A bylaw is a policy of the MVTGA.
The Merrimack Valley Table Game Association (herein referred to as MVTGA) is an organization that has been established to promote the fun and camaraderie found in face-to-face baseball computer gaming. The MVTGA encourages normal competition and rivalries. All rules will be established for improving the quality of play or increasing its realism. Face to face playing of games is encouraged. Where face-to-face is not possible the MVTGA allows the use of the internet.
Members must live within a radius of 50 miles from Lowell, MA to encourage face-to-face competition. Exceptions can be made to the 50-mile requirement upon a vote of the members. The league is loyal to its members and will accommodate those who move outside of the membership area and wish to remain in the MVTGA. Also, every member must:
An associate member is someone whom the league feels has the potential to become a full-time manager if one of the present managers should resign. The prospective manager shall be interviewed by the commissioner and at least 2 other mangers. Every effort should be made to have this meeting face to face. The duties of the associate member shall be to step in and take over a team should a manager leave during the season or to fill in as an emergency manager.
The Diamond Mind baseball computer game is the sole game used by the MVTGA. All game company rules will apply, unless the MVTGA specifically votes to discontinue their use. All season disk order must be placed and received no later than Dec. 31st each year.
When the game company provides a computer program fix or update the Commissioner will decide when the League will be converting to the update. The date will be keyed to the start of a play period.
When a game freezes please refer to the chart below for proper methodology.
| If the game can be restarted from the point at which it froze | Play to conclusion |
| If the game can not be restarted from the point at which it froze and less than five innings have been played | Replay in its entirety as if it had never started |
| If the game can not be restarted from the point at which it froze and four and one half or more innings have been played | Replay it to the point where it froze using quick play to get to the inning it froze with the run differential, if any, which existed when the game froze |
| If the game had finished and stats were lost, then the game must be replayed using quick play until it results in approximately the same result, using the following priorities in order: | 1. The winner of the game is the same team 2. The statistics and the results are similar 3. Any restricted players plate "at bats" and innings pitched are close to the original game 4. Any injuerd player will be modified to insure the same length of injury that occured will be imposed on said players |
The MVTGA's teams are organized as described below:
There will be an Eastern and Western League. The leagues will follow, as reasonably as possible, the geographic location of the various team owners. If an owner moves, the MVTGA is not required to place the owner in the most geographically suitable league, but will consider such a request.
Each league will consist of two divisions. The divisions will follow, as reasonably as possible, the geographic location of the various team owners. If an owner moves, the MVTGA is not required to place the owner in the most geographically suitable division, but will consider such a request.
The MVTGA’s administrative roles to be filled by members follow:
The MVTGA elects a Commissioner and two league Presidents to administer the organization’s operations.
A Commissioner is elected by vote of the MVTGA members.
The Commissioner has the administrative responsibility of insuring that the MVTGA is operating according to its bylaws and rules.
The Commissioner has the authority to make immediate, temporary rule interpretations and personnel decisions without consulting the Executive Committee. If the commissioner exercises his authority in this manner, he will forward his ruling to the to the By-laws Committee for analysis and recommendations. They will then forward their response to the Executive Council for review.
The Commissioner has the full authority to approve trades.
The Commissioner shall appoint a Statistician, Scheduler, Bylaw Rule keeper, Rosterkeeper, Webmaster and a Special Assistant to the Commissioner.
A president for each league is elected by vote of the MVTGA members.
Each League President is responsible for investigating complaints and making appropriate reports to the Commissioner, serving on the Executive Council, monitoring league activities for compliance.
The two League Presidents and Commissioner shall comprise the Executive Council. The Executive Council shall rule on the more serious issues that occur during the year, which include, but are not limited to:
Any declined trade or roster move may be protested to the Executive Council. Also, the Executive Committee must approve any trade or roster move made by the Commissioner’s team.
Other positions are needed to operate the MVTGA in an effective manner.
The Special Assistant to the Commissioner is appointed by the Commissioner. This position is responsible for assisting the Commissioner in carrying out the Commissioner’s duties. The Special Assistant is also responsible for organizing and tabulating the following:
The Statistician is appointed by the Commissioner. This position is responsible for the following tasks:
The By-law & Rule keeper is appointed by the Commissioner. This position is responsible for the following tasks:
The Rosterkeeper is appointed by the Commissioner. This position is responsible for the following tasks:
The scheduler is responsible for providing a schedule to the league within two (2) days after the annual draft. This schedule shall also be sent to the webmaster for immediate posting on the web.
