League Constitution

I-75 Strat-O-Matic Email League Constitution

2011 season updates in green
2009 season updates in red
2008 season updates in blue

We, the members of the I-75 Strat-O-Matic Email League, do willfully dedicate ourselves to the pursuit of happiness brought by Strat-O-Matic baseball.  We pledge to tabulate statistics into the wee hours of the morning; to take the 5-7s with the 1-5s; and to treat our opponents with fairness and respect.

Our goal is not to win games or win titles, but rather to share with others of the same conviction the excitement of managing a major league baseball franchise.

League history

The founding fathers of the I-75 Mail League are Gary Kicinski and Dave Renbarger, who schemed in the winter of 1979-80 to bring their mutual Strat fiend friends together in one venture.

Original charters were granted to Gary Kicinski (Applegate Paperclips), Dave Renbarger (Vlasic Pickles), Larry Pittman (Washington Senators), Steve Hart (Ansbach Angels), Joe Brunetti (Berlin Bullets), Mike Renbarger (Michigan Drifters), Ken Kuzdak (Detroit Drill Team), Steve Bizek (Bismarck Bombers) and Gerry Yurko (Mennen Speedsticks). The I-75 Mail League was born on March 16, 1980, when a telephone hookup between the offices of the Tampa Times and the Detroit residence of Ken Kuzdak allowed nine managers to draft 25-man squads.

After 23 successful seasons, the League implemented a fundamental shift in philosophy, expanding from 9 to 12 teams, and adopting a comprehensive player retention format to replace the longstanding tradition of annual redrafts.  Thus with the onset of the 2003 season the League was reborn and renamed the I-75 Strat-O-Matic Email League, to signify both the departure from the previous era and the full embrace of computerized Strat.

The twelve original charters into the retention league were granted to Dave Renbarger (Bushwood Gophers), Steve Hart (Savannah Scorpions), Ken Kuzdak (Detroit Deacons), Mike Renbarger (Superior Titans), Steve Bizek (Bismarck Bombers), Phil Roselli (Littleton Lumberjacks), John McMillan (Margaritaville Volcanos), Mike Wilson (Hickory Nuts), Jamie Turner (Tropical Heat), Dave LaMont (Springfield Isotopes), Mark Chafetz (Clawson Clippers), and Marc Wasserman (Brooklyn Excelsiors). 

In 2004, the Clippers departed, and Gary Kicinski, one of the I-75 founding managers, rejoined the League with his Applegate Paperclips.  In 2005, the Excelsiors did not return, and the League welcomed Rick Lackey and Garth Lewis as co-managers of the South Grand Prairie Warriors.  In 2007, the Lumberjacks departed, and Dan Wilson, joined the League with his Wisconsin Warhawks.

It is a note of pride that the current league boasts 6 of the 9 original I-75 Mail League charter members from 1980, and 8 managers with 20+ years of league membership.  As the league passes its 30^th season, the managers proudly rededicate themselves to the League mantra: The Foremost Strat-O-Matic Brains in the Country.

League Hierarchy

The twelve-team I-75 Email League is governed by a commissioner (a.k.a. The Czar). A league statistician is in charge of collecting game result files and distributing monthly statistics and roster updates.  A League webmaster is chartered with the task of establishing and maintaining an official League website, which serves as a primary means of information updating for managers, as well as the primary link to the greater Strat-O-Matic Baseball community. League managers determine rules by majority vote at annual conventions, but The Czar is empowered to make any changes and decisions during the course of the season that could not conveniently be decided by the entire league membership.

Members are assessed a $10 fee per year to cover the cost awards and operating expenses.  League Officials are exempted from the annual fee.

League Format and Calendar

The I-75 Email League season runs from March to October. Teams play 20 games per month for a 160-game season.   The twelve teams are split into two divisions and play an unbalanced schedule. Teams are chosen through a partial redraft each year, held at the Convention in early March.  Historically, the annual Convention and the associated Draft is the highlight of the League season, promoting the greater good of the League through active participation and galvanizing friendships among fellow managers.  With that fact in mind, attendance at the Convention is strongly encouraged by the Czar.

