BUSINESSMEN’S CORPORATE LEAGUE
2013 GENERAL POLICIES
A. ORGANIZATION
1. There will be TWO SEVEN innings games played each week. The first game must start no later than 6:00 P.M. or as soon thereafter as there are EIGHT (8) players from each team. Teams arriving after 5:45 P.M. will not be permitted to the use of the field for practice. If a team does not have a minimum of 8 players by 6:30, that team will forfiet the first game, first game only. If a team does not have a minimum of 8 players by 6:45, that team will forfiet the second game. Home Team Advantage will go to the Visiting Team for the first game. Home Team Advantage will go to the Home Field Team for the second game. The first two and last two weeks of the season will have games started with a one strike and one ball count on the batter.
2. The Home Field Team shall provide a playing field, bases which are firmly fastened to the ground using two (2) spikes per base at 65' intervals (unless field is set-up on a permanent basis equipped with hollywood bases), a safety bag at first base, strike mat, the pitchers mound shall be placed at 50’ or as dictated by each home field set-up, outfield foul line markers will be used if available, and shall clean up around the field after the game. A brand-new game ball (either Trump® AK-RP-ASA-Y AK Series 12 Inch Red Stitch Yellow Synthetic Leather Softball with ASA Stamp or Dudleyas previously supplied by the league) will be provided by the Visiting Team for the first game and by the Home Field Team for the second game. The Home Field Team shall be responsible for contacting the visiting team relative to playing date and field location no later than Tuesday noon, cancellations due to rain and rain dates. The decision to postpone the game SHALL be made at the field at game time.
3. Each team will be responsible for supplying their own refreshments. Competing teams may challenge each other as agreed upon prior to each game.
4. A full team shall consist of ten (10) players, or a number as agreed upon by each participating team prior to the game. If a team fails to field eight (8) players, the opposing manager has the option to receive a forfeit. If a team fields exactly eight (8) players, the opposing team shall provide a catcher who shall not be obligated to make a defensive play. If a team fields exactly nine (9) players, they shall play without a short fielder and shall provide their own catcher, regardless of the number of players on the opposing team. Teams will be permitted to play more than ten players, as long as a regular batting sequence is followed. All teams will be required to submit a batting roster to the opposing team manager prior to the game, regardless of the number of batters used. Any player listed on the batting roster must bat in that order for the entire game, unless he must leave prior to the conclusion of the game. All players fielding must bat in a regular sequence.
5. League standings will be tabulated weekly. The Home Field Team manager must post both scores to the league web site ( http://leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?cmenuid=1&url=lvbcl&sid=675533432 ) no later than Sunday 12:00 Midnight. Failure to abide by this rule will result in a $10.00 fine to the offending team. If all fines and results are not forwarded to Carl Strobl by 5:00 PM August 22ND, 2013 – the offending teams will be ineligible for the Season Ending Tournament. If fines are not payed prior to the end of the calendar year (December 31st, 2013) the offending team/teams will not be included in league format the following year.
6. In order to be eligible to participate in the tournament, an individual player must have played in at least eight (8) regular season games on eight (8) different days.
7. All teams are eligible for the post-season tournament. Seeding for the Saturday session will be based on regular season records (percentage), with ties broken by (1) head-to-head results and (2) a coin toss.
All teams must supply rosters to the League President (Carl Strobl) cstrobl@browndaub.com no later than 5/31/13.
Rosters MUST include players name (first and last) an email address and a home phone number, along with the players jersey number. Rosters may not exceed 25 players. Any player listed on that roster is eligible for the tournament provided he has fulfilled the requirement in rule 6. No player will be eligible for the tournament who is not listed on his teams roster. Players can be added to the team after the May 31st deadline – and may participate in all league games, but these players WILL NOT be eligible for the tournament. EXCEPTION: If a team folds during the regular season, any player from such team will be able to play on another team, provided that that team has a spot on the roster, player information is submitted to league president. The player must play for the new team a total of ten (10) weeks to be eligible for tournament play. If a roster is not received by 5/31/12 – the team not submitting said roster will be ineligible for the tournament.
B. PLAY
8. This rule applies to all fenced fields and any field that has a designated home run rule. After the two (2) homerun rule is met by both teams, A “one-up” home run rule is in effect. Simply stated, one team may not have more than a “one” home run advantage over their opponent. If “Team A” hits a home run, then they cannot hit another home run until “Team B” hits a home run, it would count as an out. Once Team B hits a home run, both teams have now hit three home runs. Now, “Team A” or “Team B” may hit a homerun. This is not an alternating rule. It simply means that a team may not at anytime have hit anymore than “one more” homerun than their opponent. So the following hypothetical order of homeruns would certainly be valid: (Team A, Team B, Team B, Team A, Team A, Team B, Team A, Team B, Team B, Team A.) Any home run that exceeds the “one up” rule will be deemed an “OUT” and all on base runners will not advance any base from their starting positions.
9. Any rules or situations not specifically covered by these policies shall be governed by the most recent edition of the Official Slow-Pitch Softball Rules.
10. If. after completion of five full innings of play, (four and one-half if it is the home team winning) a team is losing by twelve (12) runs or more, (in both the first and second games) the losing team manager SHALL forfeit the game. A team may relinguish their turn at bat for one or more innings as they see fit to speed up play. The batting order must be advanced by three batters if this tactic is utilized.
