PREFACE:
1.  The VRBL will be maintained according to the rules of this constitution and its
provisions.  The commissioner has the power to enforce and amend the provisions of this
document and will make decisions on any matters not covered herein.  Any provisions of
the constitution as well as the decisions of the commissioner may be changed by a 2/3 vote
of the active members.
2.  All VRBL league games will be played using the Diamond Mind Computer Baseball
Game. Ver. 9.0b or better.
 

LEAGUE SET UP:
1.1  The VRBL consist of 20 teams.
1.2  There will be 4 Divisions of 5 teams each.
1.3  Divisions will be alined randomly for balanced divisions.
 

ROSTERS:
2.1  Rosters shall consist of no more or no less than 35 players at any time after the draft.
2.2  Each team retains those players from season to season.
2.3  Each team may protect as many unfiled players as he wishes.  Each unfiled player will
count towards his 35 man roster.
2.4  Each manager will maintain a 25 man active roster from month to month (home and
road games).  Non-active players will be designated on monthly instructions and manager profile.
2.5  For September games, the full 35 man roster will be considered active and available
for use.  The manager may at his choice farm players that month so that they may not be overused.
2.6 Free agents can be signed during the season, but you will lose that player as well as the player you cut for the following season.
 

SCHEDULE:
3.1  The schedule will be defined by the commissioner.
3.2  The 2007 season will run 7 months, September thru March.
3.3  Division, League, and World Series games will commence immediately following the
end of the season, in early March.
3.4  All regular season series will be 5, 6 & 7 games.
3.5  No game shall be terminated before it is official.
3.6  Teams will play an unbalanced schedule, 13 games within their division, 11 games vs the other
division in their league and 11 games vs. 1 division of the opposite league.
 

TRADES:
4.1  Trades will be allowed in any form.  The trade must be reported by both managers
before it is final.  All trades will be evaluated by the office of the commissioner for fairness.
4.2  The commissioner will post trades on the web site immediately as soon as the trade is official.
4.3  Trading will begin immediately following the season.  For the trade to be official, Trading will continue until a date set by the league office.  This season, that date will be midnight December 18 pst.
4.5  Both managers have a 24 hour "grace period" to chancge their minds on any trades made.
 

ROOKIE DRAFT:
6.1  Rookie draft will consist of players in current year's set, not protected on a current roster.
6.2  Batters must have 50 AB's, pitchers 25 IP's to be eligible for the Rookie Draft.
Players excluded for the draft will remain in the free agent pool until the year that they meet those requirements.
6.3  Determination of drafting order will be inverse order of the final standings.  In case of
ties, the team with the worse road record gets the better pick.  Next tie breaker would be
head to head, then a coin toss by the commissioner to break the tie.  Each round of the draft follows
the same drafting order.
6.4  The first 7 picks in round 1 will be done in lottery form. With the worst record getting 10 chances,
the next 8 chances, the next 6, the next two 4, and the last two 2.
6.5  The draft will consist of 8 rounds.
6.6  The draft will begin on a date designated by the commish following the end of the regular season.
6.7  The draft list will be supplied by the commissioner via the League disk as soon as it is received
from DMB.  The updated disk will be sent to all legally registered owners of the DMB version 8
baseball game.

REPORTING RESULTS:
7.1  Road instructions must be POSTED on the group site by the 1st of each month.  When instructions are not received, the home manager will notify the road manager.
7.2  Following the series, the home manager will return the results to the road manager. This may be done by email.  The files to be returned will be the game by game box score and score sheet, and the series totals for batters and pitchers.
7.3  Each manager will send to the commissioner a transfer file of his weekly home results.  This may
be sent by email. THE DISK MUST BE IN THE COMMISSIONER'S HANDS BY SATURDAY EACH WEEK! The new disk will be out each Sunday.
7.4  Games will be played by the commisioner if results are late....so please do your part!

DEFAULT LINEUP:
8.1  Prior to the season, each manager will make up a default lineup.  This lineup will be made on the Manager Profile menu of the game.  It can be as detailed or sparse as the manager likes, knowing that
it will be used if he does not send timely instructions to the league.  If a manager does not submit a MP, the manager playing the game will pick the lineup, and not be responsible for usage problems or "best" lineups to use.
8.2  Prior to the season, each manager will submit to the commissioner a season pitching rotation.  This will be used if instructions are not sent on time.  The commissioner will send a copy of all rotations to
the league prior to the season.  If a manager fails to submit a rotation, should games be played by default, the manager playing the games will use THE PITCHER OF HIS CHOICE for the games.  The playing manager will not be responsible for usage problems or picking the "best" pitcher to use.

PROTEST GAMES:
9.1  A manager ma file a protest with the commissioner if his instructions were not followed, or his opponent did not follow the rules of the game or league constitution.
9.2  When filing a protest, inform the commissioner immediately.  You will be asked to provide a
copy of the instructions and scoresheets.
9.3  If an infraction has occurred and warrants a replay, it will be played by the commissioner.  Since
the DMB game does not permit partial replays, the game will be replayed from the beginning.  Make
sure you read the game instructions before starting your series, make sure all players are rested, the correct players are on the active roster, the correct MP is loaded, and the correct rotation is used.