1. Preseason:

All managers are required to send their $10 league dues to the Czar, postmarked by Dec. 1 to confirm their participation in the league for the upcoming season.  The Czar confirms the participation of returning teams, and, if necessary, leads the effort to find new League members should a manager resign.

A replacement manager who inherits an existing roster has the option to protect up to five fewer players than other existing franchises, selecting non-retained players from the other rosters to fill up his retention roster to the prescribed number.  If more than one team has a manager change in the same season, then a draft format devised by the Czar will be used to redistribute players onto retention rosters.  The replacement manager selects his retention roster before the waiver draft.

By December 15^th, or two days after the new season fielding ratings are released on the SOM website, whichever is later, all managers that are committed and accepted for the upcoming season must submit a list of 17 or 18 players from their previous season roster that shall be retained.  All current draft picks owned are retained.

All nonretained players are placed in an available pool for the waiver draft.  Teams that retained only 17 players are eligible to select one player from the nonretained player pool.  The player shall be selected by a draft, with the draft order determined by the win totals of the teams from the previous season.  The eligible team with the lowest win total from the previous season selects first, and so on, until all teams have 18 players on the roster.  This waiver draft choice is not eligible to be traded.  Waiver draft should be completed before January 1^st.

After the waiver draft, all nonretained players on the roster are returned to the player pool and are available for drafting by any team in the March preseason draft.  The list of retained players for each team is posted on the website.  If a team, for any reason, fails to submit a retention list by the deadline, the Czar will be responsible for determining the retention list for the subject team.

By December 15^th a manager may also declare his intention to submit for a new ballpark for the following season. (see Section 4d)

Once retention lists have been received and verified for the entire league, The Czar will declare opening day for the Hot Stove season, and bestow onto each manager 14 draft picks for the upcoming March draft.  The Hot Stove season will run from that day until the completion of the draft on Draft Day.  During the Hot Stove season, unrestricted trading of retained players and/or draft picks among member managers is permitted.  All trades must be submitted to and approved by the Czar before they become effective.  At no time during the Hot Stove season shall a manager’s roster of combined players plus draft picks drop below 25 or exceed 37.

After release of the SOM Weather Effects Ballpark ratings, but before February 28^th, league members select their ballpark for the upcoming season.  First, each team declares whether they retain their ballpark from the previous season, or submit for a new ballpark.  Those that retain their ballpark are done with the proceedings.  The league office generates a list of available ballparks, i.e. those not retained. The teams intending to select a new ballpark select an available park from the list.  The selection order is established in reverse order of winning percentage from the previous season, skipping any teams that retain ballparks.  No duplicate parks are permitted.

Teams automatically retain the ballpark from the MLB franchise city of origin, should older ballparks be replaced by new ones within the same city.  Example:  If the Vlasic Pickles played in Cinergy Field in Cincinnati for the 2003 season, they will automatically continue playing in the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati for the 2004 season, unless a ballpark change is requested. (Moved from Section 3d for clarity)

2. The Convention:

The Convention officially begins on the night before the Draft with the League Meeting.  The Czar presides over the festivities, welcoming all the managers and handing out awards from the previous season.  The Czar also provides a treasury report, and directs any discussion from the attending managers regarding rules changes or important League decisions.  All active managers are given the right to vote on rule changes.  For proposals initiated before the draft, managers may cast their vote live, either in person or via phone or instant messaging, or cast an absentee vote by registering his vote ahead of time with the Czar. For proposals initiated at the draft, managers must be “live” to cast votes, either in person or via phone, or instant messaging only.

The Hot Stove season is considered closed after the Draft is completed.

3.  The Draft:

3a.  Player Eligibility:

Only officially carded players are eligible to be drafted and play during the season.  Officially carded players consist of cards appearing on the regular roster plus cards identified as Additional Players by Strat-O-Matic.  Electronic carded players are not eligible to be drafted or used in League play.  Exceptions: electronic carded players that are retained by the team during the previous off-season are eligible to play. Uncarded players are eligible to be retained or drafted in the waiver draft, but cannot be used in any active capacity during the season.

Only the interleague (full season stats) card is eligible to be used for players with multiple cards for that season.

