ASC Baseball Official Rules (rev. 9/25/01)

I. Managers

A. Must pay all dues necessary for league expenses.

B. revised  As of the 2000 season, it is mandatory for all managers to be using Strat-O-Matic. If possible, it is strongly suggested that participants use the most recent CD-ROM edition of the game.

II. Trades

A. revised Trades should be reported by all managers involved to Jeff Lowe (ascbaseball@aol.com) and to the Commissioner of ASC, currently Don Cassidy (DCass21@aol.com)

B. All trades are permanent, i.e. no loaning of players.

C. Future draft picks (this excludes the draft taking place in the current trading season) and players may not be traded. Any trading of future draft picks/players will be declared void.

D. Rookie managers who have not has the experience of enjoying the ASC draft may not trade or acquire draft picks unless the veteran trading partner has cleared the deal with the Commissioner.

E. Trades involving draft picks will be reported literally, as such, e.g. "Team A gets Team's B second round pick plus Bob Piser for.."

F. Beginning with the 1999-2000 trading season, a Trade Review Committee will review any trade that the commissioner feels should be voted on. Two of the three members will have to vote against a trade for it to be overturned. If a trade is overturned, the parties involved are still permitted to rework the deal. The committee has not been instituted to discourage trading by any manager. Rather, it has been put in to place to review any unfair trades that are bad for the future of the ASC. This particularly applies to questionable transactions by a rookie manager.

III. Rosters  (revised)

A. Roster Restrictions

 1. Beginning with the 2002 season, all teams will have to set their rosters at a maximum of 40 players and a minimum of 30 players before the instructions are sent out.  The due date of the list will be determined by the commissioner.

2. Teams will have an opportunity to designate which players over 40 they want to release and these players will be available in the next draft. There will not be a restriction on the amount of players a team has on its roster during the trading season.

3. Teams that have less than 30 players on their roster at the designated deadline will receive a penalty, to be determined by the commissioner. This penalty may be waived for a rookie manager during their first year in the league.

IV. Draft (revised)

A. Teams will draft in reverse order on final winning percentage.  Note that if a team is late in reporting its stats, particularly wins and losses, the Commissioner may add every unreported game to that team's win column for the purposes of obtaining the draft order.

B. Number of Rounds.

 1. All teams will receive a base of 6 picks.

 2. Teams will receive an additional draft pick if they had less than a .500 winning percentage during the past season.  The picks will break down as follows:

 Winning pct. under .300 - supplemental pick at the end of Round 1.

 Winning pct. .300-.400 - supplemental pick at the end of Round 2.

 Winning pct. .400-.450 - supplemental pick at the end of Round 3.

 Winning pct. .451-.499 - supplemental pick at the end of Round 4.

C. Players eligible for the draft

 1. To qualify as an ASC rookie, a player must have appeared in 1 game or more during the past season and must have never qualified before.  

 2. Players who have previously met the above requirements and appeared in at least one game during the past season but are not owned by any team are eligible for the draft as free agents

 D. Because the number of base picks has doubled in recent years, managers are expected to adhere to a strict 60-second clock in making their picks. Unless we want the draft to conclude at midnight, there is no way around requiring managers to make their selections within one minute of hearing the list of players selected or else risk the draft coordinator making their pick for them. The draft coordinator, in cases where the manager is having several rounds' worth of names read to him, may grant additional time.

V. Player Limitation Rules

 1. Position Players

Major League Games Played   Corresponding ASC Limit

1-125                                120% actual

126-150                           150

151-up                              actual

 2.  Pitchers

  a.  All pitchers are limited to 125% of their actual major league games

  b.  All pitchers are limited as follows in the number of games they may start:

Major League Games      Corresponding ASC Limit

0-24                                  125% actual  (fractions round up)

25-29                                 32

30-34                                 34

35-36                                 36

37-up                                actual

 3.  In order to mitigate some of the uncertainty inherent in reliever usage on the road, the 125% game limitation will be waived, within reason, for relievers who are voluntarily limited to 50% of their actual games at home.

 4. To be listed as a number 1 reliever (either long, short, setup, whatever) on the road, a pitcher must have worked at least 40 games in real life the past year

 5.  No pitcher may be listed as both a number 1 short reliever and number 1 long reliever

 6.  Waivers to the above limitations may be granted under certain circumstances, upon advance request, by the Commissioner. However, it is expected that a team seeking a waiver has made reasonable efforts (not including mortgaging his future) to fill its holes. No team receiving a waiver will be eligible for the playoffs.

VI. Playing Instructions  (revised)

A.  All managers must use the programmable computer manager to manage their road games.

B.  All teams in both leagues use the designated hitter rule.

C.  To qualify as a road starter, a player must meet the following requirements:

  1. 68 games minimum at the listed position to start full-time;

  2. 43 games minimum at the listed position to start vs. right-handed pitchers only;

  3. 25 games minimum at the listed position to start vs. left-handed pitchers only.

