USSP League Constitution

Contents

1. League Structure
2. The Teams/Rosters
3. Usage limits
4. The DH
5. Injuries
6. The Closer Rule (and other advanced rules)
7. Ballparks
8. The Draft/Protected Lists
9. Seasonal Play
10. Game Play
11. The Computer Manager
12. Trades
13. The Playoffs
14. Starting Rotation
15. Roster Moves
16. Acquiring Free Agents
17. New Rules
18. Gripes

All rules of the USSP are described within this constitution unless amended by the league as a whole and distributed as an official Constitution/Rules update. The league will consist of 20 teams in 2 conferences of 2 divisions each. All teams will play a weighted schedule of 162 games, playing all other league teams during the regular season.

All USSP games will be managed by the home manager on the home team's computer against the current SOM Version computer manager HAL (per instructions sent by the road manager within league guidelines). Results of these games, including boxscores and PBPs, will be sent to the home team manager and the game files/subset stats will be sent to the League Stats Center. The sending of boxscores to the opponent is required.

At no time shall a manager be running more than one team.

The league will have a commissioner who will serve a one-year term. A secret vote may be taken immediately after each draft to elect the commissioner upon request of league members. Multiple consecutive terms may be served by the same manager.

Each team will consist of 36 players on average, 25 of which must meet the requirements of the minimum rule, which is:

• Position Players with at least 40 PA
• Starting Pitchers with at least 30 IP
• Relief Pitchers with at least 20 IP

Those pitchers designated Starter/Reliever must have more than 30 IP to qualify as a starter.

Players not meeting these requirements, but having a computer card, are eligible to be on the active or non-active roster (usage rules apply).

The active roster in any month of the season and playoffs, other than September, shall consist of a maximum of 26 eligible players by the rules listed above. In September, any player on the roster who is eligible may be placed on the active roster.

Starting with the 2024 season, which commences on cutdown day (February 1st), no owner shall have more than 40 roster spots (players plus draft picks) on their roster at any time

Players not meeting the requirements of the minimum rule and not having a computer card are designated as "prospects" on the league rosters.

3. Usage Limits

All appearance limits for the USSP season will be based upon the player's actual statistics plus 10%. Players who appeared in both leagues will use the computer-only "card" from SOM that represents their total stats.

Batters are restricted to 110% of their plate appearances (AB+BB). Pitchers are restricted to 110% of their IP. Alternatively, you may use a pitcher for 110% of his actual starts. A starter (a pitcher who has no relief rating and can only start) may go over his IP limit or starts limit, but NOT both. A reliever (a pitcher who has no starter rating and can only relieve) cannot go over his IP limit, and must not make any starts. A starter/reliever (a pitcher who has both starter and reliever ratings) who is used only as a starter cannot go over his allotted starts, but is allowed to go over his allotted IPs.

A starter/reliever who starts AND relieves cannot go over either (starts or IPs).

If a player goes past his allotted IP or PA's for the season he is cut from the team immediately and will be eligible for the following season's draft. This suspension may be appealed and overturned at the discretion of the Gripes Committee. The team will also lose 1 playoff roster spot should they make the playoffs. If you lose a player to over usage you can use a FA transaction to pick up a player. If you are out of FA pickups (the limit is six (6) per season as defined below) you do not get to pick up a free agent.

This rule shall be interpreted strictly. Going over the limit by 1 plate appearance or inning pitched will make the player ineligible. Note: If a team changes ownership in the off season, the new owner will not be penalized because of the overuse by a previous owner.

The loss of a postseason roster spot for overuse is to be at the
commissioner's discretion.

The DH will be used in all league games including the playoffs. Use of the DH will follow the Major League Baseball DH rules.

Injuries will not be used in the USSP.

The Closer Rule will be turned ON and all other SOM rule variations will be set to the most super-advanced setting including the "Maximum Level" rules. The exception is "Home Field Advantage," which will be turned off.

The "Do Not Let HAL Remove" option must be turned OFF for all pitchers.

Only real ballparks are available.

A team may change its park once every two years. This change may only occur during the off-season.

New managers may change their ballpark at any time during the off-season up until draft day and will receive priority over existing managers in this pick.

