Constitution for the Home Nations Baseball Association

I. League Office

A. Commissioner

Bill Atteberry will serve as the league's commissioner for life or until he chooses to step down. The commissioner and acting commissioner have the sole and exclusive rights to interpret and enforce the rules within this constitution where any controversies arise between two or more owners. The constitution can only be amended by the commissioners' decision if they feel an amendment would be in the best interest of the league. The commissioners reserve the right to terminate ownership of any team if the owner/owners in question acts in a way that is detrimental to his/her team or the league as a whole or ceases to contribute to the operation of his/her team.

B. League President

Each league will be represented by a president, whose primary function will be to serve as a liaison between the Commissioner and team owners. Presidents may be asked to handle situations that the Commissioner can't due to time constraints, but the Commissioner reserves the right to veto or overturn decisions made by the league presidents.

C. League Officials

a) Master of the Draft who will oversee the annual Amateur Draft.
Eddie Paxil serves as Master of the Draft.
b) Roster Master of Arms who will ensure that roster minimums and guidelines are met.

D. Rules Committee

The Rules Committee will consist of the Commissioner, League Presidents and League Officials. They will review the current heath of the league and draft any recommended changes to the HNBA Constitution.

E. Collusion

Collusion, defined as any agreement between two or more owners to intentionally reduce competition between them, will not be tolerated and will result in termination of ownership of all parties involved and a lifetime ban from the league. Examples of collusion include (but are not limited to):

1. One-sided trades which obviously strengthen one team at the expense of the other (NOTE: Financial matters and draft picks will be considered when determining if a trade is one-sided).
2. Agreements (with or without compensation) to not compete for certain free agents that the other team(s) wants.
3. Agreements to rest players or pitchers against each other, or to use sub-standard players against each other.
4. Short term minor deals intended solely to help one team with the consideration that another deal at some future date will help the other. For example, trading a reserve player to another team when they have an injury, and then trading the same (or similar) player back in order to cover for an injury to the other team. In effect this type of deal increases the bench strength of both teams and is unfair to other owners who are trying to compete with the players they have. Any owners suspected of collusion will be subject to a hearing of the Rules Committee. Any owner suspecting another owner of collusion, or receiving offers to collude, should contact the commissioner immediately.

II. The HNBA

A. League Organisation

The Home Nations Baseball Association (HNBA) is made up of two leagues, with 2 divisions of 6 teams as follows:

British League
Midlands Division

Derbyshire Phantoms
Leicestershire Foxes
Nottinghamshire Outlaws
Warwickshire Bears
Worcestershire Royals
Yorkshire Phoenix

Coastal Division

Essex Eagles
Kent Spitfires
Middlesex Crusaders
Northamptonshire Steelbacks
Surrey Brown Caps
Sussex Sharks

Celtic League
Cumbria Division

Durham Dynamos
Lancashire Lightning
Buckie Whalers
Limavady Greyhounds
Lurgan Setters
Larne Pirates

Cornish Division

Glamorgan Dragons
Gloucestershire Gladiators
Hampshire Hawks
Somerset Sabres
Pembroke Red Foxes
Clontarf Bulls

There is no expansion planned for this Association.

B. The HNBA Calendar

The league will start on 1 January 1920. The initial draft will be conducted on 2 January and consist of 50 rounds (snake order).

1.) Spring Training will be conducted in March.

2.) The regular season starts on 1 April. The schedule will be unbalanced and consist of 162 games. Each team will play the other teams in its division 18 times, while playing teams in the opposite division 12 times.

3.) Post season will consist of three rounds. The Division Test - Division winners plus 2 wild card teams in each league will participate in the playoffs. Wild card teams will be the two teams in a league (not division winners), with the best record. This Divisional Test will be the initial round of playoffs with wild cards playing divisional title holders. It will be a best of 5 game series. The League Test will consist of the Divisional Test winners in each league and will be a best of 7 game series. The World Test will pit League test winners in a best of 7 game series.

4.) The Amateur Draft will be held on 10 November each year and will consist of 7 rounds.

5.) Winter meeting are conducted on 3 December each year in a suitable climate.

