CCNL Constitution
Updated 7/7/2023
Table of Contents
Structure. 1
Morals
Clause. 1
Team
Rosters. 1
Draft
and Player Acquisition. 1
Playing
the Game. 1
Player
Usage. 1
Penalties. 1
Schedule. 1
Trades. 1
Free
Agent (FA) Pool 1
Post
Season. 1
Playoff
Usage and Eligibility. 1
Playoff
Schedule. 1
Attrition. 1
2021
Addendum.. 1
Structure
- The CCNL is a continuous ownership
draft league and will consist of 24 individually owned teams.
- All CCNL games will be
played via the internet, using the most current version of Strat-O-Matic
CD-ROM computer baseball game.
- CCNL members are required to
own the latest version of Strat-O-Matic CD-ROM computer baseball game, with
card image.
- All super advanced options
will be used.
- Injuries will be used
for the maximum of the rest of the game only, whether regular season or
playoffs
- The following Max
Rules will be used:
- Bunt for base hit
- Improve base running
realism
- More base running
decisions
- Doubles and triples
option
- Realistic throwing
errors
- Pitch around option
- Robbing a home-run
- Limited OF mobility
- Required menu/rules option
menu settings will be set by the League Office prior to league files being
made available each Play Month. Managers are NOT to change any of these
settings, unless requested to do so by the Commissioner. Changing these
settings constitutes cheating and you will be immediately kicked out of
the league.
- Managers are allowed to set
the following options to his or her personal preferences:
- Offense and Defense
color
- Play by Play Color
- Play by Play
Background and Sound
- Card image on will be
the default. Only if BOTH managers agree, will the card image be turned
off.
- Also, if both
managers agree, they can use the Quick Play feature. But BOTH must agree.
- The CCNL will be made up of 4
divisions, designated with the sur names of the 4 managers with the best
records from the previous year. Each division consists of 6 teams.
As
much as possible, divisions will be based on time zones. This could mean
yearly divisional changes. The Commissioner will make this determination
prior to each season, when the roster of managers is set and prior to the
draft.
·
Divisions re-align every year
o Top 4
records from last year assigned one each to one of the 4 divisions; the
divisions named for the manager of each team.
o Next 8
records are randomly assigned, two per division
o Remaining
teams assigned randomly to get to 6 teams per division
o This
will happen during October, so that you know where you will be before you cut
and start trading
o We will
use Random
Picker — Choose a random thing from your list (randomlists.com) to select the final 12 teams.
- The DH will be used in all
American League ballparks games.
- Pitchers may not hit
for any reason other than an injury that forces someone to take the AB.
- Exceptions are pitchers
like Shohei Ohtani who were significant offensive participants.
- Pitchers may pinch
run.
- Team's names may be changed
prior to the draft. These names may not be changed during the season. If a
team changes hands, the new owner can choose a new team name before next
season's draft.
Morals Clause
- All members will treat each
other with dignity and respect.
- Under no circumstances
will foul language used in a demeaning manner - whether via online chat or
during any league communications - be tolerated.
Team Rosters
- Each
team shall consist of up to 40 players. A team may never have more than 40
active players at any time except from the end of the regular season until
the draft cut down date, which is January 5.
- On
January 5 November 30, you MUST
cut down to at most 28 players on your roster.
- A final cut will come 2
weeks before the draft.
- No limitation on this
cut, but make sure you have enough room for the picks you want to use in
rounds 1-12 because there will be NO FURTHER CUTS. You can still draft past round 12 if
you are short of 40.
- You can still trade
after the final cut, but you CANNOT make another cut, for any reason. This might mean that you have to make
sure your trade is even in players/picks swapped.
- After that final cut,
the list of cut players will be made available for Free Agent claims. You will have a week to submit your
claims to the Commissioner, then they will be assigned to teams based on
reverse order of the prior season’s standings. It’ll be like a draft, but will be done
from your claims lists, by the commissioner.
- When the rosters are entered
into the game, the 5% will be added.