Beginning with the 2024 season (Feb. 1) all teams must cut down to 24-26 players. Each team that cuts below 26 will receive a draft pick at the end of the seasonal 10 round draft. Those cutting to 25 would receive an 11th round pick, and those cutting to 24 would receive an 11th and a 12th round pick. The draft positions will be in the same order as the regular draft. Any pick in the 11th or 12th round, or a player selected in these rounds, can not be traded at any time, and must meet the league's minimum requirement rule.

A draft order based upon last season's records will be generated and will consist of 10 rounds plus up to two extra rounds as described above. The team with the worst record will draft first in each of the rounds unless he has traded rights to that draft choice away (not applicable to rounds 11 and 12 as mentioned above). No draft picks may be traded from drafts beyond the upcoming one until the website administrator gives approval, which must occur before the draft begins.

(see Trades section for a special note on deals during the cutdown period).

The Draft will be held using the Strat Draft Web Site located at http://www.stratdraft.com.  Detailed instructions on how to use the Strat Draft web site will be sent out by e-mail prior to Draft day.

If a GM cannot be available on a draft day, he must supply the Draft administrator or League Commissioner with DETAILED draft instructions and understand that this system is imperfect and that the Draft administrator is in no way responsible for draft mishaps. Alternatively he may set up the Strat Draft auto-drafting program to complete the draft for him.

The Draft will begin each year on the last Saturday in February.  There will be 10 picks per day, one per hour. The picks will begin at 10 am est, and continue until 8 pm est. If you do not pick or forward a list to the Draft administrator or the League Commissioner, the next pick can be made when the clock expires. If a pick is missed, the clock will still be followed. If no pick is missing, then the draft can proceed but not exceed 10 picks a day. The draft will be concluded in 20 days.

Prior to the start of the season, each team must submit a computer manager file that contains their anticipated starting rotation for the entire season. This "Generic Rotation" may be changed on a monthly basis via an updated computer manager file.

Note: This list is protection for a road manager in case the league office has to autoplay a delinquint manager's games. This ensures a decent rotation is followed. This list can also be used by home managers who have not received a more specific set of instructions from their opponent. In lieu of specific rotations or generic rotations, the home manager should allow HAL to select their opponent's starting pitcher. No home manager shall be held liable for any consequences, overuse or otherwise, stemming from this necessity.

The season will consist of a series of one-month play periods. Each team will play 24-30 games every month; normally 12-15 home and 12-15 away games. Results will be due each month on the 26th. Games not reported by that date with no explanation will be auto-played. A Free Agent (results) file will come out on the 28th, and the deadline to request free agents will be the last day of the month. A CM file will come out on the 2nd of the month, with a due date of getting your CMs to the league by the 5th. This cycle repeats each month.

Note: In addition, boxscores and play-by-play files should be sent to each opponent. Failure to do so could result in league sanctions. (See Section 1 for more).

The final month of the season will be divided into two separate play periods to facilitate managerial control over seasonal usage.

All Super-Advanced rules should be turned ON, including the Maximum Level rules (see Section 7 for details).

Each owner should send managerial instructions and pitching rotations to each opponent before the start of each month. These should be sent in the form of SOM's built-in manager files (.MGR). Once these are received, games shall be played by the home manager versus the HAL-controlled visitor.

All games should be played as LEAGUE GAMES in order to track the necessary rest required for pitchers between games. SOM Rules in this regard should also be strictly adhered to; In other words, if a player is used as a reliever, he will be tired for two games before being allowed to start on full rest. The computer will indicate as such, and you may NOT give the team a day off to make the pitcher rested. According to SOM rules, a reliever also is tired for the next game after pitching two straight games. The computer keeps track of tiredness, so you don't have to.

All teams will be set as fully rested when the month begins. You should then follow the schedule, giving your team days off as the schedule indicates. If you have road games in between, give your team as many days off as you had days on the schedule in between home games.

Players MAY play out of position at your own risk and in accordance with SOM rules. Starters may relieve only if all relievers are tired or have been used. Starters may relieve at will in the playoffs.

Note: The first two games of any series should be NIGHT games, and the third and/or fourth games are DAY games.

