Bylaws- 1/22/2004

Web site: https://rdeaner9.tripod.com/sportsweb/id1.html

BACKGROUND/HISTORY-The Global Baseball League started in 1992 with 20 teams and 15 owners. Each team protected 10 players from their major league team and the drafting started. The first pick was Cal Ripken (since the Orioles were not one of the original 20). The CUBS (can you believe it?) won the first championship over the Blue Jays. Buck Jones owned both the Blue Jays and Pirates and both had the best records in the regular season in their divisions. The first player taken in the Phase I draft (Rookie) was Tim Salmon. Since then the Indians, Astros, Rockies (three times), Tigers and Reds have won championships. Career stats have been compiled since the first season and Barry Bonds has been the top player (based on rankings) over the 12 years.

GAME

· SOM latest CD version,

· Opponents will use the "Computer Manager", which means they will summit instructions and export the Computer Manager and send the file to the Commissioner.

· All "super-advanced" features of the game will be turned on, including the closer rule.

· Injuries will not be used.

· Each game played MUST have a boxscore saved for later transmission

LEAGUE STRUCTURE

· Two Divisions. AL with DH and NL without DH. Inter-league games use the home ballpark to decide if DH is used.

· Owners can have a team in each division but cannot make trades between those teams.

· Teams will be named and associated with a major league team.

· Teams must announce a move to another city before spring training to be able to draft organizational players the following season from new organization. Teams can only move once in a three year period.

ROSTERS

· At the beginning of the season, each team must protect 40 with a maximum of 30 that are rated on the disk. 25 active for the April through August and all 30 available for the September.

ROSTER MOVES

1. Free Agents can be picked up after July 1^st and are effective at the beginning of each month. Player(s) must be released to pick up a Free Agent. Free agents picked up during the season are released at the end of the season.

2. Trades are effective at the beginning of month.

DRAFTS

1. Phase I will be held around Thanksgiving. Any player ("carded or not", i.e. everyone in the world) not on a GBA roster is available. A team my use it's No. 1 pick to take a player from their major league organization who will receive a card for the first time that year. A team my use it’s No. 2 pick to protect the major league team’s No. 1 pick in the previous June Free Agent Draft.

2. Phase II will be held in February and will be 3 players who have never had a SOM card and are minor leaguers in your major league organization.

3. Phase III will be held after the disks are out or the ratings are available (March) and only "carded" players are available. (Carded players are defined as players with more than 100 ABs or 30 IPs.

SCHEDULE

· Each team will play 81 away games. This allows three advantages:

1. The ability to play your team under the circumstances of the opposing team's ballpark and therefore being able to write your instructions for playing your team in one park (your own).

2. Be able to "see" different parks (boring being in your own park every game).

3. Giving the opponent the advantage of hitting last and therefore keeping home team win-lost records more consistent.

· Results (including H & V files as well as boxscores) are due at the end of month along with instructions and roster moves. Pitching rotations are due at the beginning of the season but can be changed due to trades and other roster moves. Boxscores are required to check usage.

PLAYER USAGE

· Players can appear in 110% of their plate appearances or innings pitched except for starters who are limited to only 100% of their starts (if only a starter) or 110% of their innings if they both started and relieved.

· Players can play any position because the game takes range into account but each team must have a player rated at each position.

· Pitchers can only start in their actual number of major league starts (not 110%) or they will be lost as free agents at the end of the season.

· Batters with less than 100 plate appearances and Pitchers with less than 30 innings pitched cannot play in home games (games you don't play so you can know how much they are used) and only in September after rosters are expanded. These type of players can only be used in the actual number of plate appearances or innings.

· Batters with over 650 plate appearances can play every inning of the season if so desired. Batters and pitchers are eligible for the next segment of the schedule if they have at least 10 innings or PAs left.

· NL teams must have at least 5600 At Bats and not more than 6200, AL Teams max is 6500, and 1450 innings pitched, 162 starts but not more than 1600 innings. Extra At Bats and innings must be released before the season starts.

PLAY-OFFS

· The division winners plus wildcards adding to a total of four will make the play-offs in each division.

· The game will be played in a 2-3-2 format (with 1 game rest for travel and between series, plus 1 game for each game less than 7 of that series) with the division winners getting the home field advantage until win-loss records are used between two division winners. The AL will get the home field advantage in even years. The DH will be used according to the home ballpark. The reason for rotation is that each league doesn't have a balanced schedule. It only plays the other league 24 games for each team. Therefore records are not comparable. Also history shows that the best teams, recordwise don't always or hardly ever get into the World Series (one year, all second place teams beat the division winners).

· Pitchers with more than 30 GBA starts during the season can start every 4^th day. Pitchers with 10-20 GBA starts can only start 1 game of each play-off series.

· Batters can start a play-off game only if they have more than 300 GBA plate appearances.

· Roster size is 25.