11. Shoes with metal spikes of any kind will not be permitted.
12. Umpiring of the base paths during regular season shall be done by the base coaches. Calls at first base and home plate shall be the responsibility of the first base coach. Calls at second base and third base shall be the responsibility of the third base coach. Only team managers may enter into any discussions of the play in question.
During the tournament, umpiring MAY be done by a minimum of two (2) volunteer umpires from idle teams providing both participating managers agree. Competing managers shall not dispute calls by the umpires, and shall agree that the umpires have complete authority, including the power to eject a player or players from the game.
C. BATTING
13. Strikes will be called by the catcher, based upon the pitched ball striking a standard mat (26” long x 17” wide), including the plate. Swinging strikes and foul balls will also count, including the third strike. Balls will be called by the catcher, and a batter will be granted first base on a walk. In accordance with the above, three strikes will result in the batter being called out.
14. No bunting. A bunt of any kind will be considered a foul ball.
15. A foul ball does not have to arc over the batter's head to be an out, if caught.
ALL titanium bats are banned from the league, along with the ASA list of ineligible bats which is attached as a separate document. ANY team found guilty of using any of the disallowed bats SHALL forfiet the two games played that night. ANY team found guilty of a 2nd offense of this rule SHALL be banned from the league. This information should be provided to the League President when results are posted on the web site. League President will inform all other teams of the violation and result. All certified bats must be etch certified, no stickers will be permitted. ALL BATS MUST BE ASA CERTIFIED
D. BASERUNNING
16. A runner is out if the defender has the ball and is making a play on him and (1) he does not slide legally, causing illegal contact or thus alters the actions of a fielder in the act of making a play; or (2) on a force play when he slides he does not slide in a direct line between the bases. Penalty: Interference. The ball is dead, and both the runner and the batter-runner are out. Any baserunner who intentionally runs into another player will be ejected from that game only. The decision will be made by the team managers only. This information should be provided to the League President when results are posted to the web site. President will provide this information to all teams on the next posting of the league standings.
17. Runners may not leave a base until ball contact is made by the batter. One warning will be allowed per team per game. The second infraction will result in the runner being called out.
18. One base will be allowed to any runner on an overthrow that goes out of play. The runner will be awarded one base in addition to the base he was proceeding to at the point of release. On overthrows to first base the runner will be awarded second base, and all other runners will move ahead one base. On overthrows in play, there is no restriction on the number of bases.
19. The ball shall be declared dead (and no runners may advance) when it has been returned to the pitcher and he is within ten (10) feet of the pitching rubber.
20. Courtesy Runners are to be negotiated prior to game start between the two team managers, if agreed that courtesy runners will be allowed, the courtesy runner must be the last out recorded. Pinch Runners may be used; the pinch runner once used, shall not be able to re-enter the game at any time.
E. PITCHING
21. The pitched ball must be delivered with a perceptible arc of at least 6 feet from the ground, and must not reach a height of more than 12 feet from the ground at its highest point. In the event that a pitcher violates this rule, the manager of the team at bat may protest to the manager of the team in the field, who shall immediately instruct his pitcher to deliver the pitch in accordance with this rule. The pitcher must be in contact with the pitching rubber upon release of the softball. An illegal pitch shall be declared if the pitcher does not adhear to this rule.
F. TOURNAMENT
22. The Tournament will be held August 24 & 25, 2013. Double-Elimination.
23. The bats for the tournament will be supplied by the league, one 26 and one 28 ounce bat for each of the three fields.
24. Umpiring will still be the task of the two opposing teams for all games Saturday. Sundays games will have official umpires for all games. One umpire at the plate and one umpire for the bases.
25. There will be a home run limit of two (2), with the third, etc. being called an out. One up rule goes into effect after two (2) home runs are hit by both teams.
26. After the two (2) homerun rule is met by both teams, A “one-up” home run rule is in effect. Simply stated, one team may not have more than a “one” home run advantage over their opponent. If “Team A” hits a home run, then they cannot hit another home run until “Team B” hits a home run, it would count as an out. Once Team B hits a home run, both teams have now hit three home runs. Now, “Team A” or “Team B” may hit a homerun. This is not an alternating rule. It simply means that a team may not at anytime have hit anymore than “one more” homerun than their opponent. So the following hypothetical order of homeruns would certainly be valid: (Team A, Team B, Team B, Team A, Team A, Team B, Team A, Team B, Team B, Team A.) Any home run that exceeds the “one up” rule will be deemed an “OUT” and all on base runners will not advance any base from their starting positions.
27. Per ASA rules, if a ball is hit into the air (and the ball does not touch the ground) and a fielder touches that ball while it is still in the air causing the ball to go over the fence in fair territory, then that hit ball shall be declared a “four base award” and not count towards the homerun totals. (The ball must have been fair, never hit the ground inside the fence, and exited the homerun fence line). The batter runner will be awarded all four bases.
28. If a tournament game is postponed due to weather – that game or games will be resumed from the exact point that play was stopped. Managers should check the score books, so that continuation will be easily attained.
29. Ground rules for the tournament: Fields 3 and 4 will be played with an out of play line. If a ball lands fair on either sideline, and carries beyond the fence line, it shall be ruled a ground rule double. Field 5 will be played with an out of play line, but with that line starting after the fence on the first base side – that meaning that an overthrown ball at first base shall be considered in play and the runner(s) advance at their own risk. If a ball lands fair on either sideline, and carries beyond the fence line, it shall be ruled a ground rule double.
