Continuing League



Continuing League Bylaws





The Continuing League is a historical baseball simulation league
using the Stratomatic computer baseball simulation program.
This league is a "Continuing League" in that we are following
baseball history, using all past seasons that Stratomatic provides.
There are over 40 seasons in all:  1927 1930 1934 1941 1950 1954 1956
1959 1960 1961 1962 1964 1965 and 1967 to the present.  The gaps in the
early years mean that player turnover will be fairly high initially; if
you get the Babe, you are only gonna have him for three seasons before
the beer and hot dogs curtail his career.  If additional seasons are
made available before we reach them, we will play them!  (note:
"Chevy" disks, made available after the start of the CL, will be
used for the 1963 and 1966 seasons unless "Cadillac" disks are
made available first).

The league is run via the Internet, using email and the Web page.
Currently, the Web page is located at:

http://members.xoom.com/continuinglg

Here are the rules, as they were originally laid out or with any
modifications:

1.  The players for the initial draft will be taken from 13 teams
selected from the 1927 season: Yankees, Indians, Red Sox, White Sox,
A's, Tigers, Giants, Dodgers, Cardinals, Reds, Cubs, Pirates, and
Braves.  These teams (and their successors, such as the
Boston-Milwaukee-Atlanta Braves) will the the ones used for
the ENTIRE duration of the league (40 seasons).  Any future
expansion will be accomplished by adding ONE franchise to the
draft pool per expansion team, with that franchise selected by
the expansion GM.

2.  Franchises will begin with a team name, $200 in "bidding money",
and a ballpark.   Managers may choose any ballpark but it must be
kept for at least three seasons; once selected, ballpark ratings
are fixed for a given year (e.g., 1934 Shibe Park) and do not change
unless the GM renovates or builds a new park (minimum of three seasons
must pass before either occurs).  At the All-Star break of each season,
a complete listing of all players available for draft/bidding in the
following season and their statistics for that season will be
provided to GMs.

3.  Players in the initial and subsequent drafts are obtained through
salary offers (see "Bidding" below).  Any remaining players not
acquired through bidding will be distributed through Draftomatic
(an automated drafting feature of the game) with order of draft
being reverse order of finish (except for first year as described
below).  The Draftomatic feature recognizes team needs and will
draft accordingly, so for example if you did not obtain a third
baseman in the bidding then Draftomatic sets this as a high priority
in drafting for your team.  All players drafted or bid upon must
have cards (i.e., you can't bid on Willie Mays in 1927). Once a
player is purchased or drafted, he remains on the team (at no
additional cost for subsequent years) until traded, retired, or
released to free agency.

4.  From season to season, each team retains a certain number of
players which will be randomly determined by rolling three dice
following completion of the previous season, meaning that typically
9 to 12 players will be retained each season (with a minimum of 3
and a maximum of 18 for you statistical wizards).  The number of
players to be retained will be the same for all teams, although
this number will vary from season to season (this will serve to
maintain some parity in the league as all good players cannot be
stockpiled or kept in the minors).  All players not retained are
then released into the draft/free-agency pool.  The pool will be
refreshed by including each year all players from teams in the
original 13 franchises who are not already in the league.  All
players introduced into the league remain in the league until
they retire even if they are no longer on one of the original
franchises at some point in their careers.

5.  A total of 25 active players are allowed per team;  the
remainder of players will be in the minors (the number may vary
from year to year and will probably grow a bit every year).
Players in minors can be brought up at break points as the
season is played, and the Stratomatic computer manager that
actually plays the games will also bring these players up in
case of injuries and other needs.  The computer manager does
attempt to limit overusage, even though the "ignore overusage"
setting is selected, and the fatigue rules for pitchers
will be used.  Players who have exceeded their actual at bats
or innings pitched at the 140 game break point are ineligible
to play for the remainder of the season, including post-season play.
After Game 140, a team must be able to field a full team or "Rookies"
(players who bat .170 or have a 9.99 era) will be created to complete
the team (total of 9 position players, 5 pitchers).

6.  Bidding: the free-agent salary  bidding will be based upon an
allotment of $125 per year. First place teams in each division will
receive a World Series share of $10 for the following seasons draft
and teams also get an "attendance bonus" that consists of: $1 for every
game they finished ahead of the last place team in their division, and
an additional $1 for every win that the team records. This is to simulate
the way baseball really works--success breeds success.