The Webmaster is responsible for providing a Website detailing league news, standings, statistics, and any other useful information.
Committees are formed to help carry out various organizational functions in an effective and efficient manner.
The Verification Committee is selected by the Rosterkeeper will be comprised of at least one manager from each division. Their duties will be Verification of justification sheets, beginning season rosters, and September 15th rosters. Any discrepancies will be forwarded to the Commissioner for review.
This By Law Committee is formed by the Bylaws and Rulekeeper and will be responsible for analyzing rules interpretations as sent to them by the Commissioner. Their analysis will then be forwarded to the Executive Council for review.
The bylaws in this section concern general administration, organization or procedures.
The Commissioner or the Special Assistant to the Commissioner shall gave at least two week's notice of all meetings. The notice shall include the following:
The Commissioner or the Special Assistant to the Commissioner shall gave at least ten day's notice before any scheduled league meeting that will vote on proposed additions, deletions or clarification to any by-law or rule.
The presence of a majority of the league members at any meeting constitutes a quorum. Members may participate in any meeting by telephone or similar communications equipment.
Unless counteracted by MVTGA rules or Diamond Mind rules, the Official Rules of Major League Baseball will apply.
Each team must decide to use a DH or no-DH for its home games. All DH/no DH changes are for a three year minimum. Any team desiring to change from one to the other must notify the Commissioner by the day following the annual draft of any such declaration.
During the off season, owners will vote to establish dues for the coming season to finance MVTGA activities. The To be eligible for participation in any MVTGA activities, an owner must pay the assessed dues by January 31st. Anyone who fails to pay the dues by january 31st will be fined $100,000 per day, applied to the current season's salary cap.
The MVTGA will create a master diskette of the organization, era, and rule choices under the supervision of at least two MVTGA members, one of which will be a League President or the Commissioner. Each season’s original DMB player disk must be used in preparing the master diskette.
The MVTGA will publish an annual yearbook, which will include highlights and statistics of the recently completed season and historical team and league records.
The season makeup and number of games played during a year will be subject to an annual vote of the league membership. The season makeup concerns the length of real time in a season, number of games in a season, and playing periods. Refer to the season specific section for the current numbers.
The schedule will include play periods for series, trade deadlines, All Star break, the trading deadline, and any other pertinent information.
The schedule must be constructed so that teams play opponents in their own division more often than those in the other division.
The MVTGA playoff structure is designed to allow roughly half of its teams to qualify for the playoffs, the exact number to be voted upon each year at the winter league meeting.
The Statistician will publish the standings and statistics on the Web site. Each team is responsible for monitoring the accuracy of its team and player statistics. Discrepancies should be reported immediately to the statistician.
After each series is completed, the home team is responsible for emailing series statistics to his opponent and to the designated league statistician.
A team must have a major league roster and a minor league roster.
The players used to stock the teams in the MVTGA will be from the following sources:
All teams have a salary cap based on Major League Baseball’s total team payrolls for the prior season, divided by the number of teams in the major leagues. The minor league salary cap is based on 10.3% of the major league roster. Both of these figures should be roudned up for MVTGA computations.The team salary cap is an integral part of the MVTGA and a team’s payroll must always fit within the salary cap during the season.
If a team exceeds the salary cap after the free agent draft the team must drop its draft picks in reverse order until it is below the salary cap.
All teams have a salary cap based on the sum of all DMB players's salaries, divided by the number of major league teams.
7.3 Player Salary Information
The source of the payroll information for a player is determined in order by:
The minimum salary of a major or minor league player will be the minimum salary for a major league player. The salary is listed in the season specific information.
The MVTGA will develop expansion guidelines specific to each expansion year. The league’s principle goal is make enough talent available to expansion teams for them to become immediately competitive.
To operate effectively and provide enjoyment to all members, each individual member must adhere to the responsibilities outlined in these bylaws and rules.
The MVTGA promotes responsibility, competitiveness, camaraderie, and enjoyment. Because the games are played "face-to-face" socially accepted behavior is required to insure that each MVTGA member and family are not offended, nor made to feel uncomfortable or threatened.