3b.  Initial Draft: (2003 season only)

The Draft consists of 31 rounds, through which each team selects 30 players and one Ballpark from the eligible pool.  Managers begin each draft with 100 bidding points.  In the first 12 rounds, draft picks will be made simultaneously (i.e. Grand Prix style). Each manager will receive the player drafted if no other club chooses him in that round. If two or more clubs draft the same player, managers will submit secret bids in writing, with the player being awarded to the highest bidder.   All unsuccessful bidders from that phase of the round retain their bidding points and must simultaneously resubmit a pick.  If two clubs tie for the highest bid, a rolloff of three 6-sided dice will determine the winner.  Each round is considered closed after all ties have been resolved and each team has been awarded one player. 

After Round 12, a draft order is established based on the number of remaining bidding points, highest to lowest.  Slot ties based on remaining bid points are broken by awarding the slots according to which team retained its bidding points longer.  If two or more teams achieve their final bidpoint total on the same phase of the same round, the tie will be broken by a rolloff of three 6-sided dice.  After the draft order has been established, all bidding points are null and void.  Rounds 13-31 proceed in normal progressive fashion.

3c.  Retention Drafts:

All players not retained are eligible to be drafted.  Trading is allowed during the Draft. The Draft consists of 14 rounds. 

The draft order for round 1 is established based on the finish from the previous season, according to the following rules:

1. Teams that do not make the playoffs are seeded 1 through 6 by overall winning percentage from the previous season, highest to lowest.
2. Teams that do qualify for the playoffs are seeded 7 through 12 by overall winning percentage, lowest to highest.
3. In the case of ties in the overall winning percentage, the team with the lower winning percentage in head-to-head play from the previous season will be awarded the worse draft pick.
4. In the case of a tie for head-to-head winning percentage, a coin toss presided over by the Czar determines draft order.
5. Playoff record, playoff seeding, or playoff finish does not affect seeding.

The draft order for rounds 2-14 is established based on the finish from the previous season, according to the following rules:

1. Teams are seeded by overall winning percentage in the regular season, lowest to highest.
2. In the case of ties in the overall winning percentage, the team with the lower winning percentage in head-to-head play from the previous season will be awarded the better draft pick.
3. In the case of a tie for head-to-head winning percentage, a coin toss presided over by the Czar determines draft order.
4. Playoff record, playoff seeding, or playoff finish does not affect seeding.

Example:  Teams 1-12 represents the order of winning percentage from the previous season. Teams 1-5 and 7 made the playoffs, and teams 6 and 8-12 did not make the playoffs.  The draft order would be:

Round #1:         6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Rounds #2-14:   12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

3d.  Ballpark Retention

Ballparks that are selected in the initial draft are retained for all future years, unless a team chooses to relinquish the selected ballpark.

The process of changing home ballparks effectively takes one season to implement.  If a manager chooses to give up his current ballpark, he must state his intentions along with his retention list by December 15^th. (See Section 1)  At this time the ballpark is considered inactive and cannot be retained by the manager. 

 

Along with his declaration, the selecting manager provides a ranked list of five prospective ballparks from the list of unoccupied ballparks, that he wishes to occupy.  An unoccupied ballpark is defined as a  park that was not used in the League during the most recent season, or is being vacated by a team after the season’s completion .  The Czar will collect all requests for ballpark changes and notify the managers of the outcome, breaking all ties by an appropriately fair method.

 

The new ballpark selected becomes the home site for that team on December 15^th of the next year. 

 

Teams automatically retain the ballpark from the MLB franchise city of origin, should older ballparks be replaced by new ones within the same city.  Example:  If the Washington Senators played in Cinergy Field in Cincinnati for the 2003 season, they will automatically continue playing in the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati for the 2004 season, unless a ballpark change is requested before the 2003 season.

Moved to section 1 – predraft Hot Stove League

4.  The Season:

The twelve teams are divided up into two equal divisions.  The schedule is devised to provide for an unbalanced schedule, where teams play more games against their division rivals.  Each team will play intradivision rivals a total of four series (100 games) and the interdivisional teams a total of two series (60 games) for a total of 32 series, or 160 games.

The division alignment is determined randomly every four years.  The divisional alignment for 2008-2011 is shown below. The next re-alignment will take place at the 2011 convention, taking effect in the 2012 season.

