The Classic League
BYLAWS
Article 1, Name
The organization shall be known as “The Classic League” (hereinafter referred to as “League”). The home office shall be the home of the President of the League.
Article 2, Purpose
To provide continued opportunities for experienced players to play the great game of baseball.
Article 3, Membership
Any team may request entry of their team in the League. Any interested team should have a representative, or written letter for request of entry, available for a League membership meeting.
Any baseball Leagues or teams are eligible for membership, and will be admitted for membership in the League, upon receiving a 2/3 vote of approval by the existing teams in good standing in the League.
Membership shall be voluntary and, once accepted, each team or league and its officials shall agree to abide by the rules and regulations set forth by the governing body.
Eligible teams shall have played in an organized league where rosters are required and filed timely, or determined by the League to not be an “All Star” team of players. No "All Star" teams shall be approved.
Article 4, Dues
The League may require annual dues, which shall be determined by the Commissioners/Directors and shall be paid by each team before May 15th of each year.
Article 5, Governance
The membership of the League shall consist of one representative appointed by each team in the League. All teams will have one vote each in matters concerning bylaws, policies, and rules.
Teams should appoint an alternate representative in case the regular representative cannot attend League meetings.
Article 6, Membership Quorum
A membership quorum shall be in place if 80% of the teams in the League are present, IF a notice of one week or more has been given. If the notice is less than two weeks, then a quorum is 100% of the teams in the League. In the case of deliberate or repeated absence, upon notification of offending team or teams, quorum shall consist of 80% of all remaining teams, or 100% of remaining teams if the notice is less than one week.
Article 7, Meetings and Voting
Meetings of the membership or the Commissioners/Directors may be held either in person or electronically. Voting of both the membership and the Commissioners/Directors may be done in person or electronically.
Article 8, Commissioners/Directors
The members shall appoint three Commissioners/Directors each year, usually during the winter or early spring. The commissioners or directors of the League will consist of: President, Treasurer, and Secretary.
The Commissioners or Directors of the League are not granted a vote in League meetings unless they are also team representative members.
Board membership shall be a paid position. The amount that each team contributes to the board, and the dispensation of said funds, will be determined each year.
Article 9, Amendments and Rule Changes
It is the goal and expectations of the League that all players, teams, and representatives will work to improve the League and League play at all times. It is the intent of the League to respectfully consider different opinions and opposing ideas. Amendments and rules may be approved by majority vote of the member teams at a meeting expressly called for that purpose.
Article 10, By-Laws Revisions
These by-laws may only be revised by the affirmative vote of at least 2/3’s of all member teams.
The Classic League
League Rules
These rules are the current rules for the Classic League, including roster rules, player eligibility, season and game rules, tournament rules, conduct expectations, and other rules and requirements. These rules have been approved by majority vote of teams in the League on the date shown in the document, and shall be in effect until they are revised by majority vote of the teams in good standing in the league.
1. Rosters
a. Team Rosters: Team rosters listing all players on a team, complete with address and driver’s license number, are required to be submitted annually for each team. Rosters may include no more than 25 players.
b. Initial Roster Date: Initial rosters must be submitted to the Secretary of the League before the first game of each season.
c. Roster Additions: Additions to the roster may be made up to July 1st of each year, at which time rosters will be frozen for the season. Added players must be approved by the Commissioners/Directors before playing in any League game.
2. Player Eligibility
a. Basic Eligibility: All players must meet the following eligibility requirements to play in the League or tournament:
i. Must be 35 years of age or older by the end of the calendar year of the season in which the player is on the roster
ii. Not be paid to play baseball for the team in this League or for any other baseball team
iii. A player shall have been inactive from professional baseball for three consecutive years or more
b. Amateur Baseball: Any player who plays registered Minnesota Amateur Baseball is eligible to play on a League team if they meet the other eligibility criteria.
3. Game Play
a. American League Rules: American League baseball rules shall apply unless superseded by other League rules.
b. Game Line Up Cards: Line up cards must be completed and given to the opposing manager before every game. If a player is not listed on the card or if no card is given to the opposing manager, credit for that player for that game for state tournament eligibility may be denied.
c. Minimum Players Required: No team shall either start a game or play any part of a game without at least eight eligible players. When a team is playing with eight players, the vacant batting position shall be an automatic out each time it occurs in the line-up.
d. Defensive Substitution: There will be free and unlimited defensive substitutions (including pitchers) without reporting to the umpire, the official scorekeeper (in tournament play) or the opponent’s scorekeeper (although it is a courtesy to do so).
