Changes and additions for 2010 are shown in blue italic

League Membership

The league name is the GET A LIFE BASEBALL LEAGUE (GLBL), and throughout these Rules and Regulations is referred to as "the league."  The separate leagues may be referred to as GLBL BK (Bakersfield) and GLBL BB (Big Bear).

The maximum number of teams in the league is 10. Fewer teams are permitted only if a lack of quality ownership makes it impossible to field the maximum number of teams. Efforts will be made to restore the league to the maximum number of teams by the following season.

The league will be divided into two divisions.

Teams are not permitted to use the name of any professional sports team (including Minor League professional teams), or the name of any GET A LIFE FOOTBALL LEAGUE team.

Commissioner

The Commissioner conducts the business of the league in conjunction with Fanball.

If a situation arises that is not adequately covered by the existing Rules and Regulations, the Commissioner has the power to make a ruling that he feels is in the best interest of the league.

Disputes which cannot be handled within these Rules and Regulations, or resolved by a ruling from the Commissioner, are decided by an outside arbitrator agreed upon by all parties involved. The arbitrator's decision is final.

A Deputy Commissioner will be appointed prior to each season. The Deputy shall assist the Commissioner when necessary, and will assume the duties of the Commissioner should the need arise.

Ownership

Any individual(s) approved by the Commissioner may own a team.

Ownership in more than one league is legal, but ownership of more than one team in a league is not permitted.

There is no limit to the number of owners that a team may have.  Unless the Commissioner is informed otherwise in advance, it will be assumed that any owners listed for a team can perform any functions for that team.

A team may be sold any time during a season. The new owner must be approved by the Commissioner, and will be held responsible for any outstanding debt associated with that team. New owners will be expected to abide by all league rules.

League Fees and Prize Pool

The league has a schedule of fees covering player transactions. No money passes between teams. All fees, except the league administration fee, are paid into the prize pool and distributed at the conclusion of the season.

• Franchise Fee ($100).
• Signing Bonus paid when a team exercises a player option at the draft.  The bonus is equal to one eighth of the final bid for the option player, rounded up to the next quarter (minimum of $2).
• Trade ($2.50 for each player traded).
• Free Agent Signing (1/4 of the winning FAAB bid).
• Inactivity Fine assessed if a player on the active roster is inactive for three consecutive Tuesdays.  An additional fine will be assessed for each additional Tuesday of inactivity.

Fees must be paid in advance by personal check, money order, or credit card (PayPal) to the Commissioner. A minimum of $200 must be placed on account on or before Draft Day.

All fees collected are placed into the GLBL League Treasury. 

A League Administration Fee of $125 will be subtracted from the league treasury. This fee covers the league management web site, Championship T-shirt, and the Commissioner's time.

All remaining money becomes the Prize Pool.

From the Prize Pool $100 is paid to each of the Division Champions, and $50 is paid to the Best of the Rest Tournament winner. The rest is  distributed at the end of the season, to the winners as follows:

• 60% to the League Champion
• 25% to the 2nd place finisher
• 15% to the 3rd place finisher
• 10% to the 4th place finisher

Statistics

The league statistics will be compiled by Fanball and posted at their web site, according to the rules of the league.  

Statistics of a player are assigned to a league team only when that player is on the Active Roster of that team.

A "week of play" begins each Tuesday and ends with the conclusion of all games the following Monday.

Any errors detected by league owners must be reported to the Commissioner immediately.

Transaction Reporting

All transactions may be completed at the Fanball web site.  Transactions can be reported to the Commissioner by e-mail or phone only under emergency circumstances.  The Commissioner will then make the transactions manually.

The effective date for any transaction for the purposes of statistical calculation, is the Tuesday following the reporting of the transaction.

Calamities

A "Calamity" is defined as death, illness, injury, relocation, or other unforeseen problems causing an owner to be unable to complete the current season.

In the case of a calamity, the Commissioner will recruit an owner from the league not involved to run the affected team for the remainder of the season. After the season, any money due the affected team is forwarded to the affected team owner or his family.

In the case of a calamity involving the Commissioner, the Deputy Commissioner assumes the duties of the Commissioner for the remainder of the season.

Removal of a Team

If sufficient cause can be demonstrated to the Commissioner, a vote will be scheduled to determine if a team should be removed from the league. Causes include, but are not limited to: collusion, inactivity, and gross mismanagement which affect league play.