Northbound Division		Southbound Division
Team	Manager	Team	Manager
Bismarck Bombers	Steve Bizek	Applegate Paperclips	Gary Kicinski
Bushwood Gophers	Dave Renbarger	Detroit Demolition Dogs	Ken Kuzdak
Hickory Nuts	Mike Wilson	Margaritaville Volcanoes	John McMillan
Springfield Isotopes	Dave LaMont	Savannah Scorpions	Steve Hart
Superior Titans	Mike Renbarger	S. Grand Prairie Warriors	Rick Lackey/Garth Lewis
Tropical Heat	Jamie Turner	Wisconsin Warhawks	Dan Wilson

Every series during the season is 5 games in length.  Each month, teams play two series at home and two series on the road, alternating home-road-home-road  The schedule identifies the order that these games are played, for pitching rotation purposes.  When playing a road opponent who cannot be opposed live (i.e. face-to-face, phone, internet, proxy, or Netplay) the visiting manager must submit a Computer Manager file, complete with rosters and a legal rotation for the series.  The home team manager uses HAL to computer manage the visiting team. Anyone on the league’s permanently ineligible list cannot be allowed to proxy.  Either HAL or SuperHAL CM instructions may be used. Home team managers are responsible for seeing that the visiting manager’s CM’s are installed and configured properly.  Home team managers are not allowed to “override” CM decisions during gameplay, unless the CM attempts to use a player that is ineligible to play. The home team manager is not responsible for any bone-headed strategies or moves that HAL may make on behalf of the visiting team, so long as the strategy is legal, based on League rules.

The first game of each series is considered a “day” game and all playoff games are considered “night” games. All March and playoff games are considered part of the April/May/September/October bracket for purposes of determining weather effects.

Home team managers are expected to keep copies of game result files for all games played, until the Statistician has distributed the monthly statistics.  As a courtesy to the visiting manager, it is strongly encouraged that boxscores with play-by-play description be saved after every game and forwarded to the visiting manager after the series is over.  Should game result files become lost or deleted, the home team manager can be penalized, including forfeiture of lost games.

The monthly schedule of play follows these rules:

1. 1^st through the 20^th: Game play period.
2. 21^st through the last day of the month: trading/statistics period.
3. On or before the 20^th: managers should email boxscores/series stats to the visiting managers.
4. 25^th of the month: deadline for reporting home series results/status to the league.
5. 25th of the month: managers’ deadline for submitting game result files to the Statistician.
6. 28^th of the month: managers’ deadline for submitting next month’s active roster to the Statistician.
7. 28^th of the month: announcement deadline for trades to become effective for the upcoming month.
8. Last day of the month: managers’ deadline for sending Instruction Sheet/Computer Manager to the next month’s road opponents. 
9. 1^st day of next month: Statistician sends out updated roster files, which include the active rosters for all teams for the upcoming month, and incorporate any trades made during the trading period.

The Statistician will send out the statistics update as soon as all the game result files have been received.  Managers must make every effort to adhere to the deadlines presented above.  The progress of the league through the season relies on timely play and info submissions.  Habitual lateness in playing the games, submitting instructions, submitting game result files will result in drafting penalties for the following season, or outright ejection from the league.

4a. Rosters:

By the 28^th, prior to each month’s play period, managers must submit their active 25 player roster. If managers fail to submit an active roster, the roster from the previous month will carry forward for the next month.  The active roster and total roster must at all times satisfy the requirements for a legal roster.  A legal roster must adhere to the following rules:

1. Between 25 and 37 players on the total roster.
2. 25 players on the active roster, except for October game where all players are active.
3. Total roster must have a minimum of 1500 innings at all times.
4. Total roster must have a minimum of 600 AB traceable to each position at all times.  At bats for players with multiple positions cannot be double counted, but can be distributed among carded positions to fulfill the 600 AB requirements.
5. Active roster must have two players capable of playing at each position at all times.
6. A minimum of four players capable of playing the outfield on the active roster at all times.

4b. Trading periods

There are three distinct periods where trades are permitted.

