Table of Contents

1. SBA League Organization
2. Commissioner’s Office
3. Players and Player Usage
4. Regular Season
5. Post Season
6. Computer Manager
7. Statistics
8. Trading
9. Annual Draft
10. Miscellaneous

NON-NET PLAY OR TEAM VIEWER REMINDER

When you are playing games each week using computer managers, the team scheduled to play games 4-6 must give each team 3 days rest in order to properly ensure the starting pitchers are getting the proper rest from the end of the previous week. You are not required to import G1-3 results before playing Games 4-6, but you should give each team 3 days rest.

New Pitcher's Usage for 2025

New rule for 2025 is that pitcher ip totals will increase by 5-percent on what is on the card. Pitchers will thus be allowed to go to 105-percent usage (with penalties below for 106-107, 108-109 and 110-plus percentages. Also relievers with 40 or more innings (previously 41 or more) can be used unlimited in playoffs. Clarification: For the 40-inning rule and also the starter eligiblity in the playoffs, the innings are based are actual total not the total after the 5-percent increase.

New Rules for 2022

See below, MOBAR rule drops to 4 for starters.

Also, outfield rule used in game in regards to outfielders moving positions in the OF.

New Rule for 2018 (Playoffs only)

MOBAR rule in playoffs drops from 5 to 3 in regards to when a starting pitcher can be pulled. MOBAR is men on base plus runs allowed in same inning.

New Rules for 2012

I. SBA League Organization (Sportsman’s Baseball Association)

The SBA is a 16-team league featuring computer play, keeper rosters, an annual major league free agent draft, in-season free agent acquisitions, no injuries, and player ABs/IPs limits. Home teams play the games using computer managers, but Netplay, Team Viewer or face-to-face gameplay is strongly encouraged.

The SBA consists of two eight-team divisions with the Dubois and Bergerson Divisions

Chicago Argyle Sox

Middle Earth Hobbits

Bartonville Bombers

Rushmore Red Doggs

Minnow Lake Fighting Beavers

South Dakota Thunder

Smithton Criers

Texas Tornadoes

Kampeska Raiders

New York Knights

The Dothraki Dragons

Lake City Ice Sox

Indiana Hoosier Daddies

Vacaville Valley Rockers

Nickel City Miners

Las Vegas Bandits

Teams can be managed by multiple participants/members:

Participant #1: General Manager—makes trades, orchestrates draft, etc.

Participant #2: Field Manager—plays games, creates computer manager, keeps stats, etc.

--162 game Regular Season (14 games within division, 8 games outside division).

--Weekly schedule consisting of 29 weeks—Post Season schedule culminates with World Series Championship.

--Team rosters consist of 33 players.

--Season played with 26 man rosters. Rosters can change from series to series.

--A maximum of 12 pitchers can be active on the 26 man roster.

--Designated hitters will be used.

--Full roster eligible for schedule’s last segment (intra-divisional games).

--Computer image players are eligible for regular season play but not for postseason play.

--Active rosters must have a back-up for every position.

--Team rosters cut  1 week prior to major league free agent draft (you can cut down or keep as many as you want in regards to 33-man roster limit)

--One (1) week prior to the major league free agent draft, all managers must confirm with the Commissioner’s Office the list of draft picks they own is accurate as indicated on the SBA website. Upon receipt of the SBA Draft Day Excel spreadsheet, managers are to review and confirm the spreadsheet’s accuracy with the Commissioner’s Office no less than 72 hours prior to the draft.

--Game result files and boxscores are forwarded to the opponent, league commissioners, league statistician, and website coordinator after each completed series to maintain an accurate statistical game disk and webpage.

--League statistician compiles updated league stats disk from submitted game files each week and distributes to league members every Sunday night of the regular season prior to the start of the next week’s games.

--Career leaders are posted on the web page and will be updated yearly.
--League records are kept for both individual and team batting and pitching.

--Major League free agent player draft held on Super Bowl Saturday.

--Draft ensures teams reach 33-man rosters. A team can keep 33 guys or cut down and receive extra picks if necessary to get to 33-man roster after draft.

--Beginning with the 2005 draft, image only players are eligible to be drafted.

--Each team can acquire up to four players from the available free agent pool during the regular season. See New Rule for 2012 Above.

--Free agent acquisitions must be claimed prior to Games 109-162.

--Free agent acquisitions are effective at the beginning of an SBA scheduled week; no mid-series acquisitions are allowed.

--Free agent acquisitions are available on a first come, first served basis; a team’s league record or standings do not apply.