The number of IP/PA shown in the game will be the usage limitation
number so that there is only one source of the truth.
Draft and
Player Acquisition
- Each year 2 weeks prior to
the Player Draft, a Ballpark draft will be conducted.
- The ballpark draft is
optional.
- Any team must
announce the Wednesday prior to the Ballpark Draft their intent to participate.
- The order of the
Ballpark Draft will be the same as the Player Draft.
- Ballpark Draft picks
are tradable.
- Team owners retain
the right to a new stadium if the MLB team moves to a new ballpark or
city.
- A team may never be
in possession of:
- More than one
ballpark
- More than one
ballpark draft pick
- Both a ballpark and
a ballpark draft pick
- A team does not own
a ballpark draft pick until they drop their ballpark
- Draft-Eligible players are
any players who played in MLB the previous season and received a player
card for that season. COMPUTER-ONLY players ARE draft-eligible.
- Only players who had
20 Innings Pitched (19.2 rounds up to 20) or 50
AB on their card are eligible for the draft and/or to play in the league. The 5% that we add for usage does NOT
apply in this case.
- The 5% is added after
eligibility for the league is determined by the AB/IP limitation
- Prior to each season, a
rookie free agent draft will be held.
- The order of the draft will be in reverse order of the
final regular season standings, with the following exceptions.
- The CCNL Series champ will pick 24th in each round.
- The CCNL Series runner up will pick 23rd in each
round.
- The runners up in the Semi-final Rounds will pick
21st & 22nd, with the order decided by reverse order of their
regular season records.
- The runners up in the Quarter-final Rounds will pick
17th - 20th, with the order decided by reverse order of their regular
season records.
- The draft shall be scheduled
for 12 rounds.
- Each team will have
one pick per round. This pick may be traded or waived.
- Once a team reaches
their roster limit, they may not continue to draft.
- Teams who have not reached their 40-man roster limit
after 12
rounds may continue to draft until the roster limit is reached.
- Each roster must show 720
Plate Appearances AFTER the 5% allowance for each position (including DH).
It is the manager’s responsibility to make sure that any trades made
during the season enable his team to remain viable as far as usage.
- Each roster must show 1500
IP AFTER the 5% allowance. It is the manager’s responsibility to make sure
that any trades made during the season enable his team to remain viable as
far as usage.
Playing the Game
- Prior to the start of each
month, teams are required to designate a number of players as inactive, in
order to bring their Active Roster to 26.
Active rosters must have at least 2 players rated at each position and
must contain a minimum of 5 pitchers who are eligible to START. (Must be
rated as Starter or Starter/Reliever)
- If a team has 4 * starters,
they may carry only 4 starters.
- Teams must send their
Computer Manager, with “STARTERS SCHEDULE” prior to the upcoming month. The
following schedule will be adhered to, subject to adjustments by the commissioner
when circumstances require it:
- All trades & Free Agent
requests in by the 25th
- Games & next month’s
CMs due on the last day of the month
- New .lzp file sent out by the 1st
- The Starter Schedule created
in the CMs must be strictly adhered to unless the starter in question is
used up. You cannot alter the Starter
Schedule during the month unless a scheduled starter is used up.
- All players designated as
inactive prior to the start of a month must remain inactive until the completion
of the current month.
- EXCEPTION: If a player
is used up during the month, he may be replaced by another player from the
inactive list. Player for player,
pitcher for pitcher.
- If using up a player
depletes you at that position or deprives you of carrying 2 players
rated for the position, you MUST replace him with a player that plays
the position.
- A used up starting
pitcher cannot be replaced until the series in progress is completed.
Active rosters expand to 28
players for the September play month.
A player may only
be replaced on the 28-man roster if he is used up.
- Make sure, prior to the start
of each game, that the “Create Game Files” option is turned on.
- Upon completion of each series,
the Hosting team manager is required to upload the
Game Files to the league cloud. All files must be posted
immediately upon completion of the series.
