Jackie
Robinson Memorial Baseball League
Constitution
A) APBA Baseball for Windows is used for the JRMBL. As of 1/1/25, owners must have version 6.0 and have the updated patch and play by play version available on APBA’s web site.
B) The official data disk will be imported from the Fan Park Electronic Baseball Encyclopedia.
Several modifications will be performed:
1) Wizard for Windows will be run on the disk to correct a reported error in the importing process.
2) Some pitchers who made starts in real life do not get starter grades in imports. For these players, any player with a grade of 8* or below will be assigned a starter-only grade. For such pitchers who are 9* and above, their starter grade will be two-thirds of their relief grades, rounded off. The Commissioner will assign Q-rating with an eye toward any CG among the player’s starts.
3) Players whose defensive grades are higher on the official APBA disk for the season will have those defensive grades ‘restored’ to the imported disk.
C+D) The JRMBL consists of 24 teams, split into two leagues. For MLB expansions in 1993 and 1998, the league will consider whether new teams are added. Teams will change leagues only with the approval of the majority of the league. The Larry Doby League is considered the American League for expansion purposes.
E) The DH rule is used only for years and leagues for which it was in effect in Major League Baseball. Again, for these purposes, the Larry Doby League is considered the American League.
F) The in-season roster size limit will vary from year to year. All teams will have the same number of players. Any remaining players (usually grade 1 pitchers) will remain unaffiliated until needed to relieve fatigue concerns.
G) Other various rules/settings:
1) Bunt for a hit: OFF
2) Park and Wind Effects: OFF
3) A Farm Team Organization IS used.
4) AutoSub: ON - Tired, Bushed and Worn Out.
5) Batters Faced Limits: ON.
6) No .930 for OPS less than .600: OFF. An exception comes in the form of those 'innocuous' players whose OBPs are >=.150 higher than their BAs. Those players receive the PR/SF rating they would have, were they not 'innocuous.' Further, players shall be defined as 'innocuous' only if they have at least 25 plate appearances AND their OPS is over .400. Otherwise, they get the PR based on their real life PA. (OPS is calculated from the stats as reflected when you open up the player in Draft. This calculation correctly adds SF to the OBP denominator, while the OBP reflected on the player list in AD does not.)
7) AIM will be based on a 146-game season to give players an extra 10% (roughly) of playing time per season.
8) Injuries and Fatigue Status is set to 'Fatigue Only.'
9) Position player SF is converted to 100 by the normalization function of League Manager.
10) Players are limited to 125% of their real-life stolen base attempts. After they exceed that, their steal totals will be zeroed out and they will be assigned SA/SS of N 00.
11) Pitchers can pinch-hit only for other pitchers, and only when the pinch-hitter had more games played than games pitched in the real major-league season. Pitchers will be limited to real-life offensive appearances, plus five. After five such appearances, and the overage is reported to the commissioner, the pitcher's offensive games will be reduced to his number of pitching appearances, making him ineligible for further pinch-hitting.
12) Grade 1 through 3 pitchers will receive 1000 MaxBF, and will also be given J1 and Q1 ratings. Grade 4 pitchers will receive a minimum of 500 MBF and grade 5 pitchers will receive a minimum of 250 MBF.
13) For position players, owners may designate any non-pitching position the player played as the player's primary position on the season disk.
14) The 3-batter reliever minimum is not in effect until such time as J-Rob reaches its implementation in MLB, and will be voted on then.
H) Stadia can be domed or not at their owners' discretions. Rainouts are rescheduled in a manner similar to real-life Major League rainouts. Here is the order:
1) If the teams both have an off-day during or at the end of the current series, it is made up then. If that is the case, the home manager will have to reorganize the teams' pitching rotations. ELSE
2) If the teams play another series during the season at that site, and there is an off-day adjacent to the future series, the game is rescheduled for that off-day. The commissioner will reschedule. ELSE
3) If the teams play another series at that site, but there is no off-day adjacent to the series, the game is rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on the earliest possible date of that future series. The commissioner will reschedule. ELSE
4) If the teams don't play another series at that site during the season, and there are games remaining in the current series, a DH is scheduled for the first possible date of the rest of the current series. The commissioner will reschedule. ELSE
5) The game is made up only if it has playoff implications, and will be rescheduled by the commissioner.