--League Commissioners and Statistician must be alerted by Sunday, 6 PM EST (timeline is adjustable as to league statistician)  to the acquisition request via email for the

acquisition to be eligible for the upcoming week’s games.

--The Commissioner’s Office will confirm the acquisition request and alert the league via email.

--Teams must release a player to acquire a free agent.

--Acquired free agent acquisitions are lost to that team at the conclusion of the World Series.

--Released players are eligible to be acquired as free agents after their release.

--Released players will have any ABs/IPs that were used during the current SBA season subtracted from their ABs/IPs limits (Example: Lenny Harris beings a season with 95 ABs;

he was used for 35 ABs and eventually released after game 24; he is eligible to be acquired as a free agent, but now only has 60 ABs remaining).

II. Commissioner’s Office

Co-Commissioner: Billy Vanson
Co-Commissioner: Roger Merriam

Stats/Files: Steve McKerral

Webpage Coordinator: Roger Merriam

Lottery Draft Administrator: Steve McKerral

The Commissioner’s Office ensures the SBA operates smoothly, resulting in maximum enjoyment for all members. The Office will make unbiased and fair decisions while maintaining the best interests of the SBA.

--Establish league guidelines.
--Design regular season and post season schedules.
--Record trades.
--Entertain new ideas by league members in the form of proposals and bring them to vote--passage requires 62.5% of voting members to pass. 
--Tabulate and distribute league statistics and rosters.
--Coordinate playoff and World Series games if participants can't play face-to-face.
--Distribute league trophy.
--Settle disputes/rules interpretations.
--Establish computer game settings for use in playing games.

An important Commissioner’s Office responsibility involves rule changes, game enhancements and amendments to the Constitution. League members are encouraged to submit

their ideas for league enhancement to the Commissioner’s Office who will then present the ideas for vote. Changes and/or enhancements to the league must be proposed and

voted on prior to the Major League Draft.

--The process begins with an OPEN dialogue involving league members, who are asked for their input on each prospective change.

--A change may be modified based on this input and then submitted for league-wide vote.

--The passage requirement for any change is 61`% of voting members (11 of 18 members, currently)

III. Players and Player Usage

--Team rosters consist of 33 players--26 active and 7 inactive. --All players can be activated during the season’s last segment. --Rosters can be changed from week to week. -

Beginning with the 2005 draft, computer image players are allowed as members of the 33 man roster but these players are ineligible for the playoffs. They can play in the regular

season (based on their actual IP and AB limitations)

--Players cannot exceed 100% usage (105 percent for pitchers based on new rule for 2025) as determined by the IP/AB limits listed on their card ). The SBA will use the combo

card when a player has been issued a NL and AL card for the regular season.

--10 uncarded players can be protected on a roster. NOTE - Uncarded players are those that have previously received a card and are now uncarded due to injury or demotion to

the minors; uncarded players do not refer to rookies that have not received a card.

--All starting pitchers with an asterisk (* = 200+ IP) can pitch with 3 days rest between starts. Non asterisk (*) pitchers must have 4 days rest between starts.
--Combo cards with 200+ IP are considered asterisk (*) pitchers hence only 3 days rest needed.

--Starting pitchers must remain in the game unless 
a) he has pitched four complete innings, or 
b) his MOBAR (mens on base and runs scored) is four or higher.
        

(For example, five runs and the bases empty is a MOBAR of 4; three runs and one runner on is a MOBAR of 4)
Note: HAL can remove starters at any time.

-- New Playoff Rule for 2018 (Playoffs only): MOBAR rule in playoffs drops from 5 to 3 in regards to when a starting pitcher can be pulled. MOBAR is men on base plus runs allowed in same inning.

--Exclusive starting pitchers cannot relieve. Exclusive relief pitchers cannot start.

--A pitcher able to both start and relieve must have at least 2 games rest (2 games or 1 game plus 1 day or rest) between starting and relief appearances, or vice versa. A pitcher pitching in the regular rotation (every 3-5 games), may not relieve between starts without losing a turn in the rotation.

--Pitch count fatigue will play a role in determining whether a pitcher is tired or not. Pitchers can relieve or start while tired.

Relief Pitching
--SADV Fatigue with pitch count will control relief usage. Generally a reliever cannot pitch 3 straight days without being tired on day 3. --The last available relief pitcher in any game must finish the game.

Players Playing Out of Position
--A player can only play a position listed on his card. One exception:
1) Autoplay used
During home games, the replacement must be the bench player with the lowest batting average.
HAL may use a player out of position while running teams in away games.

