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Section
I - Game Setup
1.00 The
playing field is not laid out. It is an area of asphalt located at
the tail end of a cul-de-sac. Foul lines extend from the middle of
the strike zone to the naturally formed (lawns) lines past the sidewalk
on the street which represents the homerun boundary.
1.01 The outfield is not enclosed by a wall. Rather, it is
enclosed by the sidewalk. No player can cross this boundary unless:
a) the fielder (or pitcher) is chasing a ground ball. b) the fielder
(or pitcher) makes a LEGAL leap over the sidewalk to catch a fly ball,
also known as "robbing a homerun." This is further explained
in 9.03.
Dimensions at The Sac:
Home plate to the left field corner is 68 feet.
Home plate to dead center is 87 feet.
Home plate to the right field corner is 69 feet.
The bases are each about 5 feet in front of the respective corner
of the field. Example: first base is about 64 feet from home plate.
Dimensions at The Byrd House:
Home plate to the left field corner is 67 feet.
Home plate to dead center is 89 feet.
Home plate to the right field corner is 72 feet.
The bases are about 7-8 feet in front of the respective corner of
the field.
1.02 There are no "single lines" or "double
lines". The entire field can either be considered one huge infield
or one kinda huge outfield.
1.03 The pitcher's mound is marked by a small, circular marking,
made possible by a large can of spray paint, It is located approximately
43 feet from the plate on both fields.
1.04 The batter's box does not exist. Batters are invited to
stand wherever they please, so long as their body does not interfere
with the pitcher's attempt to successfully throw a plastic ball to
our strike zone.
1.05 The backstops, also known as our strike zones, are both
blue pool basketball backboard with the hoops off. Both starts from
the ground and extends 34" into the air. It is also 36"
wide. They are big. One has been around since 1994. It is old and
dying. It is used at the Byrd House. The new one is used at The Sac.
Any ball that strikes the backboard on the fly AT ANY SPOT is a strike,
no questions asked. Sometimes calls are disputable (usually always
low balls that may or may not have "knicked" the groud first
before striking the zone) and in these cases, a non-participating
(therefore non-biased) player makes the official call. THEN no questions
asked. If there is no non-biased player, then teams are suggested
to be men about it and work it out on their own.
Section II - Equipment
2.00 The
Ball -- Wiffle Ball 2002 says to hell with the "official"
wiffle ball and uses the white Cosom Fun Ball (baseball size), which
contains circular holes cut out uniformly throughout the ball. a)
players may do whatever they like to the ball at any time, except
for: cutting new holes in the ball, misshaping the ball in mid-windup
(or at any time), tearing the ball apart, or setting the ball on fire
at any time.
2.01 All players play barehanded. Glove-wearing is legal, but
it's not recommended because no one will respect you.
2.02 We use the yellow wiffle bat. Add as much tape and grip
as you like, but know that you are risking damaging your bat and/or
your swing. The bat is to remain HOLLOW, which means no GLUE, newspaper,
tennis balls, or any other objects that would keep the bat from being
hollow are permitted inside your bat.
Section III - Umpiring
3.00
Balls and strikes are simple calls. If the ball hits the backstop
on the fly -- strike. If it misses -- ball. If a player swings and
misses at ANY pitch -- strike. If it hits the batter -- ball (no base
awarded), unless it is ruled by the pitcher that the batter was blocking
the strike zone.
3.01 Foul/fair calls are made by the on-deck batter. Usually
they're not paying attention though, so the call is usually either
made by the batter or pitcher.
3.02 Check swings are calls made by the pitcher, although most
batters will admit to going ahead of time to avoid looking like a
baby.
3.03 Official score is whatever is written in the scorebook
by whoever is scoring, unless Commish Creighton finds errors in the
scoring, since he has a photographic memory.
3.04 Situations a) are stupid and b) a horrible thing for a
league to force players to announce. No one is required to say anything
about how many outs, strikes, or balls there are unless the batter
OR pitcher OR fielder asks nicely for the information.
Section IV - Starting/Ending Game
4.00 If
both teams are fielding 4 players, then the game shall last 5 innings.
If one or both teams have 2 or 3 players, the game is 4 innings.