A vote of 3/4 of league ownership is sufficient to remove a team from the league. The affected owner will not vote.

Suspension of Season

If a player strike, owner lockout, or any other unusual event causes a season to end prematurely, the team with the most wins at the point the season is declared complete by MLB, will be declared the league Champion.

Player Auction (Draft)

The Player Auctions will be held:

GLBL BB - Wednesday, March 31, 2010 6:00 p.m. at Sandy's.
GLBL BK - Sunday, March 28, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. at Mitch's house.

If the Player Auction cannot be held on this day, the Commissioner will publish an alternate date as far in advance as possible.

At the Player Auction each team acquires 24 players for their Active Roster. Each team is given a $260 Draft Budget to acquire a 24 man Active Roster. A team is not required to spend the full $260, but each team must have a full 24 man Active Roster.  The salaries of a team's retained players for the Active Roster are totaled and subtracted from the Draft Budget.  The remaining amount is what the team has available to fill its Active Roster. Option rights have no monetary value and thus are not subtracted from the Draft Budget.

Bidding is in increments of $1, with $1 being the minimum bid. There is no set maximum bid so long as each team always has at least $1 left for each open spot remaining on their roster.  Owners are seated around the table in no particular order. An owner will be slected at random to begin the auction. This owner names a player to be bid upon, and offers an opening bid. This can be any NL player not on another team's roster, or it can be a player whose option is held. This process is known as "throwing out" a player. Bidding continues until a bid is made which is not topped. That bid is considered the winning bid.

If an option is held on the player thrown out, the team holding the option will be given the opportunity to match the winning bid.

The team that wins the bidding on a player adds that player to their roster, announces which position he will fill, and has the amount of the winning bid subtracted from their Draft Budget. This continues until all teams have a full 24 man active roster.

Players eligible at more than one position may be shifted during the draft merely by informing the Commissioner of the new position that he will occupy.

A team may not bid on a player who is not eligible for one of the remaining spots on their active roster.

Teams may not throw out a player who is not on a Major League 25-man roster.

Teams may throw out a player who is on the NL 15-day disabled list, but players on the NL 60-day disabled list may not be thrown out.

The team that has retained an option on a player may throw that player out for bidding but may not bid any further on that player.

A team MUST throw out a player for bidding, there is no passing.

Retained Players (Keepers)

A team may keep up to 7 players from their off-season roster for their opening day Active Roster. Any player from the off-season roster may be kept, so long as position requirements are met. The salary total of the retained players is subtracted from the Draft Budget.

Retaining the option rights to a player counts as one retained player, although that player is not actually on a team's roster.

The names of all retained players must be given to the Commissioner no later than 7 days before the Draft. A team that does not notify the Commissioner of the names of their retained players before the deadline will forfeit the rights to all players on their off-season roster.

The Commissioner will publish the rosters of all teams showing retained players and total salary. These rosters are available the day after the deadline.

No trades may be made once the deadline for the naming of retained players has passed.

Players who retire, die, get traded to the AL, or get put on the DL for the entire season, between the deadline for naming retained players and the Spring Meeting, may be released.

Contracts

Players acquired at the player auction are bound by the standard player contract. The standard player contract is for two years plus an option on the player in the third year.

Players signed as Major League free agents during the season have a one year contract plus an option.

In determining the status of a player, a "year" is a full year or any part of a year.

When a player is released, his contract is void. He becomes a free agent and begins a new contract when signed.

The option is defined as the right to match the highest bid for the player involved, after the bidding on that player is complete, at the player auction.

A team exercising an option must pay a signing bonus of 1/8 of the player's salary (rounded up to the next quarter increment) into the prize pool. The signing bonus is not considered a part of the salary cap of that team. The minimum signing bonus is $2.

The new contract of a player whose option is exercised is two years plus option.

EXAMPLE: At the player auction Jake Peavy, whose 2-year contract has ended, is thrown out for bidding. The bidding ends with a $24 winning bid by the Dudes. The Tsunamis have the option for Peavy. If they wish, the Tsunamis may match the winning bid and get Peavy for $24. The Tsunamis would then be obligated to pay a $3.00 signing bonus into the prize pool (this bonus is not deducted from the the Tsunamis' salary cap), and would have Peavy for two more years with an option in the third year. If the Tsunamis decline to exercise their option, Peavy goes to the Dudes for $24, and has a standard player contract with no signing bonus.