2) Per this above rule, position players cannot be used as pitchers.

IV. Regular Season

--162 Game Regular Season---Teams play their home games. The home field switch will be disabled during all league action.

--Statistics are due to league statistician following each weekly series for posting into league stat disk.
--Season begins in March/April; playoffs and World Series played during September/October.

V. Post Season

Both playoff team managers should participate in each game of the Playoffs and World Series. This will remove HAL from the equation. Each manager that wants to manager his team MUST be afforded that opportunity. However, a manager (Manager "X") can waive this right and allow the opponent’s home games be played with his computer manager, but his opponent can still exercise his right to participate in the games Manager "X" plays as the home team.

The heirarchy of Post Season game play consists of the following:

1. Netplay or Team Viewer or Face-to-Face
2. Phone contact or IM for a manager to manage his own team
3. Netplay or Team Viewer with one team managed by proxy
4. Traditional play with computer manager sent out by the road manager (Manager "Z") that does not want to Netplay, Team Viewer or phone/IM, and Netplay, Team Viewer or phone/IM for home games played by Manager "Z".

Should one manager choose not to Netplay or Team Viewer, he should agree to play the games with phone contact or IM.  If he does not wish to do that, then he should assign a league manager to manage his team via Netplay or Team Viewer.  The underlying point is that a manager should be allowed to control his team during each playoff game.  If a manager does not want to, he can send a CM or assign a manager to play his games as a proxy via NetPlay or Team Viewer.

Eight (8) teams qualify for the playoffs - the top 2 teams in each division plus the two-remaining wild-card teams based on season record. The team with the overall best record gains home field advantage for the World Series.

In case of a tie for the last playoff spot, the tied teams must play a one-game playoff with AB/IP limits in effect (See Player Post Season Eligibility).

Rosters
--Rosters fixed at 26 players for entire postseason unless roster spots have been lost due to overusage.
--Rosters can change from series to series.

--Computer image players are ineligible for the playoffs. --Active rosters must have an eligible backup listed for each defensive position.

--During the post season players shall be limited to AB/IP based on the following:

Player Post Season Eligibility
--Any player who exceeds 100% usage as determined by their IP/AB limits during the regular season becomes ineligible for the post season and costs his team that respective roster spot. (Example: If Tim Hudson exceeds 100% usage on his IPs limit, he becomes ineligible for the post season AND his team's post season roster is reduced from 26 to 25 players).
--A pitcher/player will be allowed to exceed their AB/IP limits for a tiebreaker game and still remain eligible for the playoffs if they have not exceeded their limitations during the 162 game regular season. If a pitcher/player does exceed their respective AB/IP limits prior to the tiebreaker game, that player becomes ineligible for the tiebreaker game as well as the playoffs. --All pitching rotations and rest with regards to pitchers will continue from the regular season. --Player overusage will be determined by the computer game usage chart. A 100% or less usage rating indicates no overusage. Overusage is based on AB/IP limits, not plate appearances. Ratings above 100% result in the following penalties:

101-102% - 7th round pick or better for each instance. Lost playoff roster spot for each instance.

103-104% - 6th round pick or better for each instance. Lost playoff roster spot for each instance.

105%+ - 5th round pick or better for each instance. Lost playoff roster spot for each instance. (2025 on: With new pitching rule at 105%. the penalties for pitchers are 106-107, 108-109 and 110-plus).

--Regular season rules are in effect on pitcher's pinch hitting and running status.

Starting pitchers require the same number of days off between playoff starts that are required during the regular season.

Sept 30 Regular Season finale
Oct 1 Off Day*
Oct 2 Off Day*
Oct 3 First Round Game 1 played by the home team
Oct 4 First Round Game 2 played by the home team
Oct 5 Off Day
Oct 6 First Round Game 3 played by the road team
Oct 7 First Round Game 4 played by the road team
Oct 8 First Round Game 5 played by the home team (if necessary)
Oct 9 Off Day
Oct 10 First Round Game 6 played by the road team (if necessary)
Oct 11 First Round Game 7 played by the home team (if necessary)
Oct 12 Off Day
Oct 13 Off Day
Oct 14 Semifinal Series Game 1 played by the home team
Oct 15 Semifinal Series Game 2 played by the home team
Oct 16 Off Day
Oct 17 Semifinal Series Game 3 played by the road team
Oct 18 Semifinal Series Game 4 played by the road team
Oct 19 Semifinal Series Game 5 played by the home team (if necessary)
Oct 20 Off Day
Oct 21 Semifinal Series Game 6 played by the road team (if necessary)
Oct 22 Semifinal Series Game 7 played by the home team (if necessary)
Oct 23 Off Day
Oct 24 Off Day
Oct 25 World Series Game 1 played by the home team
Oct 26 World Series Game 2 played by the home team
Oct 27 Off Day
Oct 28 World Series Game 3 played by the road team
Oct 29 World Series Game 4 played by the road team
Oct 30 World Series Game 5 played by the home team (if necessary)
Oct 31 Off Day
Nov 1 World Series Game 6 played by the road team (if necessary)
Nov 2 World Series Game 7 played by the home team (if necessary)

