The NPBL Rules/Regs
I. Overview
A. The
National Pastime Baseball League brings together 24 owners to compete for its
Championship.
B. The NPBL will use the most current version of Out of the Park Baseball to simulate the action.
C. The NPBL is free to all participants.
II. Owner
requirements
A. Sending in a lineup or a “no-change” email for each sim;
B. Participating in the Amateur Draft;
C. Contributing to the NPBL
Newspaper;
D. Naming their stadiums and minor league affiliates;
E. Playing hard and fair and respecting the Commissioners and other
owners.
F. Owners must follow the rules or be banished from the NPBL.
III.
Commissioner
A. The NPBL will use a two-commissioner system.
1.
There will be a Commissioner and an Assistant Commissioner;
2. Their duties include, but are not limited to:
a. Simming the league’s games in a timely fashion;
b. Updating league pages;
c. Running drafts and free agency periods;
d. Resolving all disputes and questions;
e. Encouraging league participation;
f. Improving the league;
g. Filling ownership vacancies, based on applicants’
merit.
B. The Commissioners may change any rule before the beginning of any
season and any such changes
shall be
promulgated by them.
C. The two Commissioners have final say in all matters, unless these
rules make an exception, and must
be
impartial.
IV. Simulations
A. The league will sim games every Tuesday,
Thursday, and Saturday.
B. The league will play 10 games per sim, to pass one game month per real
week.
C. Lineups and trades are due by
D. Owners should submit lineups by FTP.
E. The league will sim games live via the AOL Instant Messenger chat
program.
F. The league will sim its playoffs live in the
NPBL (AOL) Chatroom
1.
The league will simulate the Divisional Series on the first night;
2.
The league will simulate the League Championship Series and NPBL
Championship on the
second
night.
V. League
organization
A. The NPBL
has two leagues: the Founding Fathers (East) and the Great Explorers (West).
B. Each League
is comprised of three divisions of four teams.
1. The
divisions will be based on geographical proximity.
2. The
three division winners and one wild-card team from each league will make the
playoffs.
C. Neither
league shall use the Designated Hitter.
VII. Amateur
draft
A. Before each
season (starting with the second) there will be a five round Amateur Draft.
1. The
draft order will be set with the team with the worst record having the first
pick, the
next-worst
team having the second pick, going sequentially, until the team with the best
record that missed the playoffs will draft
sixteenth.
2. The
playoff teams will draft in slots 17-24:
a. The losers in the divisional series will draft 17-20;
b. The losers of the Championship Series will draft 21-22;
c. The NPBL Championship loser will draft 23;
d. The NPBL Championship winner will draft 24.
B. The league
will hold the Amateur Draft live in its chatroom.
1. The
league will hold the first two rounds on the first day.
2. The
league will hold the final three rounds the next day.
VIII. Trades
A. The commissioners may forbid a deal if that deal will grossly harm the
integrity of a team or the
league as a whole.
B. All trades must be posted on the league message board.
C. Both parties must agree to the deal before it is actioned.
D. After a trade, the owners should email the Commissioner with changes.
E. Draft picks may not be traded more than one season in the future.
F. All trades must include at least one player from each team.
IX. Team
location
A. All teams
will be placed and named before owners are admitted to the NPBL.
B. Each franchise will represent a State rather then a city.
1. Minor League affiliates must be located within that state. (
towns as close as possible to its
district.)
2. Owners may not use major cities for minor league teams.
3. Team names must be in good taste.
C. Each owner
will list their first five team choices in their application, and the
Commissioner will try
to match owners to
their choices.
D. Owners may
not move teams or change stadiums.
X. Created
Players
A. Before the start of the first NPBL season, each owner may create a
player in his or her own visage.
B. The created players will have the following characteristics:
1.
Each player will be 18 years of age, to allow for maximum player
development time.
2.
The player will have two Brilliant and two Good talents, with the rest
Average.
3.
The ratings of the player shall be set to 2, with fielding, speed and endurance set to C. Each
owner
may then allocate12 additional points to their player.
a. Upgrading a numerical rating will cost 1 point (a numerical
rating is a complete
number, not a vs.
Lefties or Righties point
adjustment).
b. Upgrading a letter rating will cost 2 points.
XI. Stadiums
A. Stadiums can be unique in the NPBL: owners may change their home
stadium dimensions.
1.
Owners may move outfield walls in or
out 10 ft.
2.
This can only be done once, and never changed.
B. Owners must name their home stadiums.
XII. Player
Positions
A. A player may play any position in the minors, to train him.
B. Any player trained to become a catcher or outfielder will have his arm
rating for that position added
to be equal
to the new position, unless the player already possesses it.
XIII. League
settings
A. The NPBL
will turn financials “off.”
B. Injury
level in the NPBL will be set to “normal.”
C. Coaches and
Scouts will be “disabled” in the NPBL.
D. Era Setting in the NPBL will be the “Modern Era (1980-present)”.
XVI.
Expansion
A. After five seasons, if the NPBL Commissioners feel that the league
should consider expansion, the
league’s
owners will vote.
B. If two-thirds (16) of the owners approve expansion, the league will
expand at the end of the second
season
after the vote.
C. The rules for expansion will be loosely based on the expansion rules
used by Major League Baseball,
tailored to
the unique needs of the NPBL.
D. There may only be a vote for expansion once every five seasons.
XVII. Rosters
A. Each team will be required to maintain a roster of 25 players at all
times, except after September 1,
when teams
will be allowed to keep up to 40 players.
B. Owners may acquire only one free agent per day.
C. All roster moves except releasing players are the sole responsibility
of the owner and should be done
after
downloading the most current league file.