The CEBA operates as a continuing Strat-O-Matic play-by-mail/Internet draft league. Only the Strat-O-Matic CD ROM computer game is acceptable for league play. The league will consist of 20 teams divided into two leagues, National and American, with two divisions each of 5 teams. The designated hitter will only be used in the American League. The CEBA executive branch will consist of a one (1) Commissioner.

Beginning in April and through October, each team will play 162 regular season games, divided into two 81 games schedules, one home and one away schedule. The schedule does NOT include interleague play. All games are to be played by mail, face to face, or Netplay unless other arrangements are made by opposing managers. The 1962 20 team MLB schedule is followed. AWAY GAMES ARE PLAYED unless Netplay is used.

Any player who is on a CEBA roster and fails in the next season to receive a computer "card" shall be assigned to the respective teams "ineligible roster". There ARE NO limits to the number of players on an "ineligible roster"; however, each player counts against the 40 roster spots.

All computer players rated by Strat are eligible in the CEBA. This includes the "additional" players added by Strat. Requirements for post-season play are outlined separately in Section IV of this Constitution.

Trades may be made any time from a date set by the commissioner following the conclusion of the CEBA regular season and until a date in March set by the commissioner each year. Trades become official upon either manager notifying the Commissioner by phone, mail, in person, or by E-mail. Trades must be reviewed by the Commissioner (or a Commissioner Appointee) before becoming official. A manager becomes eligible to trade after the league statistician has received and reconciled final stats for the just completed season, and all overusage has been reviewed and dealt with if necessary. Trades involving gentlemen's agreements, including trading players back to the original team after the season, are prohibited in the CEBA. Draft choices beyond the next draft may not be traded nor any selections later than the 7th round.

All new managers from their date of announcement are temporarily restricted for a period to be determined by the commissioner, not to exceed 14 days, before conducting any league business, i.e. trades.

At the end of each season, rosters will be updated, as they were when the league began, to include the rookies for the upcoming season. These rookies must not have been carded in the previous season, and must not be on another team’s roster (in the event someone keeps an uncarded player for a year). These rookies may be kept or cut, but any that are kept count against the 40 man roster limits. When a team sends in its Roster Cuts for the Free Agent Draft, the rookie cuts must be noted as well. Rookies retained add to the 25 man pre-draft roster, and decrease the # of draft picks available to the team.

Final pre-draft roster cuts are due by email to the Commissioner Friday at midnight one week prior to the Free Agent Draft or at a time otherwise set by the Commissioner. No more cuts may be made until after the draft, although trades may be made during the draft. Trading then commences immediately after the draft. Final rosters, computer managers, and rotations are due to the Commissioner by a date set forth by the CEBA Commissioner. Players cut are eligible to be drafted in the Free Agent Draft, and a cut list will be circulated by email.

An annual draft will be held for all unowned computer players. A date will be set prior to the draft so teams may release players in order to use more of their draft picks. The released players will join the pool of players available in the draft. Once a team reaches the 40 man roster limit during the draft, they may no longer use any remaining draft picks unless a trade is made during the draft to open up a roster spot. After completion of the draft, no team shall be allowed to fall below 25 eligible players until the end of the current season.

The Draft Lottery consists of the teams finishing with the 6 worst records. The lottery for these 6 teams is "weighted," meaning the worst team has 6 chances, the best of the 6 one chance. The lottery is for the top spot in the first round.

The order of selection for rounds two and each round there after shall be determined by the winning percentage of all CEBA teams. In the event of a tie, it is broken first by team-vs-team record. If the tie is between an AL and NL team, the worst home record gets the higher draft position in the first round where the teams are not affected by the lottery. A coin flip is used if they are still tied. The teams then alternate position for the remaining rounds of the draft.

The draft lottery order will be determined and announced by the commissioner as soon as possible after the conclusion of the regular season. The Commissioner must conduct this determination in the presence of another, impartial person.