- You must send the
export files, box scores, and play account files.
- Retain copies of these
files outside of the Strat-O-Matic game file folders because invariably
the cloud fails at some point in the season and we don’t want to have to
replay games.
- If
you pinch hit for a player, you must have a player eligible for the
replaced position, regardless of point in the game.
- When
the game crashes, and a play or plays are lost, you use what is in the
saved game file. You DO NOT change entries to try and match what one or
the other person saw as lost.
Player Usage
- Players
are limited to 105% of actual usage (ABs plus Walks, a.k.a
Plate Appearances for fielders or IPs for pitchers). Always round up at
.5. The limits will be added into the league rosters prior to the start of
the season.
- You may use a fielder up to his limit for Plate
Appearances OR his limit for ABs, whichever you reach LAST. So, if a
player's adjusted ABs are 105, and his adjusted PAs are 125, he might
reach 125 PAs in our season before he reaches 105 ABs. In that case, he may
continue until he reaches 105 ABs.
- Pitchers who are not rated as
Starter, may not perform in that role, Pitchers who are rated as a Starter
only may only pitch in relief under the following conditions:
- It is the 9th inning
or later AND
All of the team's
remaining available Relief rated pitchers are fatigued AND
- The team has no
remaining Relief rated pitchers available AND
- The starter being used
will have sufficient rest to make his next start
- Starting
Pitchers must have at least 4 days of rest, unless they are rated with an
asterisk, then they may start on only 3 days rest.
- A pitcher may not appear in a
game as the DH unless there is a demonstrated usage issue requiring it.
- A player may not field a position
for which he is not rated, EXCEPT:
- If your player is
rated in the outfield, he may play another outfield position per SOM rules.
- If an ineligible player
appears in a game, and said infraction is caught by the opposing manager
before the next At Bat, then the UNDO LAST PLAY function will be used to
revert to the point in the game just prior to the infraction taking place
and the infraction corrected. If that is not feasible, then the managers
will agree on how best to resolve the issue.
- Any player who has exhausted
his allowed usage will be removed from the team's SOM computer game roster
for the remainder of the regular season.
Penalties
- Penalties will be assessed
for overuse, tardiness and any other behavior that infringes upon the
spirit of the league, unless the league office grants specific permission
to do so.
- Player Overuse: Managers are
expected to act in the spirit of fair competition, as such, if a player is
overused by even 1 AB or IP, the penalty will be as follows:
- Suspension of the
player for the rest of the season, including the playoffs.
- A team forfeits its right to the playoffs if they
have 2 or more overused players.
- Penalties are assessed on a point scale. Like in
golf, you want a low score:
- Each player at 1 AB/PA/IP is equal to 1 pt.
- Each player at 2 AB/PA/IP is equal to 2 pts
- Each player at 3 AB/PA/IP is equal to 3 pts
- Each player at 4 AB/PA/IP is equal to 4 pts
- Each player at 5 AB/PA/IP is equal to 5 pts
- And so on...
- An IP over is a full IP
- Penalty table is as follows:
- 1 pt lose a 5th round pick
- 2 pts lose a 4th
- 3 pts lose a 3rd
- 4 pts lose a 2nd
- 5 pts lose a 1st
- Commissioner's discretion after that - removal from
the league is always an option
- The Commissioner may reduce penalties after reviewing
the circumstances of the overuse.
- You must complete all of your
games by the 25th of each month. Since you start on the 1st of the month,
this gives you 24 days to complete all of your games.
- It is your responsibility to
make sure your games are played. If an emergency arises notify the league
and we will find someone to play your games. But this will not be tolerated
on a consistent basis.
- If you are
unavailable to get your games played, and a series gets autoplayed, and as a result your opponent(s) overuse
player(s), you will BOTH get the penalty point(s).
Schedule
- Each team will play a 162-game
regular season schedule.
- Each team will play 7
games against every team in the league.
- Each team will play 8 games against 1 randomly selected
team.