C. League Settings

The Basics

o Using latest Spritze/Garlon DB (normalized stats) – created a random arrival (1920-2003) 1200 players year one about 180 per year after.
o Financials on
o No Franchise movement
o No new parks – Park attributes can be modified
o AAA minors only
o No salary cap
o Cash maximum (see financials)
o No revenue sharing
o All revenue available
o Player ratings (1-10 with stars)
o No DH
o Position player fatigue in use
o Coaches off
o Scouts off
o 40 man roster rule disabled
o Minor league options rule enabled
o Rule 5 draft enabled
o Salary arbitration enabled
o Free Agency at 12 years
o Recalc On (3 years)
o No historical adjustments
o 10 Nov amateur draft
o Draft pick Trading enabled
o All Star game On (I would like to have a league cup running during the season, but not sure how to schedule that yet.)
o Hidden Players Off
o Personality Ratings On
o Morale System On
o Inter league Play Off
o Wild cards On
o Playoff Length Round 1: 5 games: Round 2: 7 games, Round 3: 7 games

D. League Financials

The table below defines the financial rules for the HNBA. These are representative of the 1920 economy. The financial model is NOT revised annually. The league will function within this model unless modified by the Rules Committee.

Average Ticket Price $0.10
Away Team’s Gate Share 20%
Minimum Service Years for Free Agency 12
Free Agents from Other Leagues Can be Signed YES
Free Agents May Leave This League NO
Draft Pick Compensation for Lost Free Agents NO
Minimum Service Years for Salary Arbitration 3
Minimum Service Years for Minor League FA 6
Average Media Contract $161,875
Media Contract Fixed? NO - based on market size
Salary Cap NO
Team Owner Controls Budget? NO - all revenue available
Revenue Sharing NO
Cash Maximum $64,750
Minimum Player Salary $2,266
Poor Quality Payer Typical Salary $2,590
Fair Quality Payer Typical Salary $3,885
Below Average Quality Payer Typical Salary $6,475
Average Quality Payer Typical Salary $9,713
Above Average Quality Payer Typical Salary $22,663
Good Quality Payer Typical Salary $45,325
Star Quality Payer Typical Salary $77,700
Superstar Quality Payer Typical Salary $103,600

E. Bankrupt Franchises

1) If any team ends a season with negative cash ("in the red"), it can support a payroll level in the following year not to exceed its projected revenue for the year.

2) If a team enters the offseason with no money and a payroll higher than the projected revenue for the next year, the team must, prior to the first game of the following season, either

a) trade enough salary away to become financially sound (get your payroll at or under your projected revenue) or
b) transfer players to accomplish this. (see transfer rulles)

3) Furthermore, any team that is "in the red" cannot execute any trades that would add more salary to their payroll.

4) All trades must be even in salary, or the "in the red" team must be trading away more salary, thus lowering the team payroll. Thus teams "in the red" cannot participate in free agency.

III. The Players

A. Player Pool

1) The HNBA will use historical players based upon the Spritze/Garlon DB. The players will arrive randomly and have been compressed to arrive between 1920 and 2003. Current players with less than 3 years experience (as of the end of 2006) will arrive in the actual debut year starting in 2003. The HNBA is a CAREER league, which means that during the year players will age, their skills will improve and then fade over time, and they will eventually retire. The FINANCIAL system is also enabled, allowing owners to negotiate contracts as they see fit, and manage money so you have some left over for that big free agent!

2) Each Team will have two squads, a major league squad and a minor league squad (AAA designated as the 2nd-IX).

3) Player transactions will be handled in the game. These include assignment of players, training positions, contracts and contract extensions, free agency. Trades and Transfers will be posted on the forum. Both sides must comfirm the trade. The commissioner will process the trade after both confirmations.

B. Amateur Draft

1) The draft is a straight draft (the same order will be used in each round) with the exception of picks that have been traded. It will consist of seven (7) rounds (all tradable), or until all of the players have been selected.

2) The first sixteen picks in each round will go to the teams that did not participate in the most recent play-offs, in reverse order from their winning percentage in the previous HNBA season. Picks 17-20 will go to Divisional Test Losers in order of the season winning percentage worst getting pick 17 to the best getting pick 20. The picks 21-22 will go to the teams that lost in the League test, with the team with the lower winning percentage picking 21st and the one with the better record choosing 22nd. The team that lost in the World Test picks 23rd, and the champion picks 24th. Standings ties will be broken by using the run differential (runs scored minus runs allowed) of the teams.

3) Amateur Draft choices for current year and the next future year are the only draft choices allowed to be dealt. (e.g. at the start of the game only 1920 and 1921 Amateur draft picks can be traded.) No initial draft picks can be traded.