Managerial instructions sent to your opponents each month may be as detailed as you like, within the confines of different categories in the SOM program. There will be no HAL Over-ride during games. In other words, the visiting manager may not request any special in-game instructions to be carried out by the home manager. Once the first pitch is thrown, the visiting team is under complete control of HAL. (exceptions can be made if both teams agree, especially in the playoffs. See playoff section for details). The sending of manager instructions is limited to the information contained within the Manager profile in the SOM game itself.

Note: Each owner is encouraged to send their computer manager settings/changes to the league office before each month. This way, the commissioner can pre-set the roster files to reflect your changes, avoiding each opponent from having to enter the same information. This is voluntary, but encouraged. The addition by SOM of "manager files" has greatly reduced the workload. All owners are encouraged to "export" manager files to the league commissioner and to each opponent. All home managers then need simply to import your manager file and everyone should be set properly.

All instructions for the HAL computer preferences are due in opposing managers' hands by the 5th of the month and must not be submitted later than the 8th of the month. Lineups and tendencies can be altered from game-to-game as much, or as little, as each team would like.

Each owner is responsible for submitting a CM file to the league by the designated deadline. If an owner wishes to use a different CM for an individual opponent, they must facilitate this by informing their road opponent to use said CM. This includes pitching rotations. If you do not inform your opponent, they will play the games using the imported CM in the league file.

After the August stats deadline, no further trades will be recorded until the completion of the World Series or December 1st, whichever comes first. Trades may be made at all other times.

All trades must be confirmed by both parties to the commissioner or they are invalid.

"Player to be named later" trades are allowed, but the terms of the deal must be made known to the league office to prevent controversies.

Once a team makes its offseason cuts, it cannot make a trade until after the cutdown date deadline. Conversely, once the cutdown deadline passes, a team that hasn't made its cuts cannot make a trade until its cuts are made and dues are paid.

Each division winner plus 2 wild cards from each conference make the playoffs. The 2 teams other than the divisional champs will be named to the two wild card positions regardless of their divisional alignment within the conference. Thus it is possible that both conference wild cards could come from the same division. The wild card teams will be ranked 1-2 within each conference based upon seasonal records. Within each conference:

WC No. 1 plays the divisional winner with the worse record. The winner advances to the Conference Championship Series.

WC No. 2 plays the divisional winner with the better record.  The winner advances to the Conference Championship Series.

The winners of each Conference Championship Series will face each other in the USSP World Series.

All series are best of seven and follow a 2-3-2 format with a day off between each change of venue. Divisional champions will always have home advantage in games 1, 2, 6, and 7 against wild card teams. For all other series, the team with the best record will hold this advantage.

Playoff eligibility will consist of a 10% rule. That means each player can play 10% above his normal USSP eligibility. For example: A starter who pitched 200 IP during the real season can pitch 22 innings in EACH playoff series (10% of 200 IP+10%). Therefore a (*) pitcher will be able to pitch game 1, 4, 7, as there is a day off after game 2 and 5.

A player is eligible for the postseason if he is on the 26 man active roster prior to August 1st. Any player not meeting the minimum rule is not eligible for the playoffs.

If two or more teams have the same overall record, the following tie-breakers will be used to determine draft order and playoff seeding (not including the final playoff spot, which will be determined by a one-game playoff):

1. Head-to-head record

2. Conference record (only if in same conference in case of draft order)

3. Divisional record if in same division (If more than two teams have the same record and are tied for the final playoff spot, the above tie-breakers will be used before the one-game playoff competitors are determined.)

If all of these are identical, a coin will be flipped, in a manner determined by the league commissioner.

The League commissioner is the playoff commissioner. He will be responsible for creating, and distributing, all playoff files. Playoffs CMs will be submitted to the playoff commisioner, and he will include the CM in the playoff file. CMs can be changed between rounds of the playoffs, but never during. All playoffs are to be completed in two weeks. If not complete in two weeks, the Playoff comissioner steps in to complete the series in the following week. The playoff commissioner will determine the most viable method to finish the delinquent series up to and including using auto play.

Schedule - To complement the scheduled games that we utilize during the regular season, the post-season will also be scheduled as outlined below. This will reward teams that finish a series early as they will be able to come back with their best pitchers fresh for the next series, while winners who advance in 6 and 7 games will have to juggle their rotations for the next opponent. Pitchers will be required to observe the rest rules that are in place during the regular season. Days listed as OFF (Travel days) are just that and the competing teams are to be given the proscribed number of days rest.