Socially accepted behavior includes but is not limited to:
Although it is understandable that certain game situations are likely to generate emotional actions from managers, these actions must be restrained.
If any manager does not display acceptable behavior in a series, the opposing manager is required to report the infraction(s) to the League President. The League President will investigate and consult with the Commissioner. Based on the seriousness of the violation, and the offender's history of violations, punitive action may be imposed, including dismissal from the MVTGA. Punitive action requires the vote of the Executive Committee.
The Commissioner's office will provide at least one week's notice of all deadlines found in the MVTGA bylaws and rules. The applicable bylaws and rules sections describe the fines for non-compliance with any such deadlines.
The fines listed below will be assessed against the offending team’s major league salary cap for the next season:
| Limit Overuse | Penalty |
| Each AB over a limit | 1 unit |
| Each 1/3 inning over a limit | 1 unit |
| Each Start | 10 Units |
The following are exceptions that allow a pitcher to exceed his innings limit:
In all such cases the pitcher’s manager must immediately inform the Commissioner or League Presidents that the exception occurred.
The MVTGA respects U.S. Copyright law. Members, or households in those instances where multiple members live together, must buy their own computer disks. Illegal copying of material for the use of other members is strictly prohibited and will result in removal from the MVTGA.
Each team will choose its own ballpark from the current major league parks. There will be no duplication of ballparks. If any ballpark ceases to be used in real life, the team owning that park must use the stadium replacing it.
A team may change its park by notifying the Commissioner no later than one day before the annual winter league meeting. At the winter league meeting, park changes shall be selected in the same order as the Free Agent draft. All dropped parks are available for selection in addition to parks previously unassigned. Any park selected in this manner must be retained for a minimum of three years, except as noted below:
Teams may change their ballparks sooner than the required three-year retention period in the following circumstances:
In case of season ending ties, with respect to playoff opportunities, tiebreakers will be used. All tie breaker games are regular season games. The tiebreakers used are shown below:
| Tie | Playoff |
| 2 teams tied for 1st place | 1 game playoff with dice roll to determine home team. Winner is Division Champion. Loser is 2nd place team. |
| 2 teams tied for 2nd place | 1 game playoff with dice roll to determine home team. Winner is 2nd place team. Loser is 3rd place team. |
| 3 teams tied for 1st place | 2 playoff games with dice roll to determine teams A, B and C. Game 1: A v B. B is home team. Loser is 3rd place team. Winner plays game 2 and is home team. Game 2: C v Game 1 victor. Winner is 2nd place team. Loser is 3rd place team. |
| 3 teams tied for 2nd place | 2 playoff games with dice roll to determine teams A, B and C. Game 1: A v B. B is home team. Loser is 4th place team. Winner plays game 2 and is home team. Game 2: C v Game 1 victor. Winner is 2nd place team. Loser is 3rd place team. |
| 4 teams tied for 1st place | 3 playoff games with dice roll to determine teams A, B, C and D. Games 1 and 2 are played on the same day in the season. Game 1: A v B. B is home team. Winner advances to game 3. Game 2: C v D. D is home team. Winner advances to game 3. Game 3: Follow procedure for "2 teams tied for 1st place". Losers of games 1 & 2 user "Other Ties" to decide 3rd and 4th placements. |
(1) Record against team(s) tied with (2) League record, (3) coin toss.
An All Star game, Eastern League vs. Western League, will be played each year during the All Star break. The league will decide the date of the All Star game by vote at the annual winter league meeting. The managers within each league will elect the starting lineups. The official managers of the All Star teams will be the managers of the team that are in first place at the start of the series just prior to the All Star break. Both Leagues prior to the game must agree upon more specific rules.
