North American Pro and Rookie Draft League Constitution

We the Owners and Managers of the North American Pro and Rookie Draft League declare that this document shall take precedence over any loophole in any written rule. Attempts to circumvent the intent of the rules will be dealt with by all owners in the league. Whatever their decision, that decision is final.

I- INTRODUCTION

The North American Pro and Rookie Draft League (NAPR) was born out of a desire to play a league based on the 2000 MLB Season and moving forward in time from that point. Using the -latest version of APBA Baseball for Windows and League Manager Power Tool. While the league will be full of competition, it's main purpose is to have fun and to promote camaraderie amongst its members.

II-LEAGUE STRUCTURE

The NAPR will be composed of 26 Teams in Two Leagues American League - 14 Teams and National League - 12 Teams. Three divisions with Four Teams in each, the Eastern Division, Central Division and Western Division. Teams are placed in divisions roughly according to geography at the commissioner's discretion.

The data disk used for each season will be created using Current Data Disk sold by the APBA Game Company and/or Miller Associates. Miller Associates.The ONLY changes to these data disks will be as follows:

The DH will be used in the  American League only.

This will be a continuous ownership league and all players, once drafted, remain with your team until traded, released or they retire.

An annual draft of all remaining rookies and free agents will be held at a time determined by the commissioner, usually in late January or early February.

A Schedule and AIM Rules:

League Play On

Wild Card Teams On

Bench Pitching Rotation Off

Pitcher Durability and Recovery: Early 20th Century

Full AIM is used in League Manager - fatigue and all injuries

A Farm Team Organization IS used.

AutoSub is turned ON. (Tired, Bushed, Itchy and Worn Out.)

AutoSub Platoon: Off

No Batters Faced Limits are turned ON.

No .930 for OPS<.600 is turned OFF

B Rules For Organization:

Skill Level: Amateur

Designated Hitter: On in League, Off in League

IW With Bases Full: On

Sacrifice with 2 Outs: On

Allow Bunt for Hit: On

Allow Infield in with 3rd Base Empty: On

Ballpark Effects: On

Each team must pick a Stadium. No two teams may occupy the same park. Each team will use its assigned park for the entire season. The only parks (ratings) that will be available are those that were actually used in MLB in the current NAPR year. Teams may keep their park for as long as they wish as long as the park was actually in use in that NAPR year. Teams that want move to a new stadium may do so at the end of any season. They may choose from any available stadium.

Steps the Commissioner will follow to assign parks for a season:

Each team will draft his Ball Park in the Ball Park Draft. The order a team drafts will be determined Randomly.

III-EXPANSION RULES

Whenever we expand the league, teams will be permitted to protect 22 players. The expansion teams will then select 1 player from each roster. The existing teams then get 4 additional players added to their protected lists. The expansion teams then complete their selections with one more player from each existing roster. Expansion picks may NOT be traded. The player must be selected and then dealt.

Each expansion team will receive free agent picks after all other teams, but before the 2 championship round teams. So they will select immediately after all playoff teams.

IV-REGULAR SEASON

The regular season will consist of 16 games versus each team in your Division (96 Games), 8 games versus the teams in the other division (56 games). The schedule will be generated using League Manager.

The season will start at a time determined by the commissioner, usually early April. A team will play home games for the week on there on computer.

Ball park Effects will be enabled, so rainouts are possible and will be rescheduled by the commissioner.

The commissioner will send a "commissioner file" (c-file) to each manager prior to the league draft. This c-file will contain all teams' pre-draft rosters and the schedule for the upcoming season. Another c-file will be sent during the course of the league draft that will include all of the post-draft rosters.

Each manager shall send a default "Franchise File" (f-file) to the commissioner no later than 4 days prior to the season start date. This default f-file shall include a pitching rotation, a lineup vs. right-handed pitchers and a lineup vs. left-handed pitchers.

Each manager will have the opportunity to override the default f-file settings each week by sending the commissioner a new f-file. The default f-file will be used if the commissioner prior to the published deadline during any week of the regular season receives no new f-file.