- Games will be played in
monthly blocks and the games must be completed during that “Play Month,” approximately
27 games.
- Once all games are finished
the rosters will be updated for trades.
- Once the new rosters are sent
out, each manager MUST send the computer manager, which will include the
“Starter Schedules” for the upcoming play period. The league office will
then send out Rosters containing all CMs for the month and up to date stats.
- League games will be
scheduled within the SOM game itself, but the managers can play the games
anytime within the "Play Month".
- ALL games must be played
between two human opponents.
Trades
- Trades may be made freely
until the end of the July Play Month.
- The trade deadline for the
Play Month is the 25th of the month.
- Teams may not make any trade
that would place their current roster above the team roster limits.
- Once a player has been traded
from a team during the play season, he may not be traded to that team
again for one calendar year.
- Draft picks may not be
traded except during the off-season. Then, only draft picks for the immediately
upcoming draft may be traded. During the off-season, draft picks may be
traded up to and including draft day.
- After a trade has been
agreed upon, all parties involved must submit the trade proposal to the
League Office. If the trade is approved by the league office, the trade
will be listed on the website. Do NOT announce your trades to the league
directly.
- At the conclusion of the
current Play Month, all approved trades will become Official, with the
League Office actually moving the players to their new teams prior to the
release of the next block league files.
- Trades which have been approved
may only be rescinded if ALL managers involved agree prior to the roster
update for that month. Teams will retain full rights to any player that
they acquire through a trade, until that team either trades, or releases,
the acquired player.
Free Agent
(FA) Pool
- All carded players who are
not on a CCNL roster, at the conclusion of the Free Agent/Rookie draft
will be placed in the Free Agent Pool.
Free Agents may be
picked up at any time, but the pickup is only effective at the end of the
play month (the last day of the month).
- You can claim a FA if
you use up a player. He has to be
100% used up, either AB or PA. The
exception is a pitcher who has less than 1 full IP left. You can get a usage guy for him, but you
cannot use the pitcher you are replacing for the rest of the regular
season. You can get that player for
the next series, even if it is within the block, though you will have to
wait for the league office to get the transaction into the game.
- Free
Agents may not be used in the playoffs.
- Once
cut from a team, a player may not be picked up by any other team.
- If two or more managers option
the same player, the first manager to make the claim gets the player.
- All free agents taken during
the season will be returned to the free agent pool at the end of the season.
- Once you pick up a
FA, you may cut him later to pick up a different FA.
- You can NOT trade a
player that you picked up as a FA.
- All FAs will be cut
at the end of the season.
Post Season
- The following teams make
the playoffs (total of 8 teams):
- The teams with the
best records in each division
- If there is tie for
division winner, the tie breaker procedure (below) will determine the
division winner and the loser becomes the 2nd place team.
- The 2 2nd
place teams with the best records
- Tie breaker is same
as above
- The 2 remaining best
records, regardless of position in the standings
- Tie
breaker is a 1-game playoff. Home team is determined by the tie breaker
procedure below.
- Any
tie breaker game takes place THE NEXT DAY AFTER the regular season ends.
- There is no off day
for starting pitching, but you do have to reset the days off to account for
relievers.
- Wild Card Round
- The 4 division
winners host the remaining playoff teams
- If there is tie for
best record, the tie breaker procedure (below) will determine which division
winner(s) get the higher seeds.
- The remaining 4
playoff teams are seeded by record, with the same tie breaker.
- Highest
seed hosts lowest seed and so on.
- Seeds
remain the same throughout.
- Tie
Breakers
- If
there are 2 teams tied for the final Wild Card spot, then there is a one
game playoff to determine who gets the wild card spot with the loser out
of the playoffs. Home team is determined
by the tie breaker procedure below.
- If
there are 3 teams tied for the final playoff spot, the tie breaker
procedure will determine which team gets a bye in the first game.
That team will host the winner of the one-game playoff in another
one-game playoff to determine the final playoff team. This method will also be used if 3
teams are in a tie for both Wild Card spots. One team gets a bye in to the playoffs,
the other 2 have a 1 game playoff to get in.