Trading is allowed at any time of the year as long as instructions are not affected. Trading between leagues is allowed. All trades must be reported in writing or by email to the Commissioner. When a player is traded, he cannot go back to the originating team for one year. Trades that include Players-to-be-Named are not allowed. Teams behind in their statistical reporting may not trade.

New rosters will be sent out by the CEBA Statistician to all managers regardless of your trade activity. Each team that made a trade will be required to send out revised Line-ups and/or Pitching rotations to all divisional managers and CEBA Commissioner.

After a player has changed teams through this trading period he will only be allowed the remaining usage left on his card. Thus if a pitcher has already pitched 10 starts of a year usage of 15 then he only has 5 more starts available the 2nd half of the season. That player will be fully available for Post Season play.

Major League affiliations may be changed after two years with the current team. The exception is a new manager can move his franchise to his AL or NL city of choice if it is available. If a team wishes to change their affiliation after two seasons with the current one, they must indicate their desire to move before November 1st. If two teams request the same affiliation, the major league team shall go to the team with the worse record in the previous season.

Non-pitchers with less than 2.5 actual plate appearances (as defined as at bats plus bases on balls, NOT hit by pitches, sac hits, sac flies, or any other non AB or BB type PA) per game in which the player participated are limited to the number of actual plate appearances regardless of number of games played.. Those with 2.5 PA and above qualify to play up to that number of games. At no time shall a player exceed both at-bats and games played. The player is limited to one or the other. Example: If a player has 200 At-Bats and 10 Walks (which equal 210 Plate Appearances) and appeared in 100 games, multiply the # of games (in this case 100) by 2.5, which equals 250. Now add this player’s BBs and ABs together and you will get 210 total, thus this player did not meet the 2.5 cutoff for usage by Games. This player will be regulated by At-Bats and will be limited to 210 Plate Appearances.

NOTE: A player gets more usage when they can be used by Games instead of At-Bats.

Any player with 502 PAs or more has unlimited use privileges.

Each active (25 man) roster must include at least TWO players rated at each position. Any player can be applied to more than one position to satisfy this requirement. No player may play a position for which he is not rated, unless inserted there inadvertently by HAL. Outfielders rated at one outfield position may play other outfield positions, but at the fielding rating the game assigns that player when moved.

A manager may not pinch hit or run for a player if there is not a player rated at his position available to take the field, unless inserted there inadvertently by HAL.

It is the responsibility of each manager to determine before the season starts that he has enough games or PAs to complete the season at each position without having to overuse a player. Managers are not allowed to overuse a player just to fill in missing games in a season. The overuse of any player, especially a good one, can influence the outcome of games and thus the playoff races. A manager who determines he does not have enough games or PAs at a position prior to the start of the season MUST contact his League President for a solution, which probably will be releasing a player to free agency and choosing from the players left over after the draft.

Overusage on games will results in defaulting to rating a player by ABs, and fines will be calculated as 100 points x AB (10 ABs = 1000 points)

A pitcher with a MINIMUM of 30 IP, with an ERA 25% or more above the MLB average, rounded up, may be used without limit, except as subject to SOM rest rules. For the year 2008, the MLB ERA average was 4.31. 25% above that is 5.39. Thus, for the year 2009, pitchers with 30 IP or greater and an ERA of 5.40 or greater are considered unlimited as far as usage.

Below applies to pitchers not rated as unlimited.

Starting pitchers may be used according to the # of starts available, with no concern for IPs, or for their full IP use, with no regard to # of starts, but not both. If the # of starts available is exceeded, then IP will be assumed to be the default choice of usage by that manager. Pitchers in this case exceeding the # of starts and IPs will lose points according to the # of innings exceeded x 100 (10 IP overusage = 1000 points lost).

In the same fashion, RPs may be used according to their # of relief appearances available, or IPs, but not both. The same penalties apply to IP overusage.

Pitchers used as both a starter and reliever are subject to both actual starts and actual relief appearances or innings limitations.

