To assemble a team whose starting lineup and pitching staff perform well enough to win your division then to win the OBFLB World Series, and bask in the circle of green phospheresence! Actually, none of us use BITNET anymore, and we probably don't look at green screens, but hey, we've been here a while..

The OBFLB is made up of 24 teams which are divided into three 8 team leagues. Team's rosters are comprised of active Major League Baseball (MLB) players from any of the 30 MLB teams. League/Divisional format is subject to change and is determined prior to each season. Each team has an Owner/General Manager who is responsible for all team activities and has a vote in league matters. GM's are encouraged to have one or more Assistant General Managers (AGM's) who can help out and run the team during vacations, etc.

Trading Points (TP's) are the lifeblood of OBFLB teams. They have many uses which include:

Each Team's roster shall consist of no more than 25 active players. There must be one player for every position and enough pitchers to prevent pitching penalities. Should the number of players on a roster exceed 25, the most recently acquired player or players shall be dropped. By utilizing the Disabled list teams could have more than 25 players

The OBFLB usually plays two, 'split,' seasons during the MLB season. A OBFLB season consists of a regular season, which is typically about 10 weeks, followed by playoffs and a week of competition for the OBFLB World Series. The league presidents determine an appropriate schedule each year, taking into account the MLB All-Star break.

A regular season series consists of 8 games (stat categories). Which teams and who they play are determined by random draw. This process is necessary to schedule 2 full seasons in a major league season. The league winners then advance to play each other in the much heralded OBFLB World series.

Lineup Cards should contain the names and ML team names of a player at each regular postion (non-pitching) and DH. One or more backups may also be listed. The backups will be used if the starting player does not play (1 PA minimum). One player can be put down as the backup for more than one position. However, if that player must play one of those positions because the starter has not played, he cannot play as the backup for one of the other positions. In other words, no player can play two positions for a week. The first three listed outfielders are considered the starters and the remaining outfielders are backups. Substitution Order: When more than 1 substitute is listed at a position, this list of substitutes should be considered a depth chart. Even if the 1st substitute listed is a starter at a different position, the 1st sub should be moved into the starting pos., as long as the starting position he is being removed from has a 1st sub. backup, over any 2nd substitute listed. Each lineup card shall also contain all starting pitchers listed in order of playing preference and all relief pitchers in order of playing preference.

GENERAL: Any active MLB player.

NOTE: Players drafted or signed as free agents who remain in the minor leagues or are sent down to the minors may be retained and carried on rosters. Players with no MLB affiliation (e.g., unsigned college players, Japanese players) may not be signed or drafted. Only MLB Statistics may be used in weekly competition of the OBFLB.

OBFLB Player Eligibility By Postiton(s) Played:

1. OBFLB Pitching (Non-Positional) Player Eligibilty:

   If a pitcher starts a game during a given week of competition his statistics will only be considered if he is listed as a starting pitcher (SP).

   If a pitcher doesn't start a game during a given week of competition, his statistics will only be considered as a relief pitcher (RP).

2. OBFLB Positional (Non-pitching) Player Eligibility:

   A Player will be eligible for the position that he is listed on a OBFLB roster if he gets at least 1 PA and if he:

   1. Played the position he is listed at during the week in question.
      Reference: Box score and date
   2. Past Performances at a position,
      1. Pre-All Star Game season: Played the position in 8 or more games during the previous MLB season or 6 or more games during the current MLB season.
      2. Post-All Star Game season: Played the position in 6 or more games during the current MLB season.

      Ref: Baseball Weekly lists each team's players and games played by position at least every other week during the season.
      Ref: The Sporting News Pre-Season Baseball Annual lists each teams players and Games played by position for the previous season.
      Ref: The Sporting News (TSN) Baseball Register and Who's Who in Baseball list positions played with the leftmost or first entry being the most often played position.

If, during a week of competition, an owner, upon reviewing his opponent's lineup card, suspects any player ineligibility and the two competing owners cannot work it out, protests may be submitted to the teams' league president. The protestor is advised to have complete information, use the references that are listed for player eiligilbity, send copies to each league president and the opponent you're accusing.

The Statute of Limitations (time limit) on all player eligibility protests 2 weeks from the stats due date.

The OBFLB has certian playing minimums in order to reflect the requirements and actualities of a MLB Roster. No team in MLB live on relief alone and, accordingly, all teams in the OBFLB must conform to league minimums for pitching requirements.

Starting Pitching: Each team must have a minimum of 4 pitchers which start a game each week and may use stats from a maximum of five starters. If a team has only three pitchers which start, the team ERA and WHIP are increased by 50% for the week. If a team has less than three pitchers which start, the ERA and WHIP categories are forfeit. If more than five pitchers start, only the stats from the first five on a lineup card, must be used.

Relief Pitching: If at least 2 relief pitchers appear for the week, there is no penalty. If fewer than 2 RPs appear, the team ERA and WHIP are increased 50% for the week. The maximum number of relief pitchers that can be used is equal to the number of eligible SPs divided by two and rounded up. In other words, with five starters a team can use three relievers, but with four or three starters a team can only use a maximum of two relievers. With less than 3 starters, the allowable maximum defaults to the same number as the required minimum (i.e., 2 RPs).