  4. A player may qualify as a designated hitter regardless of position. He must have the proper total number of games played (68, 43, 25) overall.

D.  Managers may designate players to start against one division but not the other, or in the first game of every series, or against lefties of certain teams, etc., instead of strictly on a "vs. RH, vs. LH" basis, provided the player so designated played a reasonable number of games at the position in question. "Reasonable" means at least 83.3% of the games he is expected to start on the road.

E.  Fielders can never be used in positions at which they are not rated. Outfield counts as one position for these purposes.

F.  If your game distinguishes between center fielders and outfielders, you must downgrade a minimum of 20% effectiveness in all fielding categories for any outfielder playing in center field but not rated there. Ignore if your game has its own provision for this in its rules.

G.  Pitchers

  1.  Five starting pitchers must be listed and ordered 1-5.

  2.  Each pitcher is scheduled to start a specific number of games. Half are scheduled at home, and half are scheduled on the road. Managers may have to substitute at home occasionally or use a different rotation at home to avoid overusage of starters.

Starter Number Total Starts Scheduled

1                         36

2                         34

3                         32

4                         32

5                         28

 3.  At home, another starter not listed 1-5 may start for one of the listed starters, but the replaced starter may not substitute for a starter in another game, i.e. 1-5 may not fill each other's slots in the rotation.

 4.  If any pitcher starts a game in a series, he may not start another game or make a relief appearance in that series.

 5.  Starting pitchers 1-4 are limited to their actual number of relief appearances, which may be used only at home.

 6.  Starter #5 may be used in relief both at home and on the road if he has major league relief appearances. His limitations are described in section V.

 7.  A relief pitcher is ineligible to be used in any game following a game of the same series in which he pitches more than 3 innings.

 8.  Visiting players are immune to any injuries that arise. Injuries to home players are optional but they, too, show a startling resistance to aches, pains and broken bones.

 9.  Active playing rosters consist of a maximum of 26 players, including at least 9 pitchers. The roster must remain the same for the entire season, both home and away, except for the last 20 home games of the season. For these "September" games, four extra players may be added.

VII. Game Rules

A. Starting with the 2002 season, all managers will use all the Super Advanced Strat-O-Matic rules with the exception of certain rules listed below.

1. We will not use Strat-O-Matic injuries

2. Ballparks and clutch hitting will be used.  Managers will use the ballpark of the city they play in for their home games.  We will not use the ballpark weather or home field advantage rules.

3. Super advanced closer and stealing rules will be used.

4. Super advanced fatigue fules will not be used.

5.  For main rules, maximum level will be checked.

VIII. Division Structure and Playoff Format

A.  The ASC shall consist of two leagues, each containing three divisions. Every two years, the teams shall be assigned randomly to new divisions, with the leagues and divisions split as evenly as possible.

B.  The winners of each division, plus one wildcard team, in each league shall be eligible for the playoffs.

 1. In the Division Series, the wildcard team shall meet with the team with the best record in its league. The other two division winners in each league shall play each other. However, if the wildcard team is in the same division as the team with the best record, the wildcard team shall instead play the team with the second best record.

 2. The winners of the Division Series in each league meet in a best-of-seven League Championship Series.

 3. The winners of each playoff shall meet in a best-of-seven World Series.

 4. Home field advantage in each Division Series and League Championship Series shall be enjoyed by the team with the best record; in the event of a tie, home field advantage shall be determined by coin flip. Home field advantage in the World Series shall be determined by coin flip.

IX. Post-season Rules

A. The Division Series follow a best-of-five format. Each team must use at least 3 different starting pitchers, who must rest at least 3 days between starts.

B.  League Championship Series adhere to best-of-seven formats. Each team needs at least 4 starting pitchers, who must rest at least 3 days between starts.

C. The World Series is a best-of-seven series. Each team must use at least 3 different starting pitchers, who must rest at least 2 days between starts.

D.  A team's #1 or #2 starter during the season (one or the other, but not both) may start 6 games during a post-season. That pitcher must have had at least 30 actual major league starts. No other pitcher may start more than 5 games in post-season play.

E. The number and order of home games shall be 2-2-1 in the Division Series and 2-3-2 in the LCS and World Series.

F. Each manager may submit new lineups and instructions for post-season play.

G. Only players on the 26-man roster are eligible for post-season play.

H. Game limitations:

 1. Position players are limited to 1/8 of actual games

 2. Starting pitchers are limited to 1/7 of actual starts (except for #1 or #2 starter as explained in VII.D)

 3. Relievers are limited to 1/5 of actual games.

 4. A continuing pitching rotation must be used during post-season play.

 5. Every starting player on the road must meet regular season game requirements.