TWO DAYS OFF BEWTEEN END OF REGULAR SEASON AND PLAYOFFS (to be used for any tiebreaker games, if necessary)

[Please note the actual days, i.e. SAT, SUN, MON, are simply used for example purposes.]
day 1 (Sat): round 1
day 2 (Sun): round 1
day 3 (Mon): off
day 4 (Tue): round 1
day 5 (Wed): round 1
day 6 (Thu): round 1
day 7 (Fri): off
day 8 (Sat): round 1
day 9 (Sun): round 1
day 10 (Mon): off
day 11 (Tue): Conf champ
day 12 (Wed): Conf champ
day 13 (Thu): off
day 14 (Fri): Conf champ
day 15 (Sat): Conf champ
day 16 (Sun): Conf champ
day 17 (Mon): off
day 18 (Tue): Conf champ
day 19 (Wed): Conf champ
day 20-21 (Thu-Fri): off (2 off days before the WS)
day 22-23 (Sat-Sun): WS
day 24 (Mon): off
day 25-27 (Tue-Thu): WS
day 28 (Fri): off
day 29-31 (Sat-Sun): WS

At the start of the season, a complete list of starting pitchers must be submitted. All starting pitchers with 200 or more IP during a season are designated as (*) Starters as are those pitchers who receive a (*) rating from Strat-o-Matic. These pitchers may start on three games/days rest. All other starters require FOUR games/days between starts.

Anyone wishing to make a roster move must inform the league office. Roster moves take effect at the beginning of a month only, but may be "called in" at any time during the previous month.

The deadline to make roster moves is the last day of each month. Any move made after this point will not take effect until the following month. This includes free agent signings, trades and shuffling players to and from the minor leagues.

In September, all eligible players will join the big club, though only the 26 designated as playoff eligible may participate in the playoffs.

All GM's are REQUIRED to download the official roster files from the USSP Web Site every month. These new files will reflect all changes made over the course of the previous month. Everyone must use the new files each month in order to keep the league statistics in sync.

Teams may pick up a player from the free agent pool at any time during the course of the season. This player is subject to automatic release at season's end and cannot be protected for the following season under any circumstances.

Each free agent acquisition must be associated with a corresponding waiver of one player.

Anyone wishing to add a free agent to their roster must do so by placing a waiver claim to the commissioner and the USSP.info site admin by the month s Waiver Claims deadline. The waiver claim deadline will be after the stats are compiled for each month, and sent out to the league. Do not send your requests to the whole league. An owner who misses the deadline forfeits the right to add players that month. The commissioner will allocate players based upon the records at the end of that month. Teams with the worst record get first chance to sign players (as many as claimed up to the season limit of six (6)) from the free agent pool. Teams can request multiple players each month. Claims need to be made with corresponding cuts on a one for one basis. In order to accommodate over usage concerns, the commissioner will do his best to solicit replacement pickups from owners who have had their choices negated by those of other teams. All decisions made by the Commissioner are final.

There is a limit of six (6) free-agent transactions per regular season (after the April play ball file goes out) per team. No free agent who has been previously cut during the regular season may be re-acquired by the same team during the same regular season.

Any player that is claimed in free agency and is then traded to another team counts as one of the six (6) free agent acquisitions by the team that acquires the player. If a team trades a free agent it has claimed to another team, that free agent does not count against the quota of six (6) for the team who trades the free agent player away.

A rule may be changed during the offseason with a simple majority vote. New rule requests should be sent to the Rules Committee, which has the responsibility of conducting and tabulating a vote.

During the season, a rule should not be changed unless required to greatly facilitate further play during that season. A rules change during the season requires that at least 75% agree. A one-week discussion period is mandatory during the season unless waived by unanimous vote of the managers.

During the course of the season it may become necessary to arbitrate or interpret a rule. Should this occur, the commissioner has this responsibility. In his absence, the Rules Chief will make the necessary decision.

Any dispute of this decision by either the person ruled against, or another league member disputing the commissioner's decision, will be handled by the Gripes Committee. The commissioner or Rules Chief should have no conflict of interest in the decision. In the case of an appeal that involves members of the Gripes Committee, those members affected by the ruling (as determined by the commissioner) should recuse themselves from the decision.