In League Manager, before creating an f-file, each manager should do the following:

Assign lineups vs. LHP's and RHP's

Designate a MicroManager for your road games (the default MicroManager will be Billy Coleman).

Put in a pitching rotation (this can be done for the upcoming series or for any length of games in the future).

Prior to playing games, managers do not need to send an f-file to the commissioner if they've made no roster changes, but they do need to download the latest c-file from the website to insure they have the latest update to the team they are facing.

Managers playing home games are required to send an f-file to the commissioner after playing their home series for the week. This f-file shall be received by the commissioner no later than the published deadline or the games will played under AUTOMODE by the commissioner in order to keep the season schedule running on time.

V-POST SEASON

Playoff qualifiers will be the three-division winner and two wildcard teams.

The Wildcard Teams will face each other in a best of 5 series in round 1 of the post season.

The winners of the Wildcard Series will then face the Division Winner with the best Record in a best of 7 series. The Division Winner will host games 1, 2, 5 and 7 (if necessary) of this League Semi Final Series (LSFS).

The Division Winner with the Third best Record will face the Division Winner with the Second best Record in a best of 7 series. The Second Best Division Winner will host games 1, 2, 5 and 7 (if necessary) of this League Semi Final Series (LSFS).

The winners of the League Semi Final Series will then meet in a best of 7 series. The team with the best regular season record will host games 1, 2, 5 and 7 (if necessary) of this League Championship Series (LCS).

The winners of the League Championship Series will then meet in a best of 7 series. The team with the best regular season record will host games 1, 2, 5 and 7 (if necessary) of this World Series (WS).

Any ties in the standings will be broken by a one game playoff, hosted by the team who won the season series. In the event of a tie in the season series, the commissioner will toss a coin.

There will be one day of rest between the end of the season and the beginning of post season play. There will be one day of rest between all Playoff Series.

VI-IN SEASON ROOKIE DRAFT

The Rookie draft will be held via e-mail or Delphi Chat Room. The start date for each season's draft will be late June. In this draft each team will be able to draft any Non Carded Rookie. The Draft order for year one will be based on a Random Draft Order. Each year after the initial year it will be determined by combining the Teams Winning Pct. from the Previous Year and the Winning Pct. as of the end of the Last Series in June. This will be a two round draft. Non-Serpentine. If during the Rookie Draft your Rookie Roster exceeds the 10 Rookie League you must cut some of them to get it back under 10.

VII-PRE-SEASON DRAFT

The pre-draft may be held via e-mail or Delphi Chat Room. The start date for each season's draft will be late January early February.

Starting with 2002 (2001 MLB Season), the draft order for Positions 1 through 3 will be determined by a weighted lottery of the 3 teams with the worst Winning Pct.. Worst Record is assigned Ticket Numbers 1 thru 60, 2nd Worst Record is assigned Ticket Numbers 61 thru 85, 3rd Worst Record is assigned Ticket Numbers 86 thru 100. Positions 4 through 14 will be in reverse order of the teams records from the previous season. (Any ties for positions 4 through 16 will be based on head to head meetings with the team doing the worst in the series drafting higher) The 5 playoff teams will draft in the last 6 positions regardless of record. Their order will be World Series winner (26th), WS loser (25th), LCS loser with the better record (24nd), the other LCS Loser (23rd), LSFS loser with Best record (22nd), LSFS loser with 2nd Best record (21st), LSFS loser with 3rd Best record (20th), LSFS loser with Worst record (19th), WC Series loser with the Better Record (18th),WC Series loser with the Better Record (17th).

Rosters going into the Free Agent draft are to be at 35 players. We draft for 10 rounds. Managers are not required to draft all 10 rounds but must at least draft 5 rounds.

All rosters must be brought back down to 40 no later then 1 week after the draft meaning the Owner will be required to cut x amount of player to get back down to the 40 man limit after the draft.

WAIVER DRAFT

There will be a 4 Round Waiver draft. Claiming a player in round 1 REQUIRES the cut of a player. No player becomes available until the next round after they were released. The draft continues for 4 rounds or no one is claimed whichever comes first.

