RULES and REGULATIONS for KOD8

Let's have fun, please respect your opponents and the time they have set aside to play their games online.
Fatigue / Injuries is in place - check it out in the rules section (of the software). Any "bit player" who exceeds his regular season usage will not be eligible for the post season. An example of this would be a player with 12 AB's in real life and 13 AB's in our league or a pitcher with 5 innings pitched in real life and 5.2 IP in our league.
The column to watch is the %. The magic number is 125%. If ANY player hits 125%, you will IMMEDIATELY incur a 10% usage penalty. This penalty goes to 20% when you hit 135%, and so on. Again look at the rules and my fatigue choices within.
Roster limits: 25 for regular season, until 9/1 (or the series following 9/1), when it expands to 40 (traditional). 25 man (for post season eligible teams)
Each team must have a MINIMUM of a 4 man rotation. We will have 1 off day between each series to facilitate the 4 man rotation having the correct EPC. Teams that did employ 5 starters in real life would best be served to use their 5th starter every so often as to avoid fatigue to the other 4 starters.
Rain Outs will be part of the league rule. If a game is rained shortened and is official the result will stand. If it is rained out and not official it will be scheduled for the off/travel day that is built into the schedule. If an additional game during the series gets rained out a double header will be played on the travel day.
DH: The AL will use the DH in any games featuring DH era teams (1973-Pres). The DH will NOT be used in games featuring AL teams pre-1973. In the World Series the DH will be used in the AL team's home park
DH: When NON DH era teams (Pre-1973) play against DH era teams (1973-Pres) the DH will only be used in games where the DH era team is home. NON-DH era teams have the option of using good hitting pitchers as DH's (they can bat for themselves).
The Warm Up in Bullpen Rule is in affect and should be setup as part of the league settings.
Playoffs: Each division winner & 1 Wild Card team will qualify for the post season. The top team in each league will get a bye and the WC will play the other div winner (who gets HF)
Tiebreakers: In the event that there is a tie for a division title and neither team would qualify for the Wild Card a 1 game play in will take place at the ballpark of the team with the better h2h record during the regular season. In case both teams split their regular season meetings a coin flip will then be used to determine HF. If 3 teams are tied a two tiered play-in system will take place. Random numbers will be used for seeding with one team getting a bye. The team with the bye will automatically play on the road. This applies for Wild Card scenarios as well.
The 1st round will be a best of 5 (2-2-1); 2nd round (LCS) best of 7 (2-3-2) and the world series best of 7 (2-3-2) .
Remember, we are playing a short, 34 game season, and, to facilitate this, we have scheduled two 3 game sets w/in your division and 1 four game set vs teams outside your division. The games should only take about 10-15 minutes +/- 5 or so. So, 4 games would take less than an hour ! Non-division series are set at 4 games.
You will play each team in your divisions 6 times (3 home/3 road). You will play each team in your league (outside div) 4 times.
Upon Completion of games please do a short series write-up for the blog, which can be done online by clicking here.
email the league your results, and stats will be update on this website.
Also, email me your manager files with your lineups and manager tendencies -- just in case someone can't play, we can always sim it.
Contact your opponent to play via e-mail as soon as the new league file is released. cc: the league on all correspondence. E-mail the league if your opponent has not responded to your e-mail in 2 days, so we can mediate.
Contact the league if you expect to be busy or away that week, so we can arrange for a sub to cover for your team or have your opponent play vs the computer in a supervised environment (see below playing vs computer option).
Deadlines: The goal is to play each series over a 7 day period. Try to schedule your series early, because things do pop up in real life that might cause you to miss your preset playing time. If your series is set on deadline day you will not have an opportunity to reschedule. All games not played by the announced deadline will be "simmed". If someone is a no-show (30 min or more late) or has to cancel their opponent has the following options:
GAME PREFERENCES (Setup), will have a standardization throughout the league (see below photo)
Exceptions to standard setup: If both managers agree prior to the series to NOT use Pitch by Pitch mode they MUST e-mail the league prior to starting their first game. Toggling this on and off or changing parameters during the series (unless it was incorrect and needed to be fixed) will NOT be tolerated. Anyone caught changing these settings will automatically be forced to forfeit the game in progress. This is a league rule and not a discriminatory. Toggling off Pitch mode adversely affect running/small ball teams.