Positional (Non-Pitching) Players Non-activity Penalities: A team must have a player eligible for every position which plays each week. If a player does not appear during the entire week of play, a minimum of 1 ab, or is otherwise ineligible, that position will bat 0 for 15 with 0 RBIs and Runs scored for the week. This is a damaging penalty and should be avoided at all costs.

The league's stat service generates statcards each week to determine winners of the week's matchups. Each owner should check his own stats and those of his opponent to ensure the correct players have been used.

The statistics used by the OBFLB to determine wins and losses are detailed below with explanations of what each one measures:

• Positional players (Non-Pitching) Categories
  • Batting Average - Tried and (some may say not so) True. This statistic measures hits per at-bat and is determined by dividing the number of hits in one week by the number of at- bats in that week. (Hits/ABs)
  • Runs Produced Average - The OBFLB's departure from Gross RBI's. This statistic measures runs produced per at-bat. The formula is ((Runs + RBI's) - HR's) / AB
  • Stolen Bases - The total number of stolen bases during a week.
  • Home Runs - The total number of home runs during the week.
• Pitching Categories
  • Earned Runs Average - Earned Runs per 9 innings is a standard measurement of an effective pitcher. (ER/IP) * 9
  • WHIP Ratio - This is a rough approximation of baserunners a pitcher allows each inning. (BB + H) / IP
  • Wins - The total number of wins during the week.
  • Saves - The total number of saves during the week.

Each week a team wins two points for each of the stats above which is better than the team they are playing. Ties are split with each team earning a single point in the tied category. Hence there are a total of 16 points available each week.

Reference: The official stat source for the OBFLB is the USA Today Baseball Weekly. Each week, Baseball Weekly prints the cumulative stats for all MLB players. Owners are expected to keep past copies of the paper to subtract stats to find the weekly (net) production. Alternatives are to use an online stat service which provides stats Monday-Sunday for both leagues, or to compile daily boxscores from your daily paper. Baseball Weekly costs $1.00.

The OBFLB Minor League consists of all players which are on the rosters of MLB teams and their minor league affiliates and MLB free agents, that are not on a current roster of any OBFLB team. The entire pool of players in the OBFLB Minor League are considered free agents. OBFLB owners can and do compete with each other during the Post OBFLB draft and regular seasons for the services of these free agents.

The number and organization of playoff games shall be be determined by the league based on the structure of Leagues/Divisions and the number of teams.

For purposes of playoff eligibility and/or advancement, the following tie-breaker system will be used:

1. The team that has gone more seasons without being in the playoffs will advance. This rule will commence using 2002 playoff data and beyond.
   
2. If the teams remain tied after employing method (1) above, The tied teams will next be compared on a category-by-category basis using seasonal stats, with 2 wins awarded for an outright victory in a category and 1 win awarded for a tied category. The team with the best record in this head-to-head matchup will advance.
   
3. If the teams remain tied after employing method (2) above, then seasonal power ratings will be used to determine playoff eligibility or advancement. The team with the higher power rating will advance.

If the League feels that an owner is unjustly taking advantage of the league by not sending in stats cards on time, working reasonably with other owners, etc, as a first warning, it will be cause to forfeit one week's play. When forfeiture occurs, the team in question will lose 8 games that week, while their opponent will win the amount he would have normally. Repeat offenders could risk losing their teams.

To change an existing rule, a group of 5 owners must contact the Presidents with a proposal that they all endorse as written. In addition to outlining the proposed rule change, the proposal should include the motivation(s) behind the rule change.

Once the proposal and requisite endorsements are received by the Presidents, they forward the proposal to the league for a two week discussion period. During the period, the pros and cons of the proposal will be discussed. In addition, owners can offer alternative proposals meant to accomplish similar goals in different ways or to less or more of a degree.

Alternate proposals can get on the voting ballot if they are endorsed as written by 5 owners. Note: An owner who endorsed the original proposal MAY endorse a new proposal. However, an owner may only endorse ONE "alternate" proposal. Also note that an endorsement is not (necessarily) the equivalent of a vote for that proposal.

At the end of the two week discussion, the original proposal, status quo, and any alternate proposals will be presented to the league for a vote using a preference voting system.

As part of their vote, each owner ranks in preference order the proposals presented (including status quo). If after counting everyone's first preference, no option gets a majority, the last-place option is thrown out and the vote is re-counted, with anyone whose vote was for the last-place option replaced by their second choice. For more than 3 options, this continues until some proposal has a majority of the "top ranked among the remaining choices" votes. If there's a tie for last, the one with the most second place votes will be kept and the other eliminated.

If there is a tie for first place involving status quo, status quo wins out. If status quo was a rejected option, then the President's votes break the tie. In the case of tie among the Presidents, the President with the longest seniority breaks the tie.

The League is run by 2 Presidents, One from each League (Eastern and Western). The Presidents are empowered to do anything and everything needed to keep the league healthy and fair. Should The Presidents come to an impass between them, the decision will be ruled on by the league commissioner.

Make no mistake, The owners have to work together to make the make the league work. The presidents are here to provide continuity, structure and settle disputes, but it's an owners league. Should you decide to participate, make sure you hold up your end of the duties. When you fail, you let down 23 others!