Owners are not required to participate in the waiver draft.

VIII-ROSTER RULES

There is a 40-player player limit to a team's roster at any given time after the pre-season draft. Managers must ensure that they have enough coverage at all positions for the entire season. There is a 10-Player Non-Carded Rookie Team.

Active roster size for league play during the season is as follows (all dates below are season schedule dates, not actual dates):

From Opening Day to the of last full month of Play - 25 players

During the Last Month - up to 40 players

Players may be moved between the farm team and the "big league" club during the season. Managers MUST notify the commissioner of any moves they make. Managers will use Advanced Draft to make these moves.

If players are injured, they may only be replaced on the active roster if they are placed on the Disabled List (DL) or sent down to the farm team.

There will be 2 different Disabled Lists, 15 day and 60 day.

A player placed on the DL may not return to the active roster until the amount of days that he was put on the DL have expired, regardless of whether or not his injury duration has expired. DL dates will be retroactive to the day of the injury. The commissioner will alter the length of the injury to reflect the length of the DL the player was put on.

A player returning from the DL will not be available until the next series.

IX-FREE AGENTS :

Free Agents may be picked up before the start of the next series. The Manager(s) will need to notify the Commissioner via E-mail that he is interested in that player. If by Monday Midnight EST no other Manager shows interest in this player he will be added to your roster. Also at the time of E-mail notification you must let the Commissioner know who you will be dropping from you roster if necessary due to 40 Player Roster limitation. If two or more teams want the same player, that player will go to the team with the worst record. When a free agent is picked that player can go to ether the Active roster or Farm Team. If picking up the Free agent brings your team over the 40-man limit you must cut a player to bring you roster down to the 40-man limit.

No Free Agent can be signed during the last month of play.

X-TRADES

Trading is allowed, with the following restrictions:

No players to be named later.

Draft picks, which are dealt, can only be for the upcoming draft.

In uneven-numbered trades, the teams receiving fewer players can pick up Free Agent(s) to fill the roster spots. The team, which receives more players, must immediately cut players to get down to the 40-man limit.

Off-season trading is allowed from the conclusion of the post season until 1 week prior to the start date of the season. Once the season begins, trading is once again allowed.

Trading during the season is allowed from Opening Day until the beginning of last full Month. No trading can occur from this point on until the end of the post season.

XI-PLAYING RULES - REGULAR SEASON

Starters -- Only pitchers who had at least one start may start a game, unless the automode of League Manager chooses otherwise due to the unavailability of any rested starting pitchers.

Pitchers can be used as pinch runners and pinch hitters.

The Bunt for a Base Hit option may be used.

If an injury occurs to your last player at a position, you must use the most logical substitute. Preferably, the player has played the position in the or will play that position in the future The 'logical' aspect is highly debatable, but generally following these guidelines:

To First Base: Outfielders, Catchers, and Third baseman

To Second Base: Shortstops, Outfielders

To Shortstop: Second baseman, Third baseman

To Third Base: Catchers, Shortstop, Second baseman

To Left or Right Field: First baseman, Third baseman

To Center Field: Second baseman, Shortstop

To Catcher: Anyone

Similarly, position players may not be used as pitchers except in the following circumstances:

Your last available pitcher has been injured

Your team is ahead or behind by more than 10 runs.

The Micro Manager puts a Non Pitcher in as a Pitcher.

In the event of a rainout, and if the game is not official, the game will stand as not official and the commissioner will reschedule the game for a later date.

Players are allowed to play only at positions at which they are rated unless, due to an injury during a game or series, that player is the last player rated at a position. When using a player out of position, the substitute should be a reasonable choice.

XII-STOLEN BASE ATTEMPTS

Players are permitted to attempt up 250% of there Stolen Base Attempts. After that time there Steal Allowance is set to N and Steal Success Rating is reduced by 10. IE Player A in Real Life Attempted 32 Steals is Steal Allowance is C and Success Rate is 26. He can attempt up to 80 Steals, after that his Steal Allowance will be N and Success Rate 16.