The MVTGA will make the following awards each season:
All owner awards are determined by where teams finish, except for Manager of the Year. Manger of the Year is determined by a vote from every owner and applying the following methodology:
| Award | Description |
| Divisional Winners | Each Divisional Winner will receive an engraved trophy to keep. |
| League Champions | Each League Champion will receive an engraved trophy to keep. |
| World Series | The World Series winner will have his team's name engraved on the "World Series" trophy. The winner retains this trophy until there is a different World Series winner. |
| Manager of the Year | An MVTGA "Manager of the Year" will be elected by all of the managers by ballot vote. Managers are not allowed to vote for themselves. Voters are to consider the season records only. The calculation methodology shown in sub-section 12.3 will be used. These votes must be tabulated by the Special Assistant to the Commissioner within 3 weeks after the season ends. |
| Don Zimmer | The Don Zimmer "Award" will be presented to the manger with the worst record during the regular season. |
Each league will vote for a:
All MVTGA managers must vote, but not for players on their own team. Each vote is treated equally. The winners will be entered in the record books. Everyone must vote by the end of the first week after the last game of the regular season has been played. Failure to vote will result in a $500,000 per day fine applied to the following season's salary cap and forfeiture of vote.
A team’s major League roster must be 24 or 25 players.
A minor league team roster must have 8 to 10 players at the start of the season. After the season starts, the minor league roster may decrease or increase beyond these limits.
Teams must maintain a minimum of players for each position in both their total organization and on their major league roster:
| Position | Majors + Minors |
| Pitcher | 9 |
| Catcher | 3 |
| 1B; 2B; SS; 3B | 8 |
| LF; CF; RF | 6 |
Each organization must staff a minimum of two players per position who meet the following requirements:
Note: One player may be used to meet the requirements in sub-section (b) for more than one position.
Each organization must staff a minimum of two players on its major league roster rated to play each position and meet the following requirements:
Note: One player may be used to meet the requirements in sub-section (b) for more than one position. For example, a team's fourth outfielder can be used to meet these requirements for all three starting outfielders.
A team may carry an aggregate of three Class A and Class B players on the major league roster. These players do not count against roster limits. Releases of such players do not count against the teams major league release limit.
A Class A inactive player is a previously "carded" player who is not "carded” for the current season.
The owning team can keep the rights to the player by paying 50% of the player's salary, which comes from the team's major league payroll.
Players eligible to be Class A players must be designated 3 weeks prior to the free agent draft and must reside on the opening day roster.
A Class B inactive player is a player who was carded, but has an abnormally low number of plate appearances or innings pitched due to injury, and the team has elected to make the player inactive. A pitcher will be rated as a starter if his appearances as a starter are equal to or more than his appearances as a reliever, otherwise, he will be rated as a reliever.
| This player qualifies for Class B | ....if he is rated Prone and has |
| Hitter | less than 100 plate appearances |
| Starting pitcher | less than 50 IP |
| Relief Pitcher | less than 25 IP |
The owning team may continue to keep such a player by paying 65% of his salary. The salary will count against the major league salary cap.
Players eligible to be Class B players must be designated 3 weeks prior to the free agent draft and must reside on the opening day roster.
Class A or B players may be released after one year. No player may be designated as a Class A or Class B players for more than two successive years, at which point the player must be carried on the team's active roster or released.
Each team must use the Roster Validation Sheet located on the MVTGA Web Site to create a detailed roster, showing its major and minor players and any restrictions. The major league roster must highlight minor league call-ups, indicating any player who must be kept on the major league team for the entire season, list the developmental pick, and note any Class A or B players.
Each manager must submit a major league and minor league roster validation sheet to the Rosterkeeper at least twice a season, as follows:
The September 15th roster is the base roster for the post season and the comparative salary for the following year’s payroll increase releases except that teams may change their base roster within 72 houra after receiving notificatio of the season's end from the Commissioner's Office.
Rosters can change during the season in the following situations:
Except as noted below, any player may be promoted and demoted between series. All moves must be within salary cap limits.
Exceptions:
All rosters must be in compliance with salary cap and player position restrictions. The penalty for any such violation will be as follows:
| Violation No. | Penalty |
| First | $1,000,000 Major League Cash |
| Second | $2,000,000 Major League Cash |
| Third | Approval of Rosterkeeper needed before a series can be played |
After August 31, the major league roster may be expanded to 30 players. Promoted players are not eligible for post season play.
The promoted and demoted players can be different for each series but no player on the September 15th roster can be demoted during September.
The minor league will continue to pay the salaries of the September 15th minor league players during the late season.
Rosters may change during the off-season as follows:
A team may drop 3 major league players and 4 minor league players each year.
For every minor league player promoted prior to the start of the season, the parent club may release an additional major league player if the promoted player stays with the parent club for the entire season.
