1. The Vintage Baseball Guild consists of two leagues. Each league has eight teams.
   
   
2. The VBG will play a 154 game regular season schedule. There will be no interleague play.

1. Team location and nickname are determined by the team owner and must be approved by the Commissioner.
   
   
2. Team location and nickname may only be modified during off-season.
   
   
3. If an owner is determined to be inactive by the Commissioner, the respective team shall be opened to new ownership.

1. Each team roster will consist of no more than 28 players.
   
   
2. Before September 1 of the season, Active Rosters are limited to a maximum of 25 players.
   
   
3. On September 1 of the season, Active Rosters may expanded to 28 players.
   
   
4. During Post-Season play, Active Rosters will be contracted to 25 players.
   
   
5. Team Rosters shall be submitted by a specified deadline before season play begins.
   
   
6. If a Team Roster is not submitted on time, the Commissioner shall set the roster so that season play can begin.
   
   
7. Manager Profiles shall be submitted by a specified deadline before the season play begins.
   
   
8. If a Manager Profile is not submitted on time, the Computer Manager shall control the Manager Profile until the team owner submits one.
   
   
9. Changes to Team Rosters and Manager Profiles must be received by the Commissioner by 12 noon on each day that games are played, to guarantee that the Manager Profile is used. Profiles received after the 12 noon deadline may or may not be used for that day's sim.
   
   

1. Position Players may play at any position, including those they are not rated for.
   
   
2. Any Pitcher may start or relieve regardless of their start/relief rating.
   
   
3. Maximum Player usage is determined by Plate Appearances for batters and Innings Pitched for pitchers.
   
   
4. During regular season play, Maximum Player Usage may not exceed 150%.
   
   
5. Batters with at least 500 real-life plate appearances may be excluded from Rule 4-D.
   
   
6. Pitchers with at least 50 real-life games played OR 150 real-life innings pitched may be excluded from Rule 4-D.
   
   
7. Player Usage may not excede 10% for each of the Post Season series. For a Post Season Series, Player Usage shall be check following each game instead of each simulation. Following each Post Season series, player usage is reset to zero for the next series. (Wild Card Series, League Championship Series, and World Series)
   
   
8. If a player's Maximum Usage limit is exceeded after a simulation series, the player shall be immediately removed from the Active Roster for the remainder of the Regular Season and the player's owner shall be notified. The Commissioner is resonsible for monitoring Player Usage.
   
   
9. If, after the pre-season Draft, a team does not have enough IP's or PA's to complete the season without running out players then players on said team will be exempted from Maximum Player Usage beginning with the teams worst hitter (lowest Batting Average) in the event of a shortage of position players, or worst Pitcher (lowest ERA) in the event of a shortage of pitchers. Said team shall lose its second-round pick in the next draft, or earliest draft pick owned by that team after the first round if it no longer owns its own second round pick.
   
   
10. New owners must complete one entire draft and successive season before being subject to the penalty detailed in the final sentence of Rule 4-I.

1. There will be no salary cap for teams. Therefore, salaries will not be used.
   
   
2. Players have life-long contracts and may be kept by thier team until released or traded by the team owner.
   
   
3. The only "exception" to this rule is detailed in Rule 6, "Roster Carry-Over".

1. Carry-Over Rosters for the upcoming season are due between September 1 and September 25 of each season.
   
   
2. Each team may only retain up to 17 players. The six (6) teams that appear in the post-season shall only be allowed 16 Carry-Over players.
   
   
3. Players that are not retained will be released and placed in the draft pool for the following season.
   
   
4. Carry-Over Rosters that are late as per the specified due date (the September 25 simulation date) shall be subject to a one-player penalty, losing one spot on their Carry-Over Roster. If 24 hours pass after the due-date, and an owner's Carry-Over Roster has not been submitted, the Commissioner shall determine said team's Carry-Over Roster.

1. The draft will be organized, scheduled and supervised by the Commissioner.
   
   
2. The Commissioner may authorize another league member to perform duties mentioned in Rule 7-A.
   
   
3. One draft will take place during each off-season.
   
   
4. The draft will consist of players who did not belong to a team during the previous season.
   
   
5. The Inaugural Draft will be a serpentine style draft. The draft order will be randomly generated by Diamond Mind Baseball software.
   
   
6. For all subsequent drafts, a rotary style draft order will be used. The following procedure is used for determining order.
   
   
7. Once a team roster size reaches 25 players during the draft, said team must: (1) submit draft instructions to the Commissioner or Vice-Commissioner OR (2) go on autopick per the DMB software, for said team's remaining draft picks. If draft instructions are not submitted, autopick will be implemented for the draft pick(s).
   
   
8. Once a team's roster reaces the 30-player limit during the draft, the team may not "re-enter" the draft in the case that a trade reduces the team's roster below the 30-player limit. Said team must also wait until after the draft to sign a free agent.

1. A player becomes a Free Agent when released from a team.
   
   
2. Free Agents may be signed after the Draft is completed and before the last day of the regular season. Players signed after September 1st are not eligible for post-season play.
   
   
3. Free Agents are signed on a "first-come, first-serve" basis.
   
   

1. Trades must be approved and finalized by the Commissioner.
   
   
2. Once terms have been reached among two or more teams, the Commissioner shall be notified. If the trade is approved, the Commissioner will request approval from each team involved. After each team owner acknowledges the trade terms, the Commissioner will finalize the trade.
   
   
3. Trades may be made between the end of the post-season and September 1 of the subsequent season.
   
   
4. Teams may not trade a Draft Pick more than two years in advance (i.e. between the end of the 1930 season and the September 1st 1931 Trade Deadline, no team can trade a Draft Pick beyond the 1933 Draft).
   