All pitchers shall be subject to Strat-O-Matic's rules regarding rest. The CEBA recognizes the star " * " rating for starting pitchers, meaning that in order to start on 3 days rest during regular season and postseason the pitcher must have the star " * " rating from Strat. If a pitcher that is rated as a Starter ONLY is used in relief and is not rated as a relief pitcher by Strat, then he must be rested according to the rest requirements contained with Strat-O-Matic game rules, meaning unless the pitcher is "*" rated he must rest 4 days before next appearance. All relievers are considered rested at the beginning of a series. Any violation of these rules by HAL will be overlooked.

Rotations are continuous, ie, rotations must be filled out in the CMI prior to the start of the season, so that the initial league files contain full rotations for each team. Adjustments may be made throughout the season, but all rest rules must be adhered to within the CMI.

Injuries will NOT be used in the CEBA.

The CEBA champion shall be determined by a best of seven World Series between the champion of the American League and the champion of the National League. The World Series participants will be determined as follows:

Four teams will qualify for post-season play from each league. Seedings follow the teams throughout the playoffs:

• Seed 1 - Division champ with best winning %
• Seed 2 - Division champ with second best winning %
• Seed 3 - Second place team with the best winning %
• Seed 4 - Second place team with the second best winning %

The League Championship Series shall consist of the two winners from the first round.

Each playoff series will be best of 7 with the higher seed the home team in games 1, 2, 6, and 7.

The World Series will alternate home field advantage each year. The American League Champion shall be home team in games 1, 2, 6, and 7 in odd numbered years and the National League Champion in even numbered years. The designated hitter will be used when the American League Champion is the home team. Thus in 2004 the NL is the host team for games 1, 2, 6, 7.

Day	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Round 1	H	H	Off	V	V	V	Off	H	H	Off
Day	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
LCS	H	H	Off	V	V	V	Off	H	H	Off
Day	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
WS	H	H	Off	V	V	V	Off	H	H	Off

Pitching rotations are continuous from the regular season to and throughout all post-season play.

For the playoffs, a new league will be created for the entire playoff schedule, and circulated by the league statistician. All playoff games are to be played as non-scheduled, league games. Otherwise, fatigue ratings for pitchers will not carry over game to game. Game Files and BOXSCORES must be saved and sent to the statistician as during the regular season.

Two-way ties for playoff positions in the standings will be broken by a sudden death, one game playoff taking place on the off day after the end of the regular season. Ties involving the seeding for the post-season shall be determined by the following:

1. Head to head record.
2. Best home record.
3. Coin flip.

To be eligible to participate in post season play, pitchers must have appeared in at least 25 actual games or had at least 50 innings pitched. Non-pitchers must have appeared in 50 actual games or had at least 100 PLATE APPEARANCES.

25-Man post-season rosters are fixed prior to each series.

Starting pitchers will be limited as follows for each series:

Actual Starts	Post-Season Limit
0-9	No Starts
10-19	1 Start
20-29	2 Starts
*30+	*3 Starts
*Only if eligible to start on three (3) days rest.

Relievers will be limited only by Strat's rest requirements.

For a pitcher with the double rating, such as one with a relief and starters rating, usage in post season is determined like this: if this pitcher's 1st appearance is that of a RP then he falls under the rest requirements of any other normally rated relief pitcher. If the pitcher's 1st appearance is that of a RP he must rest one days rest before he can have a START. After a double rated pitcher starts, then the pitcher falls under the rest requirements of any other normally rated starter as outlined in the rest requirements in the Strat game (3 or 4 days rest ) and those in the CEBA Constitution. Thus he is not available to be used as a relief pitcher or starter again until the rest requirements as a starter are met.

Non-pitchers will be limited as follows for each series:

Actual		Post-Season Limit
Games	PA's	Play-off Starts
0-39	0-250	0 Games
40-59	251-300	2 Games
60-79	301-375	3 Games
80-99	376-405	4 Games
100-119		5 Games
120-139		6 Games
140+		7 Games

Each manager must send a set of contingency playing instructions to each opposing manager in their league, and also to the Commissioner. The home team manager will be permitted to use the contingency instructions if revised instructions have not been received by the fifth of the month in which the series is scheduled with the exception of April.