Player Salaries

The salary of a player is determined by the means of his acquisition, and does not change unless a player becomes a free agent.

The minimum salary is $1.

The salary of a player purchased at the player auction is the amount of the winning bid for that player.

The salary of a player signed as a major league free agent is the amount of the winning FAAB bid.

The salary of a player acquired in a trade remains the same.

The salary cap for a team during the season is $300.

Active Roster

A legal active roster is comprised of 24 players consisting of these positions:

• Catcher (2)
• 1st Baseman (1)
• 2nd Baseman (1)
• Shortstop (1)
• 3rd Baseman (1)
• Outfielders (5)
• Middle Infielder - 2nd Baseman or Shortstop (1)
• Corner Infielder - 1st or 3rd Baseman (1)
• Utility - any player who is not a Pitcher (1)
• Starting Pitchers (4-6)
• Relief Pitchers (4-6)

A team may never have more than 24 players on their active roster.

Teams have until 1/2 hour before the first game of the week to set their lineup.  A team with an illegal roster will lose all games for that period.

Non-Active Players

A team may place a player on the GLBL Disabled List if that player has been put on the Major League Disabled List.

A team may place a player on their GLBL Farm Team if that player has been sent to the minors by their Major League team.

A team may place one player on their GLBL Reserve Team for any reason, and one player on the reserve team as a Transitional Player. Transitional Players are players who have been activated from the DL or called up from the Minor Leagues in the previous week. Transitional Players may only stay on the Reserve Team for one week.

It is the responsibility of the owner to provide proof that a player is eligible to be placed on either the Disabled List or Farm Team if required by the Commissioner.

When the Major League team brings a player back from the Disabled List or Farm Team, the player must be activated to their GLBL team's Active Roster before the next deadline for roster moves (1/2 hour before games begin on Tuesday). The activation begins with the next week of play.

A team may activate players from its Disabled List, Farm Team, or Reserve Team at any time.  Players must be placed on the Disabled List, Farm Team, Reserve Team, or released, as necessary to accommodate players being promoted. 

There is no limit to the number of times that a player may be transferred back and forth between the Active Roster and the Disabled List, Farm Team, or Reserve Team.

The total combined number of Non-Active Players on the Disabled List, Farm Team, andReserve Team may not exceed 10 players.

No players can be signed directly to any of these lists, players may only be dropped from their active roster to the lists.

At the completion of any transaction, a team must have a legal roster.

Position Eligibility

BATTERS - A player may be assigned to any position that he played at least 20 times during the previous season. If a player did not play 20 games at any position, he is eligible at the position that he played the greatest number of times.

If a player did not play any games at the Major League level, then he may be played at the position shown for him at his highest level of Minor League play.

If a player did not play any games the previous season, then games played in the last season played will be used.

After the beginning of the season, a player may be assigned to any position played at least five times.

PITCHERS - A pitcher will be considered a Starting Pitcher if he started 10 games the previous season, and/or a Relief Pitcher if he had 20 relief appearances the previous season. If a pitcher has not made either of these two benchmarks, then he will be eligible at whichever category he has more of (starts or appearances).

After the beginning of the season, a player will be eligible to be a Starting Pitcher if he starts five games, and a Relief Pitcher if he makes 10 relief appearances.

Free Agents

Any NL player that is not on the Active Roster, Farm Team, or Reserve Team of any other league team is considered a free agent.

A free agent may be bid upon any day of the week, but will not be added to the roster until the beginning of the next week of play.

Teams will have a $400 Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB) to use for signing free agents.  Once the FAAB is depleted, a team may not sign any more free agents.

Teams will submit a "sealed bid" through Fanball to claim a free agent.  Fanball will determine the winner of the bidding and assign the player to the winning team.  The player's salary will be the amount of the winning bid, and that amount will be subtracted from that team's FAAB.

At the completion of any transaction, a team must have a legal roster.

Trades

From the end of the player auction through midnight Monday, July 19, 2010, teams are allowed to trade freely with any other team(s).  After this deadline there will be no more trading of any kind.

A trade is considered official when all teams involved in the trade have agreed to the trade on Fanball, or reported the trade to the league office.