I) The schedule will feature 18 games against Division opponents and 12 games against other League opponents. The league will play one six-game series per week. If expansion occurs, it will be reassessed.
J) J-Rob seasons will run continuously, with break enough in between to organize and conduct cuts and season drafts.
K) The league will use a two c-file system. There will be a play ball file and a result file each series. The Commissioner will post c-files through the league’s e-mail list.
L) Each manager is responsible for providing the micromanager for his team's road games to the rest of the league.
II - PLAYER MOVEMENT / DRAFT
A) Teams may hold over up to 27 'carded' players from the previous season's final roster. They may also hold over players who are uncarded in the current season, but do have seasons remaining in the future. These 'zz' players DO count toward the roster limit, but they may NOT play in games. 'zz' players cut by teams prior to a draft may not be drafted by other teams, though they may be traded to other teams which can retain them.
B) Teams with less than 27 players (carded and 'zz') will participate in a draft from the players cut by teams who had to reduce to the 27-player limit. The 'cuts' draft order will be in ascending order, based on the number of roster spots open, sub-sorted by regular draft order for the coming year. Teams with less than 27 carded and kept 'zz' players may not cut carded players before the 'cuts' draft. Teams with 27 or more carded and kept 'zz' players may not cut players to go below the 27-man limit and participate in the 'cuts' draft. The cuts draft will be held shortly after the close of the previous season, by a method to be decided by the commissioner
C) The regular draft order will be determined by the previous season's final standings. The reigning league champion will select last. The runner-up will select next to last. The LCS losers will pick 21st and 22nd, with team with the worse overall record picking 21st. The remaining teams will pick in order from worst to best record. Head-to-head records will break ties between two teams, if the teams are in the same league. The team that fared poorer in the head-to-head record will receive the higher pick. If that is a tie or the teams are in different leagues, a random public manner of deciding the order will be used, at the discretion of the commissioner. Ties among more than two teams will be broken by random. Each team will stop drafting when it reaches the roster maximum. The draft will be in a manner to be selected by the commissioner, with general agreement of the league members.
D) Only players on a season’s FPE Import Disk are eligible for the regular draft.
E) The JRMBL does not employ a salary structure.
F) Trading of players and draft picks is allowed. Outside of ongoing drafts, only picks from the upcoming draft may be traded. During a draft, picks in the current draft or the next year’s draft may be traded.
G) No approval of trades by the commissioner or other owners is required. The only exception is if a trade leaves a team unable to fill a position, rotation or bullpen, the commissioner may rescind such a trade.
H) The active roster during the season is 28 players. Players may not be demoted or promoted during a series.
I) Teams may expand their major-league rosters to as high as 40 on the series that falls closest to the 130-game mark of the season. The commissioner will announce the date as it approaches.
III - POSTSEASON
6) Three-or-more-way ties:
a) Head-to-head record among all the teams involved.
b) Random public method determined by the commissioner.
C) All rounds of the playoffs will be Best-of-Seven, in 2-3-2 format. There will be one rest day before each round of the playoffs. Home-field advantage goes first to Division champions, then to the team with the better regular-season record. If that is a tie, head-to-head record will decide home field. Next tiebreaker is a Random Public Manner determined by the Commissioner.
D) The player’s team as of the trade deadline determines eligibility for the playoff. Owners will submit playoff roster f-files before the playoffs begins. The commissioner will send out limits for the position players before the start of the series.
E) Postseason limitations:
1) Pitcher and batter AIM fatigue status carries over from the regular season and previous playoff rounds. AIM DOES NOT utilize Max BF in the postseason.