If more players are promoted than releases taken the team may demote promoted players up to the difference between the two. The remainder of the promoted players must remain on the major league roster.
Teams receiving such players in trade are not bound by the designation and may freely designate the player.
If a major league team's payroll, as defined by its September 15th roster, increases between seasons the team may take additional major league releases.
Teams qualify for a specific number of major league releases based on the payroll percentage changes shown in the table below.
| % Change Increase | Allowed Releases |
| 10% | 1 |
| 20% | 2 |
| 30% | 3 |
| 40%+ | 4 |
Second year expansion teams are allowed additional major league releases based on the actual dollar change increases using the methodology in section 3.1.3.1.
Teams qualify for a specific number of major league releases based on the change increases shown in the table below:
| Change Increase | Allowed Releases |
| $1 to $2,000,000 | 1 |
| $2,000,001 to $4,000,000 | 2 |
| $4,000,001 to $6,000,000 | 3 |
| $6,000,001+ | 4 |
A previously "carded" player may be released if he is not "carded". Such releases are not counted against release limits.
An inactive player as defined in section 1.3 may be released in the season he receives a card. This release is not counted against release limits.
All releases must be documented by using a Drop Justification Sheet. This sheet must be submitted to the Roster Keeper three weeks prior to the Free Agent Draft. The league will assess a fine of $250,000 per day, up to draft day, against the current year's salary cap for non-compliance.
There are four types of MVTGA drafts: developmental, free agent, expansion, and dispersal.
A free agent draft will be held on a date determined by the membership.
Trades may be made at any time during the free agent draft. Players, cash and future draft picks may be traded between any team. All trades must include each team giving at least one of the aforementioned tangible items, except that cash may not be traded solely for cash. Teams may not trade a pick that they do not have. The draft ends for each team upon it's last pick. No trading is allowed from the end of the draft until the end of the first series.
The developmental draft will be held prior to the start of each annual free agent draft. Each team, picking in the same order as the free agency draft, will pick one player that has never been carded. This player will be owned independent of major and minor league rosters. This player is not paid a salary.
If a player is not carded in the season subsequent to his selection, he may be:
All carded players will be assigned to the minor leagues and available for use as a callup. Managers must declare their intentions regarding their pick no later than 3 weeks prior to the annual free agent draft.
While a developmental pick can not be traded, a developmental draft slot can be traded. (Ref. Rule 4.7)
Expansion and dispersal drafts dates will be set by the Commissioner, after consulting league members, and after league members have received their individual DMB disks for the current season.
With multiple new teams, new teams will pick based on high dice roll. The pick order will remain the same throughout the drafting process. There will be no flip flop of picks.
To be determined at the time of expansion.
Players, cash and future draft picks may be traded between any team. All trades must include each team giving at least one of the aforementioned tangible items, except that cash may not be traded solely for cash.
No trading will be allowed from the date the final preseason rosters are due until the end of the first series.
The deadline for all trades is two series after the All-Star game.
Players may be traded to either league.
Future draft picks may be traded.
Cash cannot be transferred between the major and minor leagues.
During the off-season, traded players will be paid their salary by the receiving team. By default, no salary is traded.
During the season the salary of a traded player is "salary neutral". By default, the team sending the player will also send the player’s salary to the receiving team.
In either case, teams can trade extra salary. However, it must be listed as a separate element in the trade.
Traded players may play immediately with their new teams without any travel delay.
Developmental picks cannot be traded until they are carded but a team’s developmental draft position may be traded for another developmental draft position.
The Commissioner must approve any trades in writing or orally before the traded player is used. The Commissioner will also notify the league of such trade. Within 72 hours after any such trade, the parties to the trade must send an official trade form and updated roster validation sheets to the Commissioner. The Commissioner will verify that the rosters comply with league requirements. Non compliance with the deadline will result in a $250,000 per day fine to be applied to the next season's salary cap of both teams.
All contingent trades must be finalized by January 15th of the year following the trade. After that date the choice returns to the original team.
The penalty for each technical violation of this rule is the minimum salary. If a traded player is used without commissioner approval the fine shall be five times the minimum salary.
Injuries apply to the regular season and also extend to post season play.
