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.
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 collusion complaints and draft any recommended changes to the HNBA Constitution.

The current make up if the Rules Committee is:

Commissioner - Bill Atteberry
British League President - Tim Keene
Celtic League President - Charles Wolfson
Master of the Draft - Eddie Paxil
Roster Master of Arms - Matt Reynolds

E. Collusion

Collusion, defined as any agreement between two or more owners to intentionally reduce competition between them, will not be tolerated and may 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 $0.12 (Teams may set their own ticket prices, HOWEVER ticket price MAY NOT EXCEED $0.15)
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 $194,250
Media Contract Fixed? YES
Salary Cap NO
Team Owner Controls Budget? NO - all revenue available
Revenue Sharing NO
Cash Maximum $77,700
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

Teams will automatically have their capacity expanded as follows: If a team exceeds 95% capacity of its ground for the entire year, the ground will be expanded by 5% at no cost to the club. There is a maximum limit of 4000 seats in total which can be added over the life of the league. Clubs whose capacity currently exceed 16,999 (grounds which host international matches) no expansion will be permitted.

E. Bankrupt Franchises

1) If any team ends a season with negative cash, and its projected payroll exceeds current budget, then that team is considered to be defined as "bankrupt". End of season is defined as the first sim of the season roll over that resets the financial picture of the club (usually the first sim after the conclusion of the World Test matches).

2) A team which is defined as bankrupt, as per #1 above, will remain in bankruptcy until the start of the regular season the following year. A team designated as bankrupt, will reamin in that state until the first regular season sim regardless of any changes in projected payroll, current budget and or available cash. All restrictions on bankrupt clubs as defined below remain in force until after the first regular season sim.

3) If a team is defined as bankrupt, as per #1 above, the team must, prior to the first game of the following regular season, either

a) trade enough salary away to get your payroll at or under your current budget or
b) transfer players to reduce the projected payroll below the current budget. (see Transfer Rules - Sect III.C) or
c) release players to reduce the projected payroll below the current budget. The club will be responsible for all expenses which are incurred in releasing players.

4) If a team defined as bankrupt, as per #1 above, has a payroll which exceeds current budget at the beginning of the regular season, the commissioner, at his sole discretion, will release players to ensure the payroll requirements are met. The club shall be responsible for any expenses which incur due to the release of the players.

5) If a team is defined as bankrupt, as per #1 above, the following restrictions are in place from the moment the team is defined as bankrupt until after the first sim of the following regular season.

a) the bankrupt team cannot execute any transaction that would add more salary to their payroll.
b) all trades must be even in salary, or the bankrupt team must be trading away more salary, thus lowering the team payroll. Cash cannot be used to offset salary.
c) the bankrupt team cannot sign any free agents (EXCEPTION: A bankrupt team can sign players to a minor league contract).
d) the bankrupt team cannot sign any players on waivers.

NOTE: While the definition of bankruptcy is payroll over budget and negative cash on hand, the resolution to exit bankruptcy affects only payroll. There is no limitation on the cash or required action as it relates to cash. Cash cannot be used to offset payroll once bankruptcy has occurred.

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) 2nd-IX squad CANNOT exceed 35 players.

4) 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. This is referred to as the BASE ORDER

3) For the first round a lottery system will be used to determine the final order of selection. The Base Order will be used for Rounds 2 thru 7. For the first round, a randomization algorithm will be used on the Base Order. This algorithm will consider a teams actual wins and wins relative to the rest of the non-playoff teams. Teams with the same record will have the same probability. No team can drop more than 4 places from the Base Order.

4) 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.

5) 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. Transfer Process

Transfer process removed in 1932.

D. Waiver Process and Option Contract Process

1) GMs will still place players on waiver via the exports as the do today.

2) Waiver period will still be 11 days (3 sims).

3) DO NOT MAKE CLAIMS VIA EXPORTS
a) There is a user on the forum called WaiverWire
b) The GM will PM the WaiverWire with your claims
c) The Commish will process all claims.
d) Notification of successful claims will still show via the GM in game message box.
e) Players who are on pull back and get claimed will be put back on the GM's 40 man roster. If the roster is full (because the GM already made a move), the player put on the roster last will be removed.
f) If the system doesn't notify the GM of who made the claims the Commish will PM the information (potential trade partners).

4) With respect to Team Option Years the following is the process:

a) Option contract notification occurs at the season rollover sim, which is the first sim after the World Test is completed.
b) If an owner wishes to decline a team option for a player, notification is to be sent to the Commissioner prior to running the next sim after season roll over has occurred.
c) The affect will be that declining an option year is a manual process to be sent to the Commissioner. No notification is needed to accept the option year as the sim will default to that decision if nothing is done.
d) This process also applies on joint option year contracts. The owner must notify the Commissioner that the team is declining. The default is that the team is accepting.
e) An owner can notify the Commissioner any time after the regular season ends of his intent to decline a Team's option on a player.

E. 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.

F. 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)