CMI files must be sent to the League Statistician and each team. Additional instructions, if any, must be short, to the point, and not exceed one paragraph (ie, remove SS after 3 ABs).

Pitching rotations are continuous for the season, and must adhere to rest rules for the pitchers.

The following settings will be used by all managers for all games played:

Rules

• Main Rules - Maximum Level (all boxes checked under Max Rules except Force Injuries, pre-1920 errors, and home field advantage)
• Stealing - Super Advanced
• Miscellaneous - Use Miscellaneous Rules
• Injuries - Do Not Use Injuries
• Ground Ball A - Allow GBA
• Ball Park/Weather/Clutch - Yes/Yes/Yes
• Strategy - Super Advanced
• Closer - Use Closer
• Pitcher Fatigue - Use SADV Fatigue Rules (not pitch count)
• Lineups and Usage
• Lineups - Primary
• No Scheduled Days Off
• No Swap-o-matic
• Minor Leaguers INELIGIBLE (change in Sept)
• Ignore Overusage
• The use of SuperHAL is optional on your part, but the boxes must be checked for SuperHAL.

The official reporting format for statistics are the Export files, found in the EXPORT folder. No other exported formats are useful to the League Statistician. *.prt files are the accepted format for box scores.

The deadline for getting all stats to the League Statistician is the 25th of every month.

Make sure that you have the export stats at the bottom of the screen checked, this is vital! After the game you will save the boxscore, PAC and scoresheet.

Stats should be forwarded to the League Statistician as soon as the games are played. Do not wait until the 25th of the month and forward ALL of your stats. The statistician needs time to be sure all stats are importable, and the sooner he gets them the sooner he can get back to you. The text of the email message should clearly identify which stats are attached.

DO NOT DELETE STAT FILES OR ANY EMAILS YOU RECEIVE OR SEND DURING THE COURSE OF THE SEASON. MOVE STAT FILES TO ANOTHER FOLDER (TRY CEBAAPRIL, etc, TO NAME THE FOLDERS). IF YOU DELETE THE FILES AND WE NEED THEM, THEY WILL BE FORFEITS TO YOUR DETRIMENT!!

• Box scores and export stats must be emailed to visiting managers by the 25th of each month.
• Export stats must be emailed to the League Statistician by the 25th of each month.
• Team comments (in case we do a newsletter) must be emailed to the Commissioner by 25th.

It is the responsibility of the late manager to notify all parties involved of the situation and the reason for delinquency. It is each manager’s responsibility to report any/all problems to their League President of managers who are consistently late. Consistent lateness will result in expulsion from the CEBA.

It is the responsibility of each manager to track his players’ usage during the season. This is especially important going into the last month of the season, when lineups can be adjusted game to game in advance so that no players are overused. Allowing players to be used by games rather than ABs adds already in some cases a substantial extra amount of plate appearances for a player, thus using a player above the allotted amount of games should not happen.

While HAL may mistakenly bring a player into a game against an opponent’s wishes, opponents should be VERY careful to follow all instructions regarding use. Opponents who consistently misuse players or fail in any way consistently to follow rotations or instructions through negligence (not HAL) may be penalized.

Blatant overusage will cause the release of that player overused to free agency, making him eligible for the next season’s Winter Draft. Continual abuse of usage from year to year will result in the dismissal of the manager from the CEBA. Other measures such as the loss of draft picks may also result from overusage, at the discretion of the Commissioner.

Fines in thousands of points will be levied by the commissioner for tardiness in reporting series, draft lists, away instructions, dues, rosters or any other correspondence concerning league matters when a deadline is not kept.

Fines shall be subtracted from a team’s total points.

Extenuating circumstances would be considered by the commissioner and may result in reduced or no fine if notified in a timely manner (before the due date).

In determining the league champion, each team will lose one win for each 1,000 in overuse fines which is in excess of 25,000

Anyone acquiring 50K or more in other (extra) fines, 50K or more in overuse fines or a combination of the two in excess of 85K shall be expelled from the league.