2) Pitchers who make 1-7 real-life starts can make one start in post-season series. Pitchers who made 8-15 real-life starts may make two starts in post-season series. These minimums will be pro-rated for strike seasons.
3) To be eligible for post-season rosters, batters must have had at least 25 real-life PA, pitchers with starter grades must have had at least 20 real-life IP, and exclusive relievers must have had at least 10 IP. These minimums will be pro-rated for strike seasons.
F) The DH rule is in effect in the World Series for games which are played at Doby League parks. It is not in effect for games played in Walker League parks.
A) The Commissioner of the JRMBL is Chris Strovel. Steve Galbraith acted as Commissioner in 1956 and 1966-1970, and did a damn fine job.
B) The Commissioner can be removed from office if someone else wants this job and half the owners want to roust the bum.
C) The Commissioner's responsibilities:
1) Maintaining a World Wide Web Page for the League.
2) Posting Commissioner Files in a timely manner after receiving and compiling games.
3) Keeping track of rosters from season to season.
4) Organizing and conducting the Regular Draft.
5) Organizing and conducting the Cuts Draft.
6) Attracting new owners during expansion or an owner's departure.
7) Keeping league history.
D) Organizing votes by the league on any rule-change proposals.
E) The Commissioner will act as final arbiter for any and all situations not covered by these rules.
Appendix – Change Log
10/3/25 Change
II.F Modifed to incorporate voted changes to draft pick trading rules.
10/24/24 Changes
I.A Changed to state that 6.0 will be the game version in effect beginning for the 1978 season.
I.C Clarified that we decided not to expand with MLB in 1977, and will consider expansions when they come up in 1993 and 1998. And combined I.C and I.D.
I.G.14 Added section to address 3-batter minimum rule.
I.I Clarifies schedule composition to reflect current schedule.
III.4 Added World Series DH rule clarification which had been in practice, but not codified, from 1973-1976.
8/12/22 Changes
III.E Modified post-season usage rules passed by league vote.
6/13/22 Changes
I.F Removed extraneous parenthetic reference to what type of players would remain undrafted.
I.K Corrected year-specific mention.
II.H Corrected erroneous ‘before’ to ‘during.’
5/12/22 Change
III.C Modified to correct conflicts with Section III.A
11/18/21 Change
III.A Promulgated rules for tiebreakers for new round of playoffs.
8/26/21 Changes
Grammar changes throughout.
I.B.3 - Clarified ‘will’ be changed.
1.D. Changed rule about expansion voted on in 2020.
I.H – Removed pre-1965 domed stadium reference.
III. Changed all references to playoffs instead of just World Series.
11/13/20 Changes:
I.G.11 – Added pitcher PH limits, as approved by league vote.
I.G.13 – Added ability to change primary positions, as approved by league vote.
II.B – Removed ‘Military ZZ’ designation, as approved by league vote.
4/2/19 Changes:
I.G.6 – Amended 930 rule as approved by league vote.
I.G.12 – Added J1/Q1 changes as approved by league vote. Added MBF bump for 4s and 5s.
I.I – Added schedule provisions as approved by league vote.
II.F – Added draft pick trade limits as approved by league vote.
III.B – Added LCS structure approved by league vote.
II.A and II.B – Amended roster limit as approved by league vote.
3/27/19 Changes:
Various cosmetic changes
I.A – mandating version 5.75 and providing link for upgrades
I.B.3 – Eliminated reference to fielding appeals polls, added automatic reversion to APBA fielding grades.
I.C – Corrected league size
I.F – Corrected roster size, removed clause that all players will be drafted
I.G.9 – Corrected that LM will normalize SFs to 100.
I.G.12 – Added the MaxBF bump we have always given.
I.I – Updated schedule guidelines.
I.K – Specify two-C-file system.
II.C – Updating draft order; updating teams stopping at roster limit during draft
II.H – Updating active roster.
III.A – Updated tiebreaker
IV.C.7 – Deleted reference to awards and all-stars.