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1.01 | Really Old Time Baseball League (ROTABL) will consist of one league of 12 teams, broken down into 3 divisions of 4 teams each. |
1.02 | Franchise names will be at the discretion of owners. Once selected, they may not be changed in order to keep an accurate and simplified league historical database. |
1.03 | The season will be 154 games. |
1.04 | The league is comprised of 12 teams in 3 4-team divisions: Eastern, Western, and Southern. |
1.05 | Joining and playing in the league is free; there are no dues or other charges. |
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2.01 | ROTABL is an APBA Baseball 5.75 simulation game, using all features within. |
2.02 | MicroManagers are required for all road series where the visiting manager is not personally (in person, via internet, or otherwise) managing his team. Any micromanager may be used and must also be provided by the visiting manager if not commonly available to the league. |
2.03 | Owners are responsible for declaring their team's MicroManager and providing a copy to League Management to be posted on the league website so all can access. In the event that a team fails to designate a MicroManager, Buck Miller IV will be used. |
2.04 | Owners may play live if and whenever possible; however it is not a requirement and both managers must agree. Otherwise the visiting manager will have their team managed by their designated MicroManager. |
2.05 | Ballpark effects will not be used. |
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3.01 | Major League rosters consist of 35 players during the season. Teams may exceed the 35 player limit in the off-season.. It is each team's responsibility to keep enough carded players on the 35 man roster to provide full seasonal coverage at all offensive positions as well as pitching. |
3.02 | If a player misses a season due to military service, they may be placed on a special "Military Reserve" list (MR). Players on MR do not count against the 35 man roster limit. When the player regains their card, they must be taken off the MR list or released. |
3.03 | A 28-man roster is used for each series and may be changed from series to series. It may not be changed in the middle of a series. |
3.04 | Active rosters may be expanded to the full 35-man limit after game #132 of the season has been played. |
3.05 | Players who did not play in the current season (previously carded players) may be retained. These players will be designated with "DNP". They may not be used in games under any circumstances. IR players count against the 35 man roster limit during the season. |
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4.01 | AIM will be used to manage all batting and pitching limits. |
4.02 | Pitchers without a starting grade cannot start unless absolutely required due to injury. Any pitcher may be used in relief. |
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5.01 | Players are limited to 150% of their actual steal attempts. League management will be responsible for judging violations and levying fines if deemed appropriate. Teams may request that their player's steal rating be set to N-0 between series during the regular season. |
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6.01 | A player may play at a non-rated position only when the starting and all rated backup players for that position have been injured, ejected, or substituted. Pinch-hitting or pinch running for the last available rated player at a position is allowed only from the 9th inning on. |
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7.01 | AIM will be used to manage all injuries. |
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8.01 | All games will be played in Domed stadiums to prevent rainouts. |
8.02 | Any results submitted with rainouts will be ignored and the series will be simmed. |
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9.01 | Each manager must provide an f-file at the beginning of the season, designating team pitching rotation, roster, and lineups to be use for road games. This file may be changed after each series. |
9.02 | The 28-man active roster for each series must include a minimum of 2 rated players for each defensive position and a minimum of 5 rated players for the outfield. Each roster and lineup must have a minimum of 4 pitchers (may be rated relievers or starters with available relief appearances and innings) available for relief, and 4 starting pitchers, 3 of which are ineligible to pitch (resting). |
9.03 | Managers must email their f-file results to the Groups.io email account in a timely fashion upon the conclusion of each series. No series is official until the league statistician has validated the f-file. |
9.04 | It is each manager's responsibility to notify league management in advance if they will not be able to play their current series. |
9.05 | Due to the depth of the league and high degree of competition desired and expected, it is each owner's responsibility to actively manage their roster and play their games. If you are unable to play your games, it is common courtesy to let the league know with ample notice so that your games can be simmed. |
9.06 | Any manager who becomes AWOL after thirty (30) days, without having made prior arrangements with the commissioner, may be immediately terminated at the discretion of the commissioner. |
9.07 | Pitching rotations are to be scheduled for a minimum of the upcoming series. Managers are responsible to manage their rotation so that starters will be available (Rested or Ready status) for their scheduled starts. |
9.08 | No team may begin play until their season-opening f-file (with pitching rotation, roster, and lineups) is on file with the league statistician. |
