of the Rules Committee selected by him will play the team in that owner’s place. (“Unable” in this context means unable to complete the series within ten days.) If satisfactory arrangements cannot be made for netplay, then, in the Commissioner’s discretion, the games will be autoplayed by the Commissioner or a member of the Rules Committee selected by him. All regular-season rules and settings will be in force during the playoffs, with the exception that Home Field Advantage will be turned off for all games played via netplay.
G. Usage.All players are limited in usage during each round of the playoffs to 10% of their seasonal Adjusted Usage. (E.g., Player A had 373 AB’s during the season; Player B had 33 IP. For each playoff series, Player A would be limited to 37 AB’s, and Player B would be limited to 3 IP.)