* The two off days immediately following the regular season will not be given to any teams involved in tiebreaker games. Any tiebreaker games needed to determine playoff teams will be played on those two days. You might need to use your ace in a tiebreaker game, which could leave him less than fully rested for the first round of the playoffs.

VI. Computer Manager

--Computer managers are due each Tuesday by 12 PM EST (deadline can be adjusted if files are sent out later). Should a team not receive a computer manager by the due date

and has not been contacted by the opposing manager, notify the Commissioner’s Office. The Commissioner’s Office will authorize autoplay for that series.

VII. Statistics

--The SBA will use all statistics in conjunction with the computer game.

--Due dates for home computer managers are due Tuesday night by 12 PM EST (deadline can be adjusted if files are sent out later). YOU MUST FOLLOW THESE DATES. Each

team is allowed 2 weeks relief to pass on playing games. 

--Nothing dampers a manager’s enjoyment more than having to wait for computer managers and statistics. Autoplay WILL be used to alleviate this problem.

--If you are not sure your manager or statistics will arrive by the due date, notify the opposing manager and Commissioner’s Office to alert them. If computer managers or statistics

are not received by the due date, and the manager or Commissioner’s Office have not been notified of the delay, autoplay will be used.

VIII. Trading

--Any trade offer extended by one party and agreed upon by another party, whether written or verbal, constitutes a trade agreement. However, to avoid possible need for the Commissioner’s Office to settle disputes, each party must confirm via email the trade details to avoid any misunderstanding. All trades should be communicated to the Commissioner’s Office immediately for league records.

--Trades completed between the Annual Draft and the start of the season must be one-for-one, two-for-two, etc.
--Trades completed between the start of the season and the Annual Draft can be any combination of players or draft picks, including minor league players.
--Draft choices for the next season can be traded. You cannot trade picks 2 seasons into the future.

IX. Annual Draft

--Each team can keep or cut as many players as they want the week prior to the draft to ensure all managers have ample time to compile a draft list of players available. --Each team will draft until they have a 33 player roster. --Trading is suspended during the week leading up to the major league free agent draft.

Draft order reflects season records and playoff success:

1st round only--regardless of the team’s regular season record. 
--The draft order for the first 8 positions of the 1st round constitute the 8 non-playoff teams (Lottery). 
--The draft lottery determines the draft order for the 8 non-playoff teams; the lottery team with the worst record has 8 chances to gain the first pick while the lottery team with the best record has only 1 chance. The top 3 picks are determined first, the remaining 5 teams are then slotted by record. The worst team is guaranteed the 4th best pick, 2nd worst team is guaranteed the 5th best pick and 3rd worst team is guaranteed the 6th best pick. The Lottery will be conducted by random rolls in the AOL chatroom (or other viable option)  to ensure fairness. 
 

Those 8 teams making the playoffs draft at the end of the first round:
--The team winning the World Series will draft 18th.
--The team losing the World Series will draft 17th.
--Teams losing in the semifinals will draft 15th and 16th respectfully, based on overall record.
--Teams losing in the quarterfinals with draft 11th, 12th, 13th or 14th, respectfully,, based on overall record.

These rules reflect the FIRST ROUND only. Rounds 2-10+ are determined by regular season record.

X. Miscellaneous

The following computer rules used will be and set on the initial roster disk sent by the statistician:

Main Rules-Maximum
Max rules used: Bunt for base hit, Improve out distribution, Improve baserunning realism, doubles-triples option and allow errors on bunts and pickoffs.
Stealing-Super Advanced Steal System
Miscellaneous-Use Miscellaneous Rules
Groundball A-Allow GBA on Pitcher Cards
BP/Weather/clutch-Clutch Hitting
Strategy-Super Advanced Strategy Charts
Closer-Use Closer rules
Pitcher Fatigue-Use SADV Fatigue Rules with Pitch Count Home Field Switch---must be cut off by home team manager if netplaying or playing face to face.