Defensive players are not required to play offense, and offensive players are not required to play on defense.
e. Roster Batting: Roster batting is allowed. Roster batting is the batting of ten or more players in the batting lineup. If a player comes late to the game, he may be inserted in the last batting position if the “game starting” last batter does not yet have a plate appearance.
f. Offensive substitution: The Classic League uses the Shared Lineup position to enter more than one player in any offensive batting order position.
1. Offensive substitution is unlimited, provided said player stays in the same spot in the lineup once he is placed there (i.e., a batter and a runner for that batter may occupy the same position in the offensive lineup; the manager must declare who is batting at that lineup position if there is a change. Neither player may appear in any other offensive lineup slot.) A manager may use an unlimited number of players in any lineup slot, but those players cannot be used elsewhere offensively.
2. A shared position in the offensive lineup may be initiated at any time, at manager’s discretion.
3. Managers must notify opposing manager when players in shared lineup positions are being switched.
g. Catcher Courtesy Runner: A courtesy runner may be used for the catcher to speed up the game. If a courtesy runner is used for the catcher, it must be the player who made the last official out or a player not in the batting lineup.
h. Wood Bats: Only wood bats approved for use by the League may be used. These include all-wood and wood-composite bats such as the Louisville composite or the Baum bat. No aluminum or two piece metal/wood bats shall be used.
i. Batting Helmets: Approved batting helmets must be worn at all times by batters and base-runners.
j. Warm-Up Pitches: Pitchers may be allowed as many warm-up pitches as the umpire deems necessary.
k. Ten-Run Rule: If the visiting team leads by 10 runs after five complete innings, or the home team leads by 10 runs after 4-1/2 innings are completed, the game shall be over.
l. Contact Avoidance Rule: Physical contact to dislodge a ball, disrupt a fielder, or for any other reason, is not allowed. This includes barreling, roll blocks or sliding out of the baseline to initiate contact. A runner must slide or move around a player who is attempting to make a play on him. Slides will be directly to the bag – defined as being within an arm’s length of the bag – and the slide may go past the bag. A slide made with both legs as close to the ground as reasonably possible directly to the bag shall not be considered intentional contact. Any player who initiates intentional and forceful contact with an opponent shall be called out and ejected from the game.
Fielders will not block the plate, base (or the baseline) unless the ball is in their possession or they have a reasonable opportunity to make a play. Any less will be defensive interference (see below). In the cases where intent is confused, umpire shall have final decision. (See “Intentional Contact” below)
m. Defensive Interference: Defensive players may not interfere with base runners, decoy base runners, nor block a base without the ball. An offending player will be ejected and all runners shall be awarded at least one and as many bases as they would have made without the obstruction. There will be no warnings.
n. Game Length: All Classic League games shall be 7 innings in length. A regular season game may be extended to 9 innings in length if agreed to by both managers prior to the start of the game.
o. Rain-Shortened Games: Games shortened due to weather conditions or darkness shall be a completed game after 4-1/2 innings (if home team is winning) or 5 innings (if visitor is winning) have been completed. Games should be ended only after the team managers have agreed to do so before the last inning played.
4. Tournament Play
a. Tournament Team Eligibility: All teams in the League are eligible for state tournament play.
b. Tournament Player Eligibility: All players must have played in at least six (6) League games during that season to be eligible for state tournament play. A player is deemed to have played in a game if they have had at least one plate appearance or pitched at least one inning. Playing only on defense is not considered as having played in the game.
c. Tournament Protests: Protests during state tournament play will be will be resolved by suspending play until the protest is heard and resolved. The protesting team shall post $75 to issue a protest, which shall be forfeited if the protest is not ruled in the protesting team’s favor.
d. State Tournament Seeding: Final League standings shall determine State Tournament seeding. In the case of a League tie, the tiebreaker shall consist of: (a) Head to head competition; (b) Runs given up (when teams play each other); (c) Coin toss.
e. Ineligible Player in Tournament: Any team who plays an ineligible player in the state tournament shall be eliminated from play.
5. Insurance/Liability
Each player participating in the League, or state tournament, shall be responsible for his or her own health and accident insurance. The League and its directors shall not be held, or assume responsibility, for any illness, accidents, or injury to any participants or fans
6. Protests and Appeals
Teams can protest or appeal during the season at any time. Protests and appeals shall be heard by the Commissioners/Directors.