Bidding is accomplished by secret, simultaneous submission of player
names and bid amounts to the commissioner; the commissioner submits
a copy of his bid amounts to the first other GM to submit bids.
Bids may be made on as many or as few players as desired (although if you
don't have a player at a given position and are forced to substitute a
player not rated for that position, you will regret it as their fielding
will cost you heavily.  Highest bidder gets the player, and ties in
bidding are resolved by reverse order of finish in previous year
(i.e., the last place team wins all ties).  Not all money need be bid;
part of the available cash can be saved for following years and it can
also be used in trading (i.e., players can be "sold" during trading
periods).  If a manager submits a losing bid on a player, the money
is returned to the manager and is available for use on other players or
in subsequent seasons.  Overbids up to 10% of cash available are allowed
but if the money is actually used it will come out of following year's
allotment at double the amount that was actually "loaned" (100% interest).
Any amount bid above 110% of cash available will be deducted from that
GM's largest bid.

Any amount bid over your total allowable bid will be deducted from your
highest bid for any player.  You can make bids on as many or as few
players as desired, but you will have to field a full team or "Rookies"
(players who bat .170 or have a 9.99 era) will be created to complete
your team (9 position players, 5 pitchers).  A team can own rights to a
maximum of 25 position players and 25 pitchers; any team winning rights
to more than this number of players will have the "cheapest" players
returned to the bidding pool.  Once again, once the rights to a player
are purchased he is yours at no additional cost until he retires or until
you decide not to retain him.

The bidding is a SECRET AUCTION.  NO COLLUSION IS ALLOWED; you may not
discuss your plans for bidding with individual owners.  Collusion
is unfair as well as unwise, given the unpredictable nature of
the draft.  If you wish, you may make blanket statements to the
entire league, such as "You better be willing to spend big bucks if
you want Dooley Womack."  However, such statements must be made to
the entire league.  They also do not have to be true and thus should
be viewed with considerable skepticism.

The stated deadlines for returned ballots are absolute.  If the
deadline for bidding ballots is not met, the Commissioner reserves
the right to turn over your franchise to another GM, or to have
HAL conduct the draft.  HAL's drafting strategy is outlined on
the "view HAL's Drafting Strategy" link; HAL bids a declining
percentage of remaining cash on hand on every 12th player from
a draftomatic draft of all available free agents, using a randomly
determined starting point.

7.  Every at bat or inning pitched by a "Rookie" results in a
fine of 10 cents per AB/IP, deducted from the next season's
attendance bonus.  Thus, teams are encouraged to field an
entire team in order to be competitive.

8.  The 162 game seasons are played in five sections, with break
points (when newsletters with standings, league leaders, and your
team's statistics will be provided) after 40 games, after
80 games, after 110 games, and after 140 games (i.e, first team to reach
targeted number of games) Stratomatic is a simulation game where every out
is actually played, where individual pitchers face individual hitters.
GMs program the settings for the computer manager for their team (starting
lineups, pitching rotations, defensive replacements, how aggressively you
will steal, bunt, etc.).  Trading is allowed anytime prior to opening day
(once decisions about players retained from the previous season have been
made--i.e., only those players retained can be traded) and at the 80 and
140 game break points (which are typically 2 weeks long, with the 40
and 110 break points typically one week).  Roster changes or other managerial
programming decisions can be made at any break point.  Players exceeding
actual at bat or innings pitched values at the 140 game break point will
be ineligible for subsequent games, including post-season play.
Each season takes roughly two months to play.

Trades are conducted in real time; any "future considerations" may
be made but are not enforceable by the Commissioner's Office. To
discourage player "rentals", a player who has been traded away
from a team cannot be re-acquired by that team until at least two
"retention" periods have passed. There are no official consequences
to refusing to return a "leased" player, or from returning a different
player other than agreed upon, since "player rentals" have no official
status as trades.

9.  Dues for this league are based upon periodic assessments to cover
direct costs, such as purchase of season disks or mailing.  The league
is conducted via the Internet as much as possible to reduce costs.
Initial league fees were $20 per franchise for four seasons of play
to cover the cost of purchasing the season disks, postage, and
photocopying.  An assessment of $10 was levied to cover season
disks for 1950, 1954, and 1956.

10.  Use of any and all Strat rules allowed by the computer game
(such as weather effects, ballpark effects, etc.) will be initially
decided by a majority vote of the Gms.  Once play has begun, a two-thirds
vote of the GMs is required to change any league rule.  At present, the
league uses the DH, the closer rule, ballpark effects, but does not
use weather effects.