1. Hot Stove Season – The Czar declares the opening of the Hot Stove Season on or after December 15^th. This trading period continues until the completion of the Draft on Draft Day. Trading of players and/or draft picks is permitted.  All teams must maintain preseason legal rosters at all times.
2. Regular Season – Trading is permitted beginning at the completion of the Draft and ending at midnight Eastern Daylight Time July 28th. Trades do not take effect until a league officer has been informed of the swap.  Trades made before the 28^th of the month are effective for the next play period.  Trades made after the 28^th of the month become effective for the following play period.  Only trading of players is permitted.  No trades involving future draft choices or future considerations are permitted.  All teams must maintain regular season legal rosters at all times.
3. Postseason – Trading is permitted after the regular season is complete up to between October 31st and the December 15^th Cutdown date. Next season’s 14 draft picks are distributed to each team after the regular season is complete and are eligible to be traded. No trades involving future draft choices or future considerations are permitted.  All teams must maintain a minimum roster size of 17 players and a minimum of 25 players plus draft choices at all times.  Above changes are for 2008 post-season only.

5.     October player limits:

Before playing any October games, managers are obligated to establish player limits separately for all their home and road series, based on the remaining player eligibility for the season.  All players on the total roster are considered active, unless the team manager specifically decides to inactivate a player.  Once set, teams are held to those individual series limits with no changes being allowed.   If the games are not played live, it is the responsibility of the home team manager to ensure that the stated series limits are not exceeded for both teams. Responsible managers that exceed limits in any given series will be subject to penalties.  If the visiting team is being managed by a computer manager, a player is eligible to play the next game as long as he has not completely used up his allotment of AB or IP.  Such a player may exceed his series AB/IP limit during the course of one game, but after that game, he must be toggled off as ineligible for play for any subsequent games.

6.  Playoffs:

At the conclusion of the 160-game season, the three teams with the best records from each division qualify for the playoffs.  The two division-winning teams receive a bye for the first round of the playoffs. The second and third place teams play a best-of-seven series with the second place teams hosting games 1, 2, 6 and 7.  The winners of the two Knockout series face the division winners in best-of-seven Pennant Series with the division winner hosting games 1, 2, 6 and 7.  The winners of the Pennant Series represents their division in a best-of-7 World Series, and the team with the higher winning percentage hosts games 1, 2, 6 and 7.  The first-place division teams and the World Series championship team shall receive awards from the league office.

In the event of a two-way tie for third or first, a one-game playoff shall be held, hosted by the team with the better record in head-to-head play. Ties for second place shall be broken by record in head-to-head competition. If head-to-head play was a tie, a coin flip shall determine home team. Multiple ties for playoff positions shall be broken through a method to be devised by the league office.

In a one-game playoff to break a tie for third or first, limited players will be allowed to exceed their regular-season limit. Teams must stay in rotation they had followed at the end of the season, but relief pitchers are considered fresh.

Each manager shall set his active roster at the beginning of each series.  The roster must be regular season legal.

When the Knockout round of playoffs begin, all pitchers shall be presumed fresh for Game One.

The Pennant series begins with the division winning team’s pitchers fresh and only the advancing team’s bullpen fresh.  The advancing team shall be allowed one day of rest between series.  When advancing to World Series, each team is allowed one day of rest between series.  Additionally, the victor of the shorter Pennant series shall gain one additional day of rest for each day that his series was shorter than his opponent’s. Travel days (between Games 2 and 3 and between 5 and 6) shall be considered a day of rest for all pitchers. Knockout series play should be completed by Oct. 31, Pennant Series by Nov.15, and the World Series by Nov. 30.

For the purposes of determining days of rest for starting pitchers between series, the nominal schedule for playoff games is determined by a preset formula:

         Advancing team gets 3 days of rest if they sweep in 4 games.
         Advancing team gets 2 days of rest if they win in 5 games.
         Advancing team gets 1 day of rest if they win in 6 games.
         Advancing team gets 0 days of rest if they win in 7 games.