XIII-PLAYER RESTRICTIONS - REGULAR SEASON

AIM will handle all maximum restrictions on players and pitchers. This includes all attempts made during Hit & Run plays and squeeze plays.

XIV-PLAYER ROSTER/RESTRICTIONS - POST SEASON

Rosters for the post season will be selected from the ACTIVE roster during . Any of the 25 players on the roster during that series are eligible for the post season. Any player on the DL at that time is also eligible for the post season, The post season roster will only include 25 players per playoff series. You will be able to adjust the roster between rounds in the playoffs, in the event of an injury. Player restrictions for the post season are based on AIM allowances. Fatigue is carried forward from the regular season, including injuries.

XV-FILE DUE DATE/SCHEDULE

Before each series, managers will have an opportunity to make changes to their rosters, rotations, and lineups. However, changes do not have to be made on a weekly basis, or as far as that goes, at all. Some managers may elect to write a rotation, set one or more lineups and let the game handle everything else.

The commissioner will supply each team with the Official NAPR Season Disk. Do not set up your own organization. To be legal, you must have either the data disk of the season being played or a copy of Bill James Encyclopedia that includes the season being played.

The first time you receive a commissioner file for the season being played, you can have any organization loaded in league manager. Select load commissioner file and choose the file you received by e-mail.

The Commissioner will send out the Commissioner Results File. (by 9 P.M. Mon)

Each manager will make roster moves, set rotation, and set lineups.

Each manager will send a Franchise Default File to the commissioner. (by 9 P.M. Wed)

The Commissioner will send out the Commissioner Default (PLAY BALL) File.(by 9 P.M. Wed)

Managers will play their home series.

Each manager sends to the commissioner a Franchise Game File.(by 9 P.M. Sun.)

(All times are Pacific Time)

The process now starts over with step #1 till the end of the season.

If the Franchise Game Files are not in by the due time, the commissioner will have League Manager automode play any games not received on time. The commissioner will use the last f-file received for away teams that do not send a revised f-file on time. Please notify the commissioner if you are not able to get the files sent on time for any reason (i.e., vacation, personal reason) and no penalty will be enforced. Remember, this is supposed to be FUN!!!

Default Instruction Files: C-NAPxxd.alp

Game Files: C-NAPxxG.alp

xx - represents the week of the league schedule, or the period or play or the series number.

d - represents the commissioner file being sent out which contains the latest results for the league and league members should use this file to make their Defaults for the upcoming series.

g - represents the commissioner file being sent out contains the updated defaults and the league members should use this file to play games.

Default naming conventions for the franchise files (as outlined on Fanpark):

Default Instruction Files: F-yyyxxD.alp

Game Files: F-yyyxxG.alp

yyy - represents the initials assigned to the franchise owner (they may be the manager's initial or the team initials or whatever). This helps designate each team's files from that of another franchise owner in the league.

xx - represents the week of the league schedule, or the period or play or the series number. In an AIM league, it will be the series number (your schedule may be 32 sets of five game series, 160 games total, therefore 1 (or 01) would represent the 1st five game series of the season). In non-AIM leagues, it could be the first month of the season (or other period of time the league decides).

d - represents the commissioner file being sent out contains the latest results for the league and that members should use this file to make their Defaults for the upcoming series.

g - represents the commissioner file being sent out contains the updated defaults and the league members should use this file to play games.

Team Franchise File Designations are those indicated in League Manager. Teams will use these three letter designations when turning in their f-files.

XVI-COMMISSIONER'S ROLE

The commissioner's role is a position to best serve the interests of the NAPR Computer Baseball League.

The commissioner shall have the authority to mediate disputes on organizational issues and make final decisions when all sides of an issue have been presented and are still unresolved.

The commissioner shall have the authority to assess penalties and/or suspend managers and/or players for overuse of players, habitually late f-files and late league correspondence.

The commissioner, above all, shall strive to be accessible to the league members and help promote communication and understanding among the members of the NAPR Computer Baseball League