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10.01 | The 3 division champions and the team remaining with the next best won-loss record ("Wildcard") will advance to the post-season. The division winner with the best won-loss record will play the playoff team with the worst won-loss record in the first round; the 2 playoff teams with the 2nd and 3rd best records also play. The Quarter Finals and World Series will be best-of-seven (7) games, played in a 2-3-2 format. |
10.02 | Wildcard and/or divisional ties will be broken by a one-game playoff, at the home of the team with the better record in head-to-head play. In the event of a head-to-head tie, the next tie-breaker used will be divisional record. If still tied, a coin flip by the commissioner will determine the home field. |
10.03 | Division winners have home field advantage over wildcard teams throughout the playoffs. |
10.04 | The World Series home team will be the team with the best regular season record. In the event of a tie, the following criteria will be used to break the tie: 1) Best road record, 2) Most runs scored, 3) Coin flip. |
10.05 | Injuries from the season will NOT carry over into the playoffs. Any injuries sustained in the playoffs will carry through the rest of the playoffs. |
10.06 | Player fatigue from the regular season will carry over into the playoffs. |
10.07 | Playoff rosters will be 26 players and must be declared before the start of the playoffs. |
10.08 | Playoff rosters may be changed between series; changes to the roster during an actively played series are not allowed. |
10.09 | Only starting pitchers with 50 or more innings pitched, and relievers with 25 or more innings pitched are eligible for post-season play. |
10.10 | Innocuous batters (OPS < .600) are eligible for the post-season regardless of their actual MLB at-bat and innings totals. |
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11.01 | A voluntary Awards Committee will be formed at the end of the season to vote on league MVP, Cy Young, ROY, Fireman of the Year, All-Stars, Gold Gloves, and Silver Sluggers. Any owner that wishes to participate may join the Awards Committee. |
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12.01 | An annual draft of available players (unowned carded players) will be conducted each year on a date determined by the commissioner (approximately early January). The draft will be held via the league Draft Website and the number of rounds will be flexible to ensure teams can draft enough players to cover for expiring contracts and injuries. |
12.02 | All unaffiliated players on the new APBA data disk are eligible for the draft. Uncarded players may not be drafted. |
12.03 | The draft order will be set in the inverse order of the final standings. In the event of ties for any position, the previous year's record will be used as a tiebreaker. If still tied, the year previous to that will be used. In the event that there are no historical records to compare, the playoff tiebreaker rules will be applied. |
12.04 | Draft picks may be traded at any time, including during the actual draft. Only draft picks for next/current draft may be traded. |
12.05 | Instructions, draft order, and a list of eligible players will be distributed prior to the draft. |
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13.01 | Trades can take place at any time during the season, with the exception of short roster freeze periods that will be announced by league management. Trades must not violate roster or contract restrictions for either team. |
13.02 | No trades are official until reported by both managers to the League Management for confirmation. Trades will be reported to the league in a timely manner via the website and mailing list. |
13.03 | Draft picks for the next upcoming (or current, if in progress) annual draft are the only draft picks permitted in trades. |
13.04 | In the event that collusion or other unfair/unethical is suspected, League Management will form a Trade Committee of 3 owners (picked at random) to review the trade in question. If a majority of the Trade Committee feels that there is a breach of ethics and fair play the trade will be overturned. The Trade Committee will be instructed to only consider foul play and an obvious attempt to cheat; the trade being subjectively uneven is not grounds in and of itself to nullify the trade. |
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14.01 | Prior to the season, the commissioner (or his delegate) will perform adjustments to various AIM player ratings. |
14.02 | Innocuous batters (OPS < .600) with an injury rating of J-3 or J-4 will have it adjusted to J-2. |
14.03 | Any batters with a Season Factor (SF) less than 100 will have it normalized to 100. This will reduce the player's PR as a result (e.g. a 1000/60 player will become a 600/100 player). With SF=100, the player will no longer be "games-limited" in their usage. |
14.04 | Pitchers with a grade of 1, 2, or 3 will have their Maximum Batters Faced (MBF) set to 1000. |
14.05 | Grade 1-3 starting pitchers will have their injury rating set to J-2 and their Durability rating set to 2. This will result in their MRR being calculated to 35 and RF to 9. |
14.06 | Grade 1-3 relievers will have their injury rating set to J-0 and their Durability rating set to 1. This will result in their MRR being calculated to 18 and RF to 7. |
14.07 | Split grade pitchers with both grades 3 or under will have their injury rating set to J-1 and their Durability rating set to 2 as a starter and 1 as a reliever. |
14.08 | If a split grade pitcher has either grade greater than 3, they will not receive any AIM adjustments. |
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15.01 | All rule changes to the ROTABL Constitution must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the voting managers. |
15.02 | New additions to the constitution must receive majority approval. |
15.03 | Any league manager may submit rule proposals. |
15.04 | Voting on rule proposals/charter modifications for the following season will take place in the off-season. No in-season modifications to the charter will be permitted. |