7. Uniforms
Matching caps along with matching jerseys with numbers shall be worn by all teams for all games. Matching traditional length baseball pant is also required. Numbers shall not be duplicated unless the coach of the opposing team is specifically informed of matching numbers before the game.
8. Conduct
a. Code Of Conduct
Good sportsmanship and conduct is expected of all participants and fans. Verbally or physically abusive behavior will not be tolerated and will be dealt with harshly.
The following specific guidelines make up the Classic League's, "Code Of Conduct". All players/managers shall sign and abide by this code before participating in the league. Failure to abide by the code of conduct is prejudicial to the welfare, interest, and reputation of the league and its participants.
No player or manager shall:
- Initiate intentional physical contact with any player, manager, umpire or spectator. If directly related to a play on the field, anyone guilty of such conduct shall be immediately ejected from the game and face further suspension (minimum two games as dictated in section b, but possibly more) upon review by the board of directors. If NOT directly related to a play on the field, anyone guilty of such conduct shall be immediately ejected from the game and remain suspended for the remainder of the season. The conduct shall be reviewed by the board of directors and anyone guilty of such conduct shall be subject to expulsion from the league for life.
- Conduct themselves in any of the following manners, any of which shall result in ejection from the game (if participating) or similar/additional penalties (if not participating or already ejected):
Show unreasonable verbal or physical demonstrations of dissent at an umpire's decision. Players/managers may respectfully disagree with an umpire's decision and express their opinion in a non-abusive manner, but may not continue beyond reason, as determined by the umpire.
Discuss with an umpire their decision, except for the manager or his designee who are authorized to participate in such discussions.
Verbally abuse any player, manager, umpire, or spectator (including when not participating), before, during, or after any game.
Consume alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs during the game or be on the field of play at any time in an intoxicated condition.
Smoke on the field of play or in the dugout. If you have to smoke, do it outside the dugout.
b. Penalties
- It is the responsibility of both managers to report any ejections or other clear violations of the code of conduct to the board of directors.
- Anyone ejected from a game shall immediately leave the playing site upon gathering their belongings. ANY further verbal or physical confrontation with the umpire, even after the game finishes, shall be reviewed by the board of directors and anyone guilty of such conduct shall be subject to additional penalties. Unnecessary delay in leaving the playing site shall result in a forfeiture of the game.
- Anyone ejected from a game for ANY reason or guilty of ANY clear violation of the code of conduct (if not participating) shall be automatically suspended for two additional league games and placed on probation. A second offense while on probation shall result in an additional ten game suspension, and a third offense while on probation shall result in an additional one season suspension. Included in the suspension period shall be regular and post-season games sanctioned by the Classic League that the team participates in. The probationary period shall continue until the end of the season in which the most recent suspension is completed.
- Anyone guilty of participating (playing or coaching) in a league game when under suspension shall be subject to further suspension, and the game shall be forfeited by the participant's team.
- All disputes shall be reviewed and ruled on by a majority vote of the board of directors.
c. Appeals
- An appeal of any action or ruling may be filed by an individual player or by the manager of a team, provided that the appeal is formally submitted to the board of directors. Appeals shall be ruled on by a majority vote of the board of directors, and all decisions are final.
9. Season Schedules
a. Schedule Adherence: Once the League game schedule is set, it shall not be changed without the approval of the managers of both teams.
b. Playing Scheduled Games: It is the responsibility of both teams to play their officially scheduled games. A game is “officially” scheduled once it has been agreed to by both teams and is published on the league web site.
If an officially scheduled game is not played due to weather or any other act of God and is not made up before the end of the season, both teams will be issued a forfeit, unless one team can clearly show that the other team was responsible for not getting the game re-scheduled.
In all other cases, including but not limited to “not having enough players” or “losing a field due to conflicts”, scheduled games that are not played are immediately ruled a forfeit in favor of the team that was willing to play on the scheduled date, unless (or until) a mutually agreeable makeup date is set and published on the league web site. Knowing that unforeseen circumstances occasionally arise, all teams are asked to cooperate as much as possible to help get all games rescheduled in these cases.
Not playing scheduled games will be consideration for removal from the League.
c. Home Team: The team that is listed as the “home team” on the schedule is considered the home team no matter where the game is played.