- If
there are 4 teams tied for the final Wild Card spot, the tie breaker procedure
will determine which teams are home for one game. The winners play
each other in one game with home team based on the seeding from the tie
breaker procedure. This method
will also be used if 4 teams are in a tie for both Wild Card spots. The 1-game playoff determines which 2
teams are in the Wild Card Series.
- Any
tie breaker game takes place THE NEXT DAY AFTER the regular season ends.
- There
is no off day for starting pitching, but you do have to reset the days
off to account for relievers.
- CCNL
Series
- Top
seed hosts lower seed
- You
name a 26-man roster for each series.
- Reset
days off after off days.
- Playoff
usage and eligibility is the same as for any series.
- Usage
is 10% of actual ABs & IP on card, always rounded down (even .9
rounds down).
- Tie Breakers:
- Head-to-head record
- Total runs scored
minus total runs allowed.
- Each playoff series will be
a best-of-7 series, with the higher seeded teams having home field
advantage, hosting games 1, 2, 6, & 7.
- The CCNL Series will be a
best-of-7 series, with the winner being crowned CCNL Champions.
- Playoff usage is limited to
10% of the AB/IP listed on the card (without our 5% buffer). Starters may
only pitch on the days rest that would normally be allowed during the
regular season.
- When determining usage,
always round DOWN. Even at .9, you
round down. So, 129 At Bats at 10%
is 12.9, so the player gets 12 At Bats for the series.
- The 26-man playoff roster can
be changed between series.
- Free Agents picked up
during the season are not eligible for the playoffs.
- Starter-only pitchers
are NOT allowed to relieve
- Playoff dates will be scheduled
at the start of the season so that the playoffs don’t drag on for months.
There will be a reasonable window of time in which to finish your playoff
games, so if you are in contention, be prepared to schedule playoff games.
For
starting pitchers, days off must follow the schedule.
- September 29 – Regular Season
ends
- September 30 – Off
Day/1-game playoff if needed
- October 1 – Off Day/1-game
playoff if needed
- October 2 – Quarter Final
Series Game 1
- October 3 – Quarter Final Series
Game 2
- October 4 – Off Day
- October 5 – Quarter Final
Series Game 3
- October 6 – Quarter Final
Series Game 4
- October 7 – Quarter Final
Series Game 5
- October 8 – Off Day
- October 9 – Quarter Final
Series Game 6
- October 10 – Quarter Final
Series Game 7
- October 11 – Off Day
- October 12 – Semi Final
Series Game 1
- October 13 – Semi Final Series
Game 2
- October 14 – Off Day
- October 15 – Semi Final
Series Game 3
- October 16 – Semi Final
Series Game 4
- October 17 – Semi Final Series
Game 5
- October 18 – Off Day
- October 19 – Semi Final
Series Game 6
- October 20 – Semi Final
Series Game 7
- October 21 – Off Day
- October 22 – CCNL Series
Game 1
- October 23 – CCNL Series
Game 2
- October 24 – Off Day
- October 25 – CCNL Series
Game 3
- October 26 – CCNL Series
Game 4
- October 27 – CCNL Series
Game 5
- October 28 – Off Day
- October 29 – CCNL Series
Game 6
- October 30 – CCNL Series
Game 7
Attrition
- If more than one manager
needs to be replaced at the beginning of a new season, an attrition draft
may be held prior to the rookie/free agent draft. Only new managers will
participate in the actual draft. The new managers will draft from a combined
pool made up of the players from the dissolved teams. No rookies or free
agents are involved in this draft. New teams will draft after the
non-playoff teams in the rookie/free agent draft. The commissioner reserves
the right to forego the attrition draft if it is deemed unnecessary and
continuing teams will retain their draft positions.
- Manager-less teams are not
eligible for the playoffs. If a team is promoted to the playoffs because
of a manager-less team, then that team will be treated as a playoff team
as any other playoff team.