League Rules

*One of the tenants of this league is to play the game the way it should have been played. The league will start in 1947 because that was the year MLB opened its doors to the best players regardless of race. Divisions will be based on true geographical alignment, and will expand to the 3 division format, with 2 wildcard teams, in 1993. We won't be shortening seasons due to strikes or pandemics. In 1998, interleague play will be instituted to account for the odd team in each league. The Houston Astros will remain in the NL, and the Milwaukee Brewers will remain in the AL.

*Teams need to field 25-man major league rosters, and may have up to 10 minor leaguers (following supplemental draft). 

* This is a keepers league. There will be no rookie drafts and no contracts. You can keep or trade players. Each year your team will acquire rookies that met the minimum requirements to enter the league: 125 AB, 35 IP (RP) or 75 IP (SP). If a player played with multiple teams during his initial season, he will be assigned to the club with which he had more AB or IP. (Due to the way players are imported, there is a good chance a player may be misplaced originally. Please inform me if you notice a discrepancy before the assigned deadline. No changes will be made once trading opens up.)
*If a starting pitcher is imported (or updated) with less than 75 IP, his stats will be doubled until he has surpassed the threshold.
*Players who made the HOF in real life get the "S" designation. Prospects who didn't reach the minimum requirements in any other year (IRL) get the "F" designation. All others are given the "C" designation.
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Position changes

* Each offseason, teams may request a defensive positional change for one player. To qualify, the player must have: 1) Played that position at least 33% of the games he played during his career; or 2) Played that position for at least 50+ games (or 33% of games played) in the corresponding year (IRL).
*In addition, one pitcher may be switched from SP to RP or vice versa. Please be aware that stamina limits will be dropped by 50% for SP who become relievers, but will only be raised 25% for RP who become starters.
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Progressions

* Players will progress until age 28; then start to regress at age 32.
* Each season, following progressions, you may request to change one player's stats to their real life stats (must have minimum of 125 AB or 35 IP) instead of their progressed stats.

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Supplemental Draft 

* We will hold a 5-round supplemental draft of free agents each off-season once rosters have been trimmed to 30 players following imports. The draft will go in reverse order of previous year's standings. These picks may not be traded.
* Any team who doesn't trim their rosters by the deadline will have their rosters trimmed by the commish based on player rankings. If this becomes a habit, you may be booted from the league.
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Trades and Free Agents

* Trades must be mutually beneficial for both teams. Rather than start a feud on the message board, if you feel a trade is unfair, please message me and I will organize a trade committee to review the trade. If the committee agrees that the trade is unfair, it will be reversed. If anyone feels that one of the commissioner's trades is unfair, it will automatically be reversed without going to a committee.
* At the trade deadline (game 120), sims will be stopped for 48 hours to finalize any trades.
* Free Agent signings will be turned off after game 150.
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Roster Limits

* Major League rosters must have 25 players.
* You must have a minimum of: 
9 pitchers on your major roster 
11 batters on your major roster 
* Minor league rosters may have up to 10 players.
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Retirement 

* Players in the free agent pool over 40 are retired following the season.
* All players will automatically retire at age 45 unless they played past that age in real life, in which case they will retire at the age of their real life retirement.
* Players will not be lost to the following real life reasons: Injury, Wars, Life time ban, Death, Early retirement. 
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Rotation 

* 1947-69 4-man 
* 1970-Present 5-man 
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Expansion: 

* Franchises will be added as they were in real life.
* Divisions will be aligned geographically (East and West) until 1993 (at which time they'll be adjusted to 3 divisions per league, with 2 wild card teams per league).
* In an expansion year (after rookies are added) each team will select 20 players to be protected from being drafted. All protected players should be placed on the teams Major League Roster. Anyone not protected (in the minors) will be eligible to be selected in the expansion draft. For each round, each expansion owner will send me a list of their top 24 picks (maximum of one player per non-expansion team) in order of preference. I will alternate picks until each team has 12 players. No team will lose more than one player per round. The second round will follow the same format. Teams will have a short window between rounds to change protected players.
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Ownership:

*Owners are assigned to one team. If there are multiple openings in the league, an owner may take over temporary ownership of a team in the opposing league until another owner can be found.  In order to maintain the integrity of the league, no trades will be allowed between two teams controlled by the same owner. Also, any players dropped by one team may not be signed by the owner's other team within one week (real time) of the drop. Dual ownership will only be granted at the commissioner's discretion based on the number of league openings, and will be treated as a temporary situation.
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Sims 

* Auto sims will run every 4 hours
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Season schedule

* All seasons will be 162 games with 3-game series against teams in your league. There will be periodic rest days.
* There will be no inter-league play.
* If there is a tie for a post-season spot at the end of the season, a one-game playoff will be held between the teams with the team who had the best overall run differential getting home-field advantage.
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Post Season 

* 1947 to 1968 World Series 
* 1969 to 1992 League Championship Series
* 1993 to Present Divisional Series with 2 Wild Cards 

* All post-season series are best-of-seven with a game off after games 2 & 5. There will be 2 days off between each series. Home field goes to the team with most wins. If there is a tie, it goes to the team with the best overall run differential.
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Slump Busters 

* Will be cleared after 5 Days and will not be used during the postseason.
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Injuries 

* Batting - max 25 Days 
* Pitching - max 25 Days 
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Stadium Effect 

* Every decade (1957, 1967, etc.) stadium dimensions can be changed. 
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Conduct 

* Please keep all conversations clean.
* Please don't be rude to fellow owners. 
* Please be active, if not active for 15 days you will be removed (unless you make arrangements with me beforehand).
* Just have fun and enjoy.
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All-Stars 

* All-stars will be chosen by CPU after game 90. There will be no game played.
* Silver Sluggers (best offensive stats) and Gold Gloves (best defensive stats) will be chosen by the commissioner (or a committee) for each position following the season.
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Awards 

* The following individual awards will be awarded based on a league vote among top 3-5 candidates in CPU:
MVP 
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR 
CY YOUNG 
FIREMAN AWARD

* The following individual awards will be awarded by the commissioner (or a committee):
- TRIPLE CROWN (LL in BA, HR & RBI or LL in W, K & ERA)
- Post-season MVP awards (best stats for a member of winning team)
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Hall of Fame

* The Hall will open in 1965.
* Each year, we will vote from among eligible candidates.
* Min. Requirements for consideration: 1) 10+ seasons played; 2) Must be among the Top 10 all-time in at least one positive category or must be in the Top 50 all-time in multiple categories. 
* Players must be named on 75% of the ballots cast to enter the Hall.
* Players named in under 25% of the ballots will be dropped.

* If rules need to be updated, the commissioner will give the rest of the league advance notice prior to enacting changes.

League Settings

Year Range of Stats	1947 - 2025
Roster Size (Majors)	25
Roster Size (Minors)	10
Keepers	(30 keepers)
Change Stats Allowed
Free Agency	(waivers)
Drops
No-Drop List
Player Fatigue
Batter Injuries	(20 games max)
Pitcher Injuries	(20 games max)
Use Pitcher's HR Allowed Stats
Allows Max Surprise Bunts
Min Batters Pitcher Must Face	0
Slump Buster	(5 days)
On Fire	Classic
User Sims	(every 3 hours)