Use the DMB stated injury period unless injury is greater than 5 days, in which case use the following chart to determine if the injury is capped for hitters.
| Batter's real-life games played | Starting pitcher's real-life games started | Relief pitcher's real-life games appeared in | The injury is capped at |
| 146-162 | 31-34 | 54-60 | 5 days |
| 130-145 | 28-30 | 48-53 | 7 days |
| 114-129 | 24-27 | 42-47 | 10 days |
| 98-113 | 21-23 | 36-41 | Use the injury chart in 5.2 and either: roll a three 10-sided dice or pick numbers from a hat and; Refer to the "frequent" column and take the lower of the two injury results. |
| 97 or lower | 20 or lower | 35 or lower | Use the injury chart in 5.2 and either: roll a three 10-sided dice or pick numbers from a hat and; refer to the "major" column and take the lower of the two injury results. |
This chart is to be used for reference to sections 5.1.
| Frequent Dice Roll | Major Dice Roll | Days Injured |
| 0-99 | 0-99 | 0 |
| 100-149 | 100-149 | 1 |
| 150-199 | 150-199 | 2 |
| 200-249 | 200-249 | 3 |
| 250-299 | 250-299 | 4 |
| 300-349 | 300-349 | 5 |
| 350-399 | 350-399 | 6 |
| 400-424 | 400-424 | 7 |
| 425-449 | 425-449 | 8 |
| 450-474 | 450-474 | 9 |
| 475-499 | 475-499 | 10 |
| 500-749 | 500-599 | 15 |
| 750-949 | 600-699 | 21 |
| 950-999 | 700-799 | 30 |
| 800-899 | Roll 2 dice and use result | |
| 900-999 | Out for season |
The disabled period for the injured player(s) must be that which is closest to the actual injury duration but if the closest period is less than the injury, the next higher period may be selected. To find how to handle the replacement for the player being put on the actual disabled list, refer to rule 10.3
To replace an injured player he must be put on the 5, 7, 10, or 20 game disabled list as follows:
| Disabled List Type | Requirements |
| 5 Day Supplemental | Maximum of two players per club, one of who may be a pitcher |
| 7 Day Regular | Maximum of 3 players per club |
| 10 Day Special | Maximum of 1 player per club and can only be used when the above lists are full |
| 20 Day Emergency | Players on this roster do not count against the 35 man roster under control limit. If the placed or transferred here after July, player must remain through end of season and post season |
Reinstatements may be made beginning on day 6, 8, 11, 21 or any time after. A player can be reinstated during the
middle of a regular season series. There is no travel delay.
5.4 Salary Override
Injury callups are exempt from the major league salary cap.
Use the regular season formula for injuries during the playoffs. The injured player must be replaced by any similar player (hitter for hitter or pitcher for pitcher) from the minor league roster.
Unless noted otherwise, when figuring any number relating to player's restrictions, innings, games, round up to the nearest whole number. Rounding only applies to the final result, meaning there is no rounding allowed after each mathematical operative involved in any equation used.
The visiting team is responsible for contacting the home team to make specific playing arrangements within 48 hours after completion of the preceding series. Both teams must swap their pitching rotations within an agreed upon time prior to the start of the series. Each team is allowed a three-day "grace" period if they cannot play within the published playing dates. After that, the statistician will notify the Special Assistant to the Commissioner who will take appropriate action to correct this failure.
Batters with less than the minimum number of regular season plate appearances as shown in the season specific section are restricted to actual at bats versus each side pitching, divided by the current year's Ratio as shown in the season specific section times 1.15.
If any "non-restricted" player has 15% or less of their total at bats batting from one side, that side's at bats are restricted to the actual at bats divided by the Ratio.
Players who have no at bats remaining against one side pitching cannot bat against that side pitching and cannot enter the game as long as the same side pitcher is in the game unless the following criteria are met:
7th inning or later
All pitchers are eligible to pinch hit after the 12th inning.
Catcher fatigue will be used in and must not be "zeroed" between games or series. Check the catcher’s fatigue before each series to insure proper use. If you can not download catchers’ status from a diskette you must input batters faced by hand from the preceding ten days into the player files prior to the start of the series.
Prior to the draft each season, the league will determine the maximum number of starts for any pitcher and the number of starts "the fifth starter" must have. The term "fifth starter" means one or more pitchers who start these games. Please refer to the season specific section for complete details.