Reschedule (provided it isn't deadline day).
Play vs a league appointed sub
Play vs the computer (see below).

Playing vs the Computer option:

You must first e-mail the league and get approval to do this.
You must e-mail the league at the start and e-mail the league at the end of the 4 game series.
You have 60 minutes from the time the e-mail is sent until the end of the series for the results to count.
If time limit has elapsed the league will sim the series.

Post-season fatigue and Home Field Advantage:

The regular season fatigue Pace of 42 will be bumped up to 52 as the initial threshold for fatigue for the post season.

Addendum #1: All players must set their PREFERENCES to reflect the following:

UNCHECK MANAGER OPTIONS: Bullpen Warm up Rule
UNCHECK MANAGER OPTIONS: Computer Base Coach
UNCHECK MANAGER OPTIONS: Computer Base Stealing
UNCHECK MANAGER OPTIONS: All Human Subs for Computer Managers

Addendum #2: Playoff Tie-breakers (1st place):

Team with best h2h record wins division
Team with best intra-division record wins division
Team with best run differential wins division
Rules apply to 3 or more teams.
Top two teams in each Div make post season with Div winner getting HFA

Addendum #3: Playoff Tie-breakers (Wild Card):

Two teams tied: Play in game during off day between end of season and start of playoffs
3 or more teams will see the best team win div and the other two play for the wild card play in
If div is not in the mix the 3 teams will draw random #'s to be seeded. The team that is seeded #1 gets a by and 2 plays 3, then winner plays one in a double play in game scenario
If 4 teams are tied the it will be 2 one game play in's and the winners will advance.
Coin flip will determine who has home field for play in game.

Addendum #4: Team Retirement:

Teams used in previous KOD's that made the post season are not eligible to be used in future KOD's unless they are the only available option to satisfy the current theme in use.
All teams that have won a KOD championship are ineligible and are considered retired and entered into the KOD HOF !

Addendum #5: Franchise Ownership:

In the essence of continuity, each manager will have the option to keep their present franchise for subsequent KOD's
Returning managers can challenge for an existing franchise, even if protected.
A weighted dice roll will determine if the present owner continues on as manager of that franchise or if the challenger assumes control

Addendum #6: Franchise Ownership Challenge rules:

Roll of 100 sided die will determine if present owner or challenger gains possession of the franchise.
World Series winners automatically have the right to their franchise. No challenge is allowed
The dice roll is based on team winning %. If the present owner finishes at .500 he has a 50/50 chance of retaining ownership. If his winning % is .623, he has a 62% chance of retaining ownership.
All teams that make the playoffs, but do not progress past the 1st round receive an extra 10% added to their retention #. Using the above example with their team's winning % at .623 and making the playoffs, the incumbent will have a 72% chance of retention (rolls 1-72).
All teams that make the LCS will have and additional 10% added to their retention #. Using the above example they would have a 82% chance of retaining their franchise.
The World Series runner up will have and additional 10% added to their retention #. Using the above example they would have a 92% chance of retaining their franchise.
Bottom line is: The better your team performs the more you increase your chances of retention, just like a real life manager.

Addendum #7: Franchise Ownership Challenges (additional rules):

If more than 2 teams wish to challenge for a franchise they will have to go into a random lottery to decide, which one will be the challenger to follow the procedure of Addendum #6.
If a manager misses more than 8 games (2 series) during the season they forfeit any right to team retention and the franchise will be available via random lottery to anyone interested.
If a manager's franchise does not have a team eligible for a current theme they will have to choose another franchise, but have continuation rights to regain their previous franchise. All challenge rules will apply and they will be considered the incumbent.