PLAYOFFS:
10.1  The playoffs will be the best of 7 games, with the best overall record of the competing teams as
the team with the home field advantage.  In cases of ties, team with the best head to head record wins, followed by the best road record.  A coin toss by the commissioner will be the final tie breaker.
10.2  The 4 division winners will be in the playoffs, and be the home teams for the firstround of the playoffs.
10.3  The other 4 teams will be the next 4 non-division teams with the best road records. There will
be 2 teams from the American League, and 2 from the National League. League winners will be
seeded 1 and 2 by record, road teams 3 and 4 by road record. Team 1 plays team 4, 2 plays 3.
10.4  Playoff  games will be played by a neutral manager if requested by one party.  This request must
be made before the series starts.  However, it is highly recommended and encouraged that the playoff managers play their own games.  They may be played face to face, phone to phone, NetMeeting, or
with a Manager Profile.
10.5  Players will be limited to 10% of actual plate appearances, starts, and innings pitched ROUNDED DOWN.  Starting pitchers may start a maximum of 3 games in each series.
10.6  Schedule for all games will be first two games at the park of the team with the best season record,
off day, 3 games at the park of the team with the inferior record, off day, and 2 games at the park
of the team with the best record.
10.7  As the first round of the playoffs are played, all games will be played in the same time frame.
Thus, any team that wins the first series in 4 games, will get extra off days to rest his starting rotation while other divisions are playing.  This will follow through the second round and onto the World Series.  Player rest and injuries will be reset each series, but starting rotation must be followed, allowing 3 days
of rest before starts.
10.8  Teams will be limited to the same 25 man roster for the playoffs.

MINIMUM PLAYER USAGE:
11.1 All Batters that have 50ab's or more must be used 50% or will be lost to free agency.
11.2 All pitchers with 25ip or more must be used 50% or will be lost to free agency.

PLAYER LIMITATIONS:
12.1  Batters will be limited to actual number of plate appearances (ab, bb, hb, sac, and sf)
plus a 5% cushion, rounded up. ANY PLAYER WITH 600 PA's CAN BE USED UNLIMITED!
12.2  Starting pitchers will be limited to actual number of starts.
12.3  Relief only pitchers will be limited to actual number of innings, plus 5% rounded up.
12.4  Starters with 3 or less relief appearances are limited to the actual number of starts, and the actual number of relief appearances.  If a pitcher is used in relief, he may not exceed the innings pitched limitation.  In effect, a pitcher who is used solely as a starter may exceed his actual innings pitched at
no penally.  Once he is used in relief, he is limited to 105% of batters faced.
12.5  Starters with 4 or more relief appearance may be used at the managers discretion, but once he appears in relief he is limited to 105% of batters faced.  He is limited to his actual number of starts.
12.6  In planning a rotation, all starters must have a minimum of 3 off days between starts.
12.7  Starting pitchers must pitch at least 4 innings or give up 3 runs before being removed.
12.8  Players may play out of position (computer compensates with defensive deterioration). However Catchers can only catch, and Starters can only start. The commissioner will modify the disk to allow outfielders to play all 3 outfield position. centerfielders will have the same range, arm, and error rating at the corners, unless given separate ratings by DMB. Corners moving to center will lose one range grade.
12.9  All injuries and ejections last for the length of that series only.
12.10  The BBML uses the Designated Hitter.  Review the Major League Baseball rules as far as substituting a DH and position players.
12.11  Players will be given 200% usage against one hand of a pitcher.  This can be either lefties or righties.  The total appearances can not be over 105%.  The DMB 9 games tracks per percentage of use based on plate appearances.  You should check your usage each month to make sure you do not go over those 2 limitations for all players.  YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN USAGE.  If you are
in doubt, do not use the player on the road, only at home where you can monitor his playing time.
12.12  PLAYER USE WILL BE STRICTLY MONITORED AND ENFORCED.  ANY QUESTIONS MUST BE BROUGHT UP AS SOON AS THE MONTHLY DISK IS RECEIVED.  WHEN THE MONTHLY DISK IS SENT OUT TO EACH MANAGER, IT SHOULD BE REVIEWED BY YOU.  ANY PLAYER(S) OVERUSED ON THE DISK WILL BE INELIGIBLE FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON, AND RETURNED TO THE FREE AGENT POOL AT THE END OF THE YEAR.  THE BEST ADVICE IS TO PLAY TO 100% AND ERROR ON THE SIDE OF UNDERUSE INSTEAD OF
OVERUSE.  ANY MANAGER WHO CAUSES ANOTHER MANAGER TO OVERUSE A PLAYER BY NOT FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS OR NOT ZEROING OUT MONTHLY STATS WILL FORFEIT A SECOND ROUND PICK.  A TEAMS THAT OVER USES A PLAYER AND DOES NOT MAKE THE PLAYOFFS WILL LOSE THE PLAYER(S) AND 4RD ROUND PICK.  A TEAM THAT OVERUSES A PLAYER AND MAKES THE PLAYOFFS WILL LOSE THAT PLAYER IMMEDIATELY, AND A 2ND ROUND PICK.