Trades may involve players from the Active Rosters, Disabled List, Farm Team, or Reserve Team of the teams involved, or both, but may not include cash, players to be named later, or future considerations.

Trades do not affect the salary status or contract status of the players involved.

All teams involved in the trade must have legal rosters at the completion of the trade.

All trades are effective with the commencement of the next week of play.

Outright Release

A player may be released at any time, however, his stats continue to be accumulated until the end of that stats period.

A player under suspension by the Major Leagues may not be released during the period of the suspension.

At the completion of any transaction, a team must have a legal roster.

Players Traded to the American League

A player traded to the American League will be allowed to complete the season with his GLBL team and will continue to accumulate stats.  If the player is released, he may not be re-signed.

An AL player may not be traded to another GLBL team.

Off Season

A team's off-season roster may not exceed 40 players. No positional requirements must be met, and trading is done without limit or cost. No players are signed during the off-season.

A team has seven days, beginning the day after the conclusion of the season, to activate players who were on the GLBL Disabled List. A player must be released in conjunction with each player activated from the GLBL Disabled List. After seven days, all players remaining on the GLBL Disabled List are released.

Players lost to the AL during the off-season are not automatically lost, they will remain on the roster for the remainder of the off-season.

Object

Assemble a team of National League baseball players whose statistics, compiled and measured by the methods described in these rules, exceed those of all other teams in the league.

Head-To-Head Play

Each week all teams will play head-to-head against another team.  Games will begin on Tuesday and conclude the following Monday.  Teams will compete against each other for the week in each of these five batting categories:

• Home Runs (HR)
• Runs Batted In (RBI)
• Stolen Bases (SB)
• Runs (R)
• Batting Average (BA)

and five pitching categories:

• Wins (W)
• Saves (S)
• Strikeouts (K)
• Earned Run Average (ERA)
• Walks + Hits divided by innings pitched (WHIP)

The team that wins each category will be credited with a win.  If a category is tied, that game will be recorded as a tie. Each weekly match up will produce ten results in the league standings.

There will be 20 weeks of play, with each team playing its divisional rivals three times, every other team once, and three of the other teams an additional time.  The best team in division based upon 200 games played will be named Division Champions and will advance to the playoffs.

The two remaining teams with the best records, regardless of division, will advance to the playoffs as Wildcards.

Tie breakers are:

1)  Head-to-head record in games played between the tied teams
2)  Best record in Divisional Games
3)  Coin toss

Playoffs

Teams will play a Simultaneous Round Robin to determine the League Champion. This means that all four playoff teams will play each of the other three playoff teams during the same two week period. At the conclusion of the two week playoff, the team with the best 24 game record will be crowned the League Champion. The team remaining three teams will finish in the order of their records. Tiebreakers for this playoff round will be:

• Best record in the head-to-head playoff matchup between the tied teams
• Best record in the head-to-head regular season matchup between the tied teams
• Best record in three categories selected at random in the head-to-head playoff matchup between the tied teams
• One additional category selected at random until one of the tied teams enjoys an advantage

The next four best records will compete in a similar Simultaneous Round Robin called the Best of the Rest Tournament. Structure and tiebreakers will be the same as the Championship.

The two teams with the worst records will play head-to-head against each other for those same two weeks. The team which loses that match-up will be declared Toad of the League.

Minimum Inning Rule

Each team's pitching staff must accumulate a total of 30 innings pitched each week. If a team fails to make the minimum innings, they will be fined $10. Each team will be given amnesty one time during the season to lessen the effects of rainouts or other unforseen problems.

If a team does not compile a minimum of 600 innings over the course of the entire season, they will be ineligible for the playoffs.

COMMISIONER'S STATEMENT

COLLUSION BETWEEN TWO OR MORE TEAMS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!

WHILE IT IS DIFFICULT TO PROVE THAT OWNERS HAVE ACTED IN CONCERT TO AFFECT THE OUTCOME OF A SEASON, ANY OWNERS THAT EXHIBIT BEHAVIOR THAT STRONGLY POINTS TO SUCH CONDUCT WILL NOT BE INVITED TO PLAY IN ANY FURTHER GET A LIFE BASEBALL LEAGUE SEASONS. THE OBJECT IS TO COMPETE AND HAVE A GOOD TIME AND THE CONDUCT DESCRIBED ABOVE WOULD CERTAINLY BE CONTRARY TO THAT AIM.