4) In case of ties with the same record, within the group of teams being considered (e.g. 16 non-playoff teams, Divisional Test losers, etc) order of draft will be determined by

1. Head to Head competition - worst record picks first
2. Run Differential (runs scored - runs allowed) - lowest picks first
3. Coin Flip

C. Transfers

1) In addition to the normal trading methods, the Home Nations Baseball Association will also support a transfer system. This system is intended to reflect a non-free agency environment (e.g. What existed in 1920)

2) Players are registered to a club for the duration of their contract. When a player is initially promoted to the Major League club, that player will receive a league minimum salary. The player will retain that salary for three years at which time the player will be eligible for arbitration. After reaching 12 years of service, the player will be eligible for free agency. Registrations can be transferred from on club to another club for some associated fee. The transfer fee must be in accordance with league minimums (there is no maximum). Draft Choices have NO CASH VALUE. If a transaction includes cash and a player the cash must be in accordance with the league minimums. Players cannot be used in lieu of minimums. See Table for league minimums:

Player Quality Minimum Fee
1 Star $1,100
1.5 Stars $1,200
2 Stars $1,900
2.5 Stars $3,200
3 Stars $4,800
3.5 Stars $11,300
4 Stars $22,700
4.5 Stars $38,800
5 Stars $51,800

3) Stars are current overall rating NOT potential rating

4) The minimum transfer fee, for players under a Major League contract, will be based upon the highest overall star rating for the player of the positions for which the player has ratings (using the ratings tab of the player). For pitchers, the minimum transfer fee will be based upon the highest overall star rating between SP, MR, and CL. If a player is rated at both positions and as a pitcher then it is the highest of all the eligible set positions (e.g. LF, 1B, SP, MR and CL). The dealing owners are responsible for ensuring that at least minimum fees are communicated, agreed upon, and paid. Transfers with less than minimum transfer fees will be rejected.

5) Players not under contract to a Major League club but on a Minor League club are considered to on prospect contracts until they achive minor league free agency. Players on prospect contracts are treated as registered players with respect to trades (e.g. fees apply). Registered Minor League players can be purchased by any team for a fee of $1000.

6) Amateur Draft choices for current year and the next future year are the only draft choices allowed to be dealt. (e.g. at the start of the game only 1920 and 1921 Amateur draft picks can be traded.) No initial draft picks can be traded.

7) Teams cannot send cash to a club which would cause the transfer fee to be affordable. For example, Team A wants to acquire a 5-star player from Team B requiring a minimum of $51,800. Team A has only $30,000 cash and thus cannot afford the transfer fee. Team B cannot return $22,000 in cash in the deal which allow the transfer fee to be paid (thus reducing the transfer fee below the minimum). Team B can return player(s) whose transfer fees would cause the net transfer fee to be less than Team A's $30,000 cash on hand.

D. Player Refusing Assignment

1) A player may refuse to be demoted to minors based on its salary or/and experience. In these cases you would have to decide whether to release him or keep him on the active roster.

2) Upon releasing a player, the team is responsible for paying off the entire remaining contract.

E. Player Elgibility

1) Position players must be listed for the positions they play during the regular season games and during the playoffs. NOTE: Player position eligibility may change as the player gets older if that player moved positions during their career or by learning a new position in spring training. A player is eligible to play any position in which he has a rating of 1 or higher as indicated by his ratings tab.

2) Pitchers can only pitch unless they have a rating at another position. Pitchers can assume any pitcher role (SP/MR/CL) role except in order for a pitcher to be a starting pitchers he must have an endurance of 5 or greater.

3) A player can attempt to learn a position during spring training, except as follows:

a) A player not rated at pitcher cannot be trained to become a pitcher.
b) A pitcher cannot be trained at a field position, unless he is already rated at a field position. (Example Perry Werden comes in as a rookie rated at P and 1B. Therefore he can be trained at any field position.)
c) Note the nine players below who cannot be trained under any circumstances.

4) The Owner may set the position of the player to any position for which that player is rated (using the ratings tab of the player). For pitchers, the owner may set a players position to SP, MR or CL. If a player is set to a non-rated position, the commish or designate may set the player to a rated position.

5) There hare 9 "pitcher only" players in the game. Regardless of any position training rules or options these players are only ever pitchers. They cannot play field positions. These players are:

James Callahan
Parisian Carathurs
John Cooney
David Foutz
William Gleason
George Ruth
James Seymour
Ellsworth Smith
Edward Van Haltren
Magdalen Dihigo

6) There are no eligibility requirements on the 2nd-IX squads. (AAA)