Article I: Rule Modifications

The I-75 Mail League follows all Super-advanced Strat-O-Matic CD-ROM Baseball rules with the following modifications:

 

A. Injuries  – individual player injury rule is not used

B. Superadvanced Optional Rules

1. The League uses the most recent version of the super-advanced X fielding chart.

2. The League follows Super-Advanced optional rules pertaining to:

• Infield in or in at the corners
• Sacrifice bunt with runners on first and third
• Throws to third
• Outfielder robbing homers
• Catcher blocking the plate
• Cutoff rules
• Clutch fielding ratings
• Outfield in
• Ballpark effects
• Weather effects
• Runner being held chart
• Groundball result chart
• Outfielders modified defensive positions
• Closer rule
• Star-no star rule for starters
• Lomax rule.
• Superadvanced pitcher fatigue rules.

3. We do not use the following super-advanced rules:

• playing an infield defensive players out of position (except in emergency);
• bringing in a position player to pitch
• Pitch count
• Pitch around
• the delayed steal of home
• the additional supplementary steal rules
• individual balks, wild pitches and passed balls
• realistic pitcher usage
• solitaire player rest system
• Max Rules modifications.
• Player injuries

Article II: Player Limitations

Utilization of players in the I-75 Mail League shall be subject to the following restrictions:

A. The league operates with the designated hitter rule. All players are eligible to play the DH position.

B. A player may only play a position listed on his card.  Furthermore, a player may only be listed on the lineup card for game setup at a position listed on his card.

1. An exception to this rule is the outfielder modified defensive position rule.
2. If injuries temporarily eliminate all players available for a given position, a manager should insert the most suitable replacement. That player would assume a 5 fielding rating, the worst e factor available at that position, and a throwing arm of +5.
3. A player may not be pinch-hit or pinch-run for if his removal would leave no players carded at that position available to play his position.
4. At all times during the season, a manager must carry at least two players capable of playing each position on his active roster. 

C. Pitchers are permitted to pitch only in the capacity listed on their card.

1. All managers must draft 1500 innings of eligibility each year. 
2. At all times during the season, a team’s total roster must carry at least 1500 innings of eligibility.
3. All pitchers are limited to the actual number of innings listed on the card for the season.
4. Starting pitchers must pitch five innings or allow three runs or fall into fatigue before being removed.  Exception:  It is legal for a visiting manager using a CM to replace a starting pitcher any time with a different legal reliever.
5. Starter-Relievers and Relief-Starters are bound by all guidelines assigned to pure starters. For example, when a starter-reliever is shifting from one role to another, he is ineligible to pitch for the 4 days preceding or following a start (3 days if he has a star), regardless of how the games fall on the series schedule.
6. Starter-Relievers and Relief-Starters are not limited in the number of starts that they can make.
7. Starting pitchers must stay in rotation.  No days of rest are allowed for between series or months.
8. All active pure relievers on the active roster are considered available to pitch at the start of a given series. 
9. The computer tracks and determines when a pitcher falls into endurance.

D. Hitters shall be restricted in accordance with their real-life number of at-bats.

1. Players who accumulated 550 or more actual at-bats shall be unlimited in the League. For the purposes of assigning AB to positions to satisfy roster requirements of section 4a-4, unlimited players are considered to have 600 AB. 
2. Players who accumulated less than 550 actual at-bats shall be limited to their actual at-bat total in the League
3. Players with multiple cards shall have only the combined usage card eligible to be drafted.

F. Hitters and pitchers shall be limited in playoff action.

1. Limited hitters (less than 550 at-bats) shall be limited to 10% of their regular-season League limit per playoff series. Unlimited regular-season hitters are unlimited during the playoffs.
2. All pitchers are restricted to 10% of their regular-season League limit per playoff series. 
3. For the purposes of determining the exact limit, round up to the nearest IP or AB for decimals 0.5 or greater.
4. All limited hitters shall further be limited to 15% of their regular-season League AB limit for the duration of the playoffs.
5. All pitchers shall further be limited to 15% of their regular-season League IP limit for the duration of the playoffs. Pitchers with a starter rating and at least 180 regular-season IP are exempt from this rule. Also, pitchers with a relief rating and at least 50 regular-season IP are exempt from this rule.

G. Penalties will be assessed by the Czar for exceeding seasonal or October AB or IP limitations, which can include strongly worded warnings, draft penalties for the following season, or outright ejection from the league.