League Rules

Welcome to the BNBL (Bad News Bears League)

Players - League consists entirely of mediocre players who played in the Major Leagues of Baseball from its very beginning to the present. No star players are allowed. Generally speaking, a player needs to have 50 ABs for an eligible season (13 IP minimum) although the Commish reserves the right to import the odd exception to the rule.

Player Eligibility - Our definition of "mediocre" includes the following parameters:

Hitters have to have:
less than 1.000 combined AVG and OPS
but also be .275 AVG or less
and less than .800 OPS
also, Speed must be less than 8
DWar has to be under 2.0 (starting with players added in Season 26)
(once you get those numbers in your head, it'll be easier to find guys on BBRef)

Pitchers need to have a WHIP of 1.40 or higher.

TEAMS - 16 Teams. Names have been largely drawn from lovable losing teams, some from fiction, some from real life, some borrowed from other sports. Owners have been allowed to change team names as long as they match the general theme of the league (mediocrity).

The Basics:
162 Game Schedule
8 Teams make the Playoffs
- (Division Winners plus 4 Wildcards)
- (Division Winners automatically get top 4 seeds)
- (All Playoff Series Best of 7 with a 2-3-2 Format)
5-Man Starting Rotation
4 SIMS per day, approximately once every 6 hours
No Progessions. We want these guys to stay mediocre. Age doesn't matter in this league.
Fatigue: On
Slump Buster: On (5 Calendar Days)
Injuries - Players - 13 Max / Pitchers - 15 Max
Ballpark Dimension Changes: You can change ballpark dimensions up to the 6th Game of the season.
Draft - All players will be drafted by teams for the 1st Season (Snake-style draft)
Season 1 Draft Order - The last shall be first (a formula using owners' real PC Winning %, number of rings, and number of PC games played will determine draft order)

Trades - On. Unlimited. Owners may also trade for draft choices (but only the upcoming season's draft choices).
Trade Deadline - No trades after Day 140 (not Game 120, DAY 140)
Free Agency - On. Owners may drop and sign players throughout the season.

Player Stats - You may use any season for a player in which he had a minimum of 50 ABs (no limit on IPs), as long as the season is eligible in terms of the mediocrity guidelines stated above. WARNING - You can switch a player?s stats back and forth as many times as you like in the off-season and can choose a different set of stats each season, but you cannot switch mid-season. Once the season starts, no changes.

Roster Size - Major League Rosters - 25 / Minor League Rosters - 5

New Players - New players will be added to the league at the beginning of each new season. If you'd like a particular player to be added, message the Commish, and we can add him for the next season as long as he meets the mediocrity requirements. (1st Season we're sticking with pre-1990 players, but we'll add more recent players as we go from season to season). Season 2 - added players from 1990/91. Season 3 - added players from 1992/93. Season 4 - added 1994/95. Season 5 - added 1996/97. Season 6 - added 1998/99. Season 7 - added 2000/01. Season 8 - added 2002/03. Season 9 - added 2004/05. Season 10 - added 2006/07. Season 11 - added 2008/09. Season 12 - added 2010/11. Season 13 - added 2012/13. Season 14 - added 2014/15. Season 15 - added 2016/17. Season 16 - added 2018/19. Season 17 - added 2020/2021.

Drops before each season - Before the Supplemental Draft each season, every team will need to drop players in order to reach a maximum of 28 players on their roster.

Mandatory Retirement of Players - Players will normally play a maximum of 13 years in the league. To make this easier to keep track of, all 1st year players will be edited so that their age is 23. They will then retire after their age 35 season, giving them 13 years in the league. (see exception below under "Extra Season Tags")

Extra Season Tags - Each year, playoff teams will be given a bonus - one extra year that they can add on to any player of their choice (non-playoff teams will be given TWO extra years, which they can use either on one player, or split it into one extra year each for two players). Players will still need to retire after their age 39 season regardless (meaning that you can use your extra season tag a maximum of 4 times on one player, giving them 17 seasons max rather than 13).

Supplemental Draft - After the 1st Season, there will be a Supplemental Draft before the start of each season. Draft Order will be based on previous season's standings, worst picks first, etc. (not snake-style, just regular style, worst picks 1st in each round). If teams had identical records in the previous regular season, ties will be broken in this order - 1. Run Differential, 2. Head-to-Head match-up, 3. Total Runs Scored (least runs scored picks ahead of most runs scored)

ALL-STAR BREAK: All-Star Game will be played after each team has played 90 Games. 3 Days off will be granted. An actual All-Star Game will be played by the Commish using a different SIM (East and Mid-West vs South and Pacific). All teams will be represented. Results of the All-Star Game will be posted on the Home Page.

PLAYOFFS: Each division winner plus 4 wildcard teams will qualify for playoffs. Division winners will receive top 4 seeds regardless of record. Division winners seeded 1 to 4. 2 days off after season will be granted. Day off between series and on travel days. Each series best of 7, using 2-3-2 format. In the 2nd Round, it will be strictly best record vs 4th best record and 2nd best vs 3rd best of the remaining 4 teams, regardless of whether they were a division winner or a wildcard team. Home field advantage for 2nd round and World Series is based on win-loss record, not on whether or not the team won a division.

TIEBREAKERS: If teams are tied for a playoff spot, the tie will be broken using Run Differential (prior to Season 12 it was head-to-head record). If they have identical Run Differential, then the next tiebreakers are head-to-head record, followed by runs for. A one-game playoff will only be used to decide the final Wild Card spot (or spots if there is a 3-way tie or more).

No obvious tanking. This includes playing defensive players out of position, using a non-catcher at catcher, sitting star players in favor of weaker players, etc.

No politics, religion, or disrespecting other owners. Some good-natured ribbing/teasing/sarcasm is great, but please don?t cross the line. We?re all here for fun and to play ball.

This League is still a work in progress. More rules may be added as we go.

League Settings