Requirements for Participation

• Diamond Mind Baseball version 8.0 with the latest season disk.

• Internet connection and email capability.

• Ability to prepare lineups for 6 games by Friday each week, play 6 home games on average every other week and e-mail the results to the commissioner no later than midnight Central time Monday.

• Estimated time requirement is no more than 2 hours per week.

General

• There will be 24 teams divided into 2 leagues with 3 divisions each.

• The American League will use the DH, while the National League will not.

• Rosters will consist of a maximum of 35 men, no more than 25 of which can be active for a particular series.

• Only players on the season disk will be allowed unless protected from the prior season.

• Actual ballparks will be used, with a maximum of one team per ballpark.

• Injury Rating will be used. All injuries will be cleared and all players given full rest each week. 

• Bullpen warmup disabled.

• Weather effects enabled.

Gameplay

Teams will play a 28-week schedule: 22 weeks of 6 game series and 6 weeks of 5 game series.

Players are allowed to play out of position.

"Head to Head" Internet games are encouraged but not required.

Lineups and manager profiles are due to the opposing manager AND TO THE COMMISSIONER no later than Friday, preferably sooner.  Box scores and statistics for the series are due to the Commissioner no later than midnight Central time each Monday.  The Commissioner will compile statistics and email each league owner a weekly newsletter containing the league disk, trades, and other news no later than Tuesday night.

Each manager submitting a Manager Profile for his series should specify players to be called up in case of injuries.

The Commissioner will control all teams without an owner.

1) Batters are limited to 102% of actual total plate appearances (Plate appearances are defined as AB+BB+HBP+SF+SH).

2) Batters are limited to 125% of actual plate appearances vs. LHP (except as in #10 below).

3) Batters are limited to 125% of actual plate appearances vs. RHP (except as in #10 below).

4) Pitchers are limited to actual innings pitched except starters who never appear in relief in the CIBL (see #6 below).

5) Pitchers are limited to actual games started.

6) Pitchers who never appear in CIBL relief may exceed actual innings pitched if their CIBL starts do not exceed actual starts.

7) Any player not obtaining 50% of plate appearances (batters) or 50% of innings pitched (pitchers) cannot be retained beyond the end of the current season except as in #11 and #12 below.

8) When determining if a BATTER is over his plate appearance limitations, we will go by the Play% that DMB calculates.

9) Any batter who appeared in 160 or more MLB games for a particular season may appear in the CIBL without any limitations.

10) If a batter has 100 or more MLB plate appearances vs. LHP, or 300 or more MLB plate appearances vs. RHP, he has no restriction against that handed pitcher.

11) If a batter has less than 100 total plate appearances, the 50% minimum plate appearance requirement for player retention is waived.

12) If a pitcher has less than 20 innings pitched, the 50% minimum innings pitched requirement for player retention is waived.

Players exceeding usage limitations in a particular week must be farmed before the following week's games. Failure to do this will result in additional penalties and a warning will be issued. Failure of an owner to heed this warning may result in expulsion from the CIBL at the Commissioner's discretion.

If an owner is unable to meet any deadline, the commissioner must be notified in advance to avoid a penalty.  If a deadline is missed, each day late may result in .001 being subtracted from that owner’s winning percentage.  After 2 days late, the Commissioner may use whatever information available to play the games. More than 7 days late without notification will result in expulsion from the league at the Commissioner's discretion. Missing more than 3 deadlines in a season is also justification for expulsion.   To expel an owner from the league, the Commissioner will email this intention to all current owners. The owner being expelled has one week to respond to all current CIBL owners regarding his desire to continue in the league. At this point a 2/3 majority vote is required to keep the owner in the league.

A player exceeding his allowed playing amount will cost his owner .001 in winning % for every extra PA or 1/3 IP, and .01 will be subtracted for every extra Game Started for pitchers.  For batters who have more than one PA violation (e.g. over 102% in total and over 125% vs.LHP), only the maximum violation for that player will be used in a penalty calculation. Winning percentages adjusted by penalties affect standings only--unadjusted percentages will be used when determining drafting and free agent acquisition position.

Trades and Free Agents

Trades will be allowed through the 18th week.  The Commissioner must be notified by BOTH parties via email, and no trade is final until it is included in the weekly newsletter.

THE COMMISSIONER HAS THE AUTHORITY TO REJECT ANY TRADE FOR ANY REASON. If the owners involved in a rejected trade still wish to pursue the trade, the Commissioner will put the trade up for league vote. A 2/3 majority approval vote is required.

Beginning with week 24, active roster maximum size expands from 25 to 35.

All players included on the original season disk but not on a CIBL team are considered free agents. Requests for these players must be received by the Commissioner before midnight on Monday.  If more than one request is made for the same player the same week, the requesting team with the lowest winning percentage will receive the player. Tiebreakers for free agent acquisition are (in order):  Winning %, How long since the last free agent acquisition, and the last draft position (higher draft position will get the player since this team will be the weaker one from the prior year). Players acquired from free agency during the season must be released to the free agent pool at the end of the season.

There is a 35 player maximum per team, so if a transaction puts you over 35, you have to release players until you get back down to 35.

Playoffs

In addition to the division winners, the non-division-winning team with the highest winning percentage in each league will make the playoffs.  Each series will be best of 7.  Home field advantage goes to the team with the higher winning percentage.  In the World Series, home field advantage will go to the American League team in odd years and the National League team in even years.  The DH will be used when the American League team is at home, and not when the National League team is at home.

Playoff games must be played head to head via Netmeeting unless both owners agree not to.

Pitchers:

• Games Started: >29 actual = 3 CIBL playoffs, 20-29 actual = 2 CIBL playoffs, 10-19 actual = 1 CIBL playoffs, <10 starts actual = unavailable in CIBL playoffs.

• Innings: >49.2 IP actual = unlimited CIBL playoffs, 20-49.2 IP actual = (actual IP/10) CIBL playoffs, <20 IP actual = unavailable in CIBL playoffs

Hitters:

• >499 plate appearances actual = unlimited CIBL playoffs

• 50-499 plate appearances actual = (actual PA/15) CIBL playoffs

• <50 plate appearances actual = unavailable in CIBL playoffs

• no additional limits for vs. LH/RH

Injuries will be cleared between playoff rounds.

Maximum roster size is 25 to be specified at the start of the each playoff series. Players may be brought up in case of injury, however.

Each year, teams will be allowed to protect up to 25 players.  ALL PLAYERS WHO DID NOT GET AT LEAST 50% OF THEIR ACTUAL PLATE APPEARANCES OR INNINGS PITCHED WILL BE WAIVED (EXCEPT AS IN #11 and #12 ABOVE).

Trades are allowed freely after the World Series is over through the 18^th week of the following season.

After the new season disk is available, owners should start preparing for the next draft that will be run typically in mid-January each year.