Southeastern Massachusetts
Baseball League
LEAGUE CHARTER & BY-LAWS
This
athletic organization will be known as the Southeastern Massachusetts Baseball
League. The league will operate with an
amateur standing. All franchises and
players must agree to abide by the by-laws and official rules of the
Southeastern Massachusetts Baseball League.
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS: The league shall be governed by a Board of Directors. This Board of Directors will act as the
league directors and administrators.
The membership of this league
shall consist of suitably structured and accepted baseball teams, each one of
which shall hold a franchise in the league. Any team holding a franchise in
this league shall maintain and exercise its franchise without need for
re-acceptance to membership, providing that it has fulfilled all of its
obligations to the league.
However, in certain cases, membership status may be revoked by
a unanimous decision by the league board of officers. The league board of
officers must notify the team, whose membership status is in jeopardy, and that
team shall be given the opportunity to respond to the charges at an official
league meeting. This meeting may be held no earlier than ten days from
the date of notification from the commissioner’s office.
FORFEITS:
It is
extremely important that all teams ensure a minimum of nine players will be
present for all of their scheduled games.
If at any point in the season a team does forfeit a game, for any
reason, they will be given a verbal warning.
If that team then forfeits a second game during that same season, they
will be subject to possible fines imposed by the league board of
directors. Any fines handed down must
be paid in order for the team to retain it’s active franchise status in the
league for the following season.
·
No team will have more than 3
SCHEDULED GAMES PER WEEK. (With a week
being defined as a period stretching from Sunday to Saturday).
·
Teams may play more than 3 games
per week if makeup games are needed, but not more than 4 games. Note:
Teams can waive the 4 game weekly minimum rule on a case by case basis. A team must agree to a 3rd or 4th
game in a week before it can be scheduled.
·
All rainouts that affect the final
standings must be played before the playoffs can begin.
§
A player must be at least 19 years
old as of June 1 in order to be eligible to play in the SMBL.
§
GRANDFATHER
CLAUSE:
Any player who participated in at least one SMBL league game during the
2001, 2002, or 2003, 2004, or 2005 season will be eligible to play in any
future season, regardless of current age.
§
Teams must hand in opening day
roster prior to opening day.
§
Rosters must have a minimum of 12
players, with a maximum of 22.
§
Eligible players may be added to
the roster at any time prior to July 1st . After July 1st all player acquisitions must be
approved by the Director of Player Eligibility.
§ Any player added to the roster
after June 30th, is only eligible to play if there are less than 9
regular roster players present.
§
Managers must hand in an up to
date roster on June 30 of every season.
Additions to the roster after that date must go through the league board
of directors. Any player added with
board consent after June 30, will be ruled ineligible. The offending team also may be forced to
take a loss for any game that an ineligible player was used.
§ Roster Freeze Rule & Playoff Eligibility
· All
Managers must hand in an up to date roster no later than June 30. Only
players on that roster will be allowed to play in any league game. If a
team uses a player not on that roster, the offending team will be credited with
a loss for that game, regardless of the final score.
· For a
player to be eligible for the playoffs, he must have been present at a minimum
of one third of his teams games
·
After June 30, all player acquisitions must be approved by
the league board of directors.
Trading players during the season is not allowed.
All players are free to switch teams from one season to the next.
Any incident in which a player is ejected
from a game for un-sportsmanlike conduct, or is reprimanded by an umpire will
be reviewed by the league board of directors. The board will then determine if
additional disciplinary action will be taken.
Article X. Post
Season Format
Note: Brackets are NOT
re-seeded between rounds.
First Round: (Best of Three)
1st Place Team vs 8th Place Team
(1st place team is home in Games 1 & 3)
2nd Place
Team vs 7th Place Team
(2nd place team is home in Games 1 & 3)
3rd Place Team vs 6th
Place Team
(3rd place team is home in Games 1 & 3)
4th Place
Team vs 5th Place Team
(4th
place team is home in Games 1 & 3)
Semi-Finals: (Best of Three)
1st/8th
vs 4th/5th Place Team
(Higher Seed
is home in Games 1 &3)
2nd/7th
Place team vs 3rd/6th
Place Team)
(Higher Seed
is home in Games 1 &3)
Finals: (Best of Five)
For the finals, the team that finished higher in the
regular season will be the home team for games 1, 2, & 5.
If 2, 3 or 4 teams are tied for the same position in the standings, other
then 1st place, at the conclusion of the regular Season, the
following tie-breakers will be in effect:
1. 1.
Head to Head Record
2. 2.
Coin Flip (2 Teams)
3. 3. Random Draw (3 or more teams)
If the tie is for 1st place or 8th place, a one
game playoff will be played to determine the regular season title winner or 8th
place finisher.
Article
XI. Stat Tracking and Game Result
Reporting
Coaches are responsible for
tracking their team’s stats and turning them into the league board of directors
to be updated on league web-site.
Both
teams must report the score of a game to the League Planning Director.