Pitchers with less than 22 major league starts are limited to the number of starts they are allowed. Please refer to the season specific section for the formula. Unlimited starters can start an additional game over the season limit in a tie breaker playoff game.
Pitcher fatigue will be used in and must not be "zeroed" between games or series. Check the pitcher's fatigue before each series to insure proper use. If you can not download pitchers’status from a diskette you must input batters faced by hand for relief pitchers and starting pitchers from the preceding four days into the pitcher files prior to the start of the series.
Pitchers must rest a minimum of two days prior to starting.
Relievers are limited to the total number of innings they can pitch in a season. The formula is based on the actual number of innings pitched multiplied by the ratio of MVTGA games to regular season games times 1.1%.
An unlimited starter who makes more than one relief appearance or a limited starter who makes any relief appearance may not pitch once has has reached the high of the following:
Starting Pitchers can be removed after any of the following situations occur:
A player must have a DMB fielding rating to play in the field unless all rated players have been exhausted for any given position
If a player qualifies to start at any outfield position the player can start at all outfield positions. A pitcher may also be allowed to start a game if he meets the requirements of section 10.3.
A player qualifies as a starter at any defensive position by meeting the season specific requirement of games at that position. This rule does not require the player to actually have started those games in real life.
Each position must be staffed by qualified starters whose total plate appearances are equal to or greater than 3.1 times the total number of games in the MVTGA season.
Follow these steps to calculate the plate appearance requirements when no qualified starter at any position has at least the minimum number of plate appearances.
If a player did not play the minimum number of games required to start at any defensive position, he shall qualify as a starter at the position most frequently played. If he played equally at two or more positions then he can start at both each of those positions. Players who appeared in 50% of more of their games as a Designated Hitter and did not play the minimum number of games required to start at any position, may not start in the field except as allowed by rule 10.4
A player can play at a position he is not rated at during the following situations:
During a game in progress the affected team must play someone who plays the injured player’s position in this order: 20 game starter, 10 game starter, rated player. If there are no such players, any fielder may be used to complete the game in progress.
During a game in progress the affected team must use a substitute who plays the injured player's position, unless the only such player is already the designated hitter, in which case the affected team may switch the designated hitter to the affected position or play an unqualified players at the affected position.
A minor league player qualifying as a starter at the injured position, if needed and available, must be promoted.
An uninjured player removed prior to the 7th inning must be replaced by a player qualified to start at the position.
A player can play at an unrated position if the player pinch hits, pinch runs, or enters the game as a defensive repalcement in the 7th inning or later.
When a team that employs a DH is visiting a team that does not employ the DH, the visiting team may play a player in the field who is otherwise a DH only according to MVTGA rules. The positions(s) at which that DH may appear are any position at which he appeared the 50% minimum required to start or failing to meet the 50% minimum at any position, he may play the rated positions(s) at which he appeared most. A player who is not rated at any position may not start in the field.
Any illegal defensive replacement will result in a fine of one unit
The rosters for post season play are the rosters submitted on September 15th (MVTGA time).
The All Star break will be established so that the final regular season games will be played on September 29th. The post season will begin on October 1st and the World Series will begin on October 21st.
The statistician will publish a schedule for the playoffs. If a series does not go its potential length, the advancing team will have off all originally scheduled play dates and off dates.
Playoff usage limitations shall be calculated using the same formulas as the regular season but (1) substitute the total "potential" of playoff games from the Season Specific section instead of regular season games and (2) multiply all results, except for the calculation for starts, by 1.33. For purposes of calculating limits for the playoffs only, fulltime starting pitchers will be limited to 6 starts. See season specific section for these formulae.
The first and second place teams in each division are eligible for the playoffs. There is an off day between each change of venue within a round and 2 days off between rounds.
Within each league, the second place team of a division plays the first place team in the other division. The teams play a five game (2-2-1) series. The first place teams have home field advantage.
Within each league, the winners of the Preliminary Round play a seven game (2-3-2) series. The team with the best record has home field advantage.
The winners of the Championship Series will meet in a seven game (2-3-2) World Series. The team with the best record will have the home field advantage.
For viewing purposes, this series must be scheduled to accommodate the availability of as many league members as possible. The MVTGA will provide food and soft drinks for all series games.
Ten days for all series.
13.2 Number of Games