4.01 Game Delays -- never have, most likely never will. Be
a man and let your hair get wet. It'll put hair on your chest. Well,
not literally, but...
4.02 Regulation Game -- If three full innings have been completed,
it is considered official in case it is stopped.
4.03 Games may be suspended (or called) on account of darkness.
It's never happened, but you never know.
4.04 If a game does not reach three complete innings, it shall
be postponed for a later date (and probably never made up).
4.05 Extra innings -- You all know how extra innings work right?
No different than baseball.
4.06 Protesting games -- Guys who protest games can immediately
go to hell and may lose any dignity that they have worked so hard
to earn throughout the season.
4.07 Forfeit game -- If a team can only field one player, they
must forfeit. If it occurs before a double-header, the team will not
have to forfeit two games...just one of the two. However, the third
game (vs. a different team) will be forfeited as well if the lone
player cannot get a roster player in time. In other words, if your
team only has one guy on the day (or none), count on going 0-2 for
the day.
Section V - General Game Rules
5.00 Playing
teams carry either two, three, or four players. While on defense,
there is one fielder, one pitcher, and zero, one, or two guys sitting
out, depending on the size of the team. The players shall rotate throughout
these roles.
5.01 Starting line-up -- Determined by each team before
the game. Keep in mind that the leadoff batter pitches the first inning,
second batter pitches second inning, etc. The batting order remains
the same through the game, but can be changed betwen games. There
are NO pitcher substitutions while in an inning, unless death is an
occurrence. In this case, the team has 35 (not 45 anymore) seconds
to find a suitable replacement and has the responsibility of calling
the ambulance.
5.02 Fielder positioning -- Play wherever you desire, but play
smart! Some guys can go opposite way (although most can't)!
5.03 Batting out of order -- There is no penalty for batting
out of order, aside from the expected ridicule that accompanies not
knowing your own team's batting order. Finish the inning you started
the order in, then go back to the original order the next inning.
5.04 Bunting is illegal and an altogether wimpy way of going
about batting in this league.
Section VI - Pitching
6.00 Count
system -- Ours is the same as the majors. Major League BASEBALL that
is, not the "major league" of wiffleball. Four balls, three
strikes, fouls are strikes unless a batter has two strikes on him.
The hands of a batter are considered part of the bat.
6.01 The pitcher is allowed as many warm-up pitches as one
wants/needs.
6.02 A hit-by-pitch is considered a ball and no base is awarded.
6.03 Batter options -- If a batter gets four balls, he can
either take the walk or he can elect to eject the walk and instead
get a fresh count (0 balls, 0 strikes).
6.04 Batter interference -- If the batter blocks the path of
the ball on its way to hitting the strike zone, it is an automatic
strike. The pitcher makes the official call as to whether it would
have been a strike.
Section VII - Offense
7.00 The
batting order is set in stone until the game is over.
7.01 The batter can take as long as he'd like to complete his
AB, although he must have the knowledge that stalling and wasting
time only makes everyone pissed off and helps induce fights.
Section VIII - Hits
8.00
If a batter hits a ball and successfully reaches first base before
the pitcher gets the ball or before he is tagged out by either the
fielder or the pitcher, he has successfully earned a single.
8.01 If a player feels possible, he may take his chances and
go for a double, triple, or an inside-the-park homerun, where the
same rules as 8.00 apply. a) If the baserunner changes his mind, he
must do so before he gets halfway to the next base, or else he is
most likely screwed. If he changes his mind before he's halfway to
the next base, he can safely return to the base (unless he is tagged...consider
it as a wide "rounding of the bases"). This rule does not
apply to fly balls. Standard fly rules with runners on base. Tagging
up is legal, although no one tries it because it's near impossible.
If a fielder wants to double up a runner on a fly ball, all he has
to do it tag the runner, tag the base he was trying to return to,
or get the ball to the pitcher (within the pitcher circle) before
the runner can get back to the base.
8.02 Ground rule doubles -- Any batted ball that lands (on
the fly) directly on the sidewalk, the batter has hit a ground rule
double.
8.03 Homeruns -- Any ball that lands PAST the sidewalk and
within the fair/foul markers on the fly has hit a homerun. Homeruns
do not earn extra runs the farther they are hit because that is a
retarded rule. Batters who hit homeruns are more than welcome to relish
the moment and take as long as they'd like to round the bases. We
are not responsible, however, for whatever injuries that may become
of this act.
8.04 Errors -- Errors are not recorded; instead they are considered
hits.
Section IX - Defense
9.00 Fielders
-- One pitcher, one fielder. Fielder plays wherever he wants, but
is advised to play wherever the pitcher tells him to.
9.01 Fielder roles -- Both the fielder and pitcher are fielders
once the pitch leaves the pitcher's hands.
9.02 A rather large invisible circle encompasses the pitcher's
mound and acts as the default base to wherever the lead baserunner
is headed. If either the fielder or pitcher have the ball within the
circle before the runner has reached the lead base, the runner is
out (all other runners are safe). If the lead runner is safe, then
the second lead runner is out, otherwise everyone is safe. Whether
or not a fielder is within the invisible circle is decided by none
other than Commish Creighton, or, if not possible, by another non-playing
player. Remember players, the invisible circle is VERY large. You
don't have to be standing directly on the pitcher's mound to be considered
inside the circle. Just in the (very) general area.
9.03 Robbing homeruns -- The lip before the sidewalk serves
as a "warning track". No fielder can step past the lip to
attempt to catch a fly ball, unless the fly ball is in foul territory.
If a player jumps, his jump must start before the end of the lip and
he must catch the ball BEFORE his feet return to land. It's also allowed
to be standing in any area, even past the homerun line, as long as
it's in FOUL TERRITORY. You can stand in foul territory, reach over,
and catch a ball that would otherwise land in fair. Note: You cannot
JUMP from foul to fair territory...you must remain in foul grounds.
Also note: You can take any route to the foul area, so long as both
feet are in foul grounds when you catch the ball.
9.04 Double plays -- If the fielder (not pitcher) fields a
ground ball or fly ball, the double play rule is the same as the majors.
If the pitcher fields the ball, he must throw to his fielder, who
is covering a non-first base where a runner (ghost or human) is running.
Then the fielder must return the ball to the pitcher before the batter
gets to first (especially easy when the batter refuses to run due
to frustration) to complete the play.
9.05 Distraction -- Fielder can distract the batter however
he wants, so long as no physical contact is made and the distraction
doesn't involve grabbing the batter's bat. NOTE: Again, the league
is not responsible for injuries resulting from fights that resulted
from distractions.
Section X - Ghost Runners
10.00
There must be at least one player on the batting team shagging behind
the plate. All bases are occupied by real baserunners, unless none
are available. In this case, ghost runners are used. They advance
the same amount of bases as the lead runner. If there is no lead runner,
they advance the same amount as the batter and are thought to run
just as fast as the lead runner or the batter in case of double play,
even though we can't see them.
Section XI - Team Rules
11.00 Team size -- Teams are
to carry no more than four players. If a player on a team quits, then
the captain has to manage to keep the team going (without forfeits)
with only three players.
11.01 Usable players -- Go to the team main pages, click on
"roster" and you'll see the only four players who can compete
for that team. No ringers, no visiting cousins, etc are allowed to
take the place of a roster player, even if it is for only a game or
two. No exceptions. We'll start the season with 20 players, and we'll
end with 20 players.
11.02 Trading -- Trading seems somewhat unlikely, and we're
still working out the rules, but here's what we got so far: Trades
can only be "1 for 1" or "2 for 2" or, god forbid,
"3 for 3". No 2 for 1 deals can occur, unless the team dealing
out one player has only three roster players to begin with. In other
words, only if it doesn't result in a team having five roster players.
The trade needs to be reported by the representative from BOTH teams.
If teams can find a way to get creative, then 3 or 4-way trades are
legal, so long as no team has more than 4 roster players when it is
all said and done.
11.03 Firing players -- Sorry, this is not legal. You picked
him, you deal with him. We're dealing with too fragile of egos here
folks, so dumping a player is not what we need. Suicide won't bring
anything positive to the league. |
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