   
5. "Players to be named later" may be traded but only under the condition that said players are traded by the end of the trade deadline on September 1^st of the same season.

1. The Real Life Injury rule will be used.

1. Players that become inactive for one or more seasons and then return later may be placed on their team's Taxi Roster during that period of inactivity to preserve their team's ownership. A player is only eligible to be named to the Taxi Roster at the end of the last active season before absence. If the player is not added before the next season begins, rights to that player are lost.
   
   
2. The Taxi Roster shall contain no more than 3 players.
   
3. Taxi Roster players are not considered part of the Active or Inactive Rosters.
   
   
4. One or more spots on a team's carryover roster and/or 28-man Team Roster may be exchanged for an extra Taxi-Roster spot (i.e., 27 Team Roster spots and 4 Taxi Roster spots; or 15 Carryover Roster spots and 5 Taxi Roster spots at the end of a season). No player can be retained from one season to the next unless he is placed on either the Carryover Roster or the Taxi Roster.  At any time, a team may release a player from the Taxi Roster, thereby increasing the Team Roster size to no greater than 28 players.
   
   
5. Clarification: The Taxi Rule exists to take care of a teams players that left the MLB for one or more seasons, for any reason. For example, numerous players left to serve in the military and later returned to play baseball following the war.
   
   
6. The Taxi Roster limit shall be expanded to five (5) players through the following seasons: 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945. At the end of the 1945 season the Taxi Roster limit shall be retracted to three (3) players.

1. Games will be simulated on a centralized computer by the Commissioner.
   
   
2. The Commissioner may authorize another league member to perform simulations in case of anticipated absence.
   
   
3. Both leagues will play using the following DMB simulation rules: No DH, No Warm-Up, Weather Effects On, Real Life Injury Rule.

1. The Regular Season League Champion is defined as the team with the best regular season record. In case of a tie, a single tie-breaker game shall be played. In the tie breaker game, home-field advantage will go to the team with the best team-vs-team record. If team-vs-team are equal, records against the other teams in the league will be compared starting with the 3rd place team and working down the standings. In case more than two teams are tied for first place, then the two teams with the best combined team-vs-team record shall play a tie-breaker game to determine first and second place.
   
   
2. The Pennant Winner is defined as winner of the League Championship Series.
   
   
3. 7-Game Wild Card Playoff (WCP) - The second and third place teams shall qualify has Wild Card Teams and will meet in a 7-game playoff, with the second place team getting home field advantage in a 2-3-2 style series. If the two teams are tied for second place, then the team with the best regular season team-vs-team record shall get home field advantage.
   
   
4. 7-Game League Championship Series (LCS) - The winner of the Wild-Card Playoff shall meet the first place team in a 7-game playoff, with the first place team getting home field advantage in a 2-3-2 style series.
   
   
5. 7-Game World Series (WS) - The winners of the LCS's shall meet in a 7-game playoff, 2-3-2 style. In the case that only one World Series team also finished as a Regular Season League Champion, that team shall have home field advantage. Otherwise, the team having the best regular season winning percentage shall have home field advantage; if winning percentages are equal, records against each team's respective league will be compared starting with the 1st place team and working down the standings.
   
   
6. The WCP and LCS shall each be simmed over 3 "real-world" days per this schedule: Day 1 - Games 1-2 / Day 2 - Games 3-5 (as necessary) / Day 3 - Game 6 (if necessary) / Day 4 - Game 7 (if necessary).
   
   
7. The WS shall be simmed one game per day over 7 "real-world" days, giving each team 24 hours to change and submit their Manager Profiles.
   
   
8. There shall be 1 day of rest between all series homestands to simulate "travel" days.
   
   
9. There shall be 2 days rest between the final day of the regular season and the first day of the WCP Series. Both League WCP's shall begin on the same day.
   
   
10. There shall be 1 day of rest between the final day of the last WCP game, and the first game of the LCS Series. Both League LCS's shall begin on the same day.
    
    
11. There shall be 3 days rest between the final day of the last LCS game, and the first game of the World Series.

1. The Mid-Summer Break will be five days long, half-way through the season.
   
   
2. The host ball-park will be determined by the Commissioner.
   
   
3. Home team (or league) will alternate from year to year.
   
   
4. Each Mid-Summer Classic team will be limited to a 20 man roster.
   
   
5. A vote shall be held among league owners to determine the starting lineup (9 players) for each team.
   
   
6. Each team owner shall select one (1) additional player to represent their team (8 players).
   
   
7. Owners of the teams that played in the most recent World Series will determine the rest of the All-Star team rosters (3 players).
   
   
8. Mid-Summer Classic managers will determine player substitutions before the game is simulated.

1. Ballparks are available on a "first-come, first-serve" basis.
   
   
2. Ballparks will not be transferred from one league to another during season play.

1. League owners will vote on all awards corresponding to their respective League.
   
   
2. The Commissioner shall develop a voting system prior to Award Voting.

1. A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Vintage Baseball Guild.
   
   
2. Rookie Of The Year candidates must be approved by the Commissioner. The Commissioner shall name the candidates prior to voting. Any owner may request a player be added to the ballot. The request must be made to the Commissioner prior to voting.

1. Players shall be selected to the Hall Of Fame by the Hall Of Fame Committee.
   
   
2. The Hall Of Fame selection shall take place during the first half of each season, and inductees shall be announced by mid-season (the Mid-Summer Classic).
   
   
3. The Hall Of Fame Committee shall consist of five members.
   
   
4. THE EXECUTIVE CHAIR: The Commissioner shall hold this permanent position on the committee.
   
   
5. THE PENNANT CHAIRS (2): The two Pennant Chairs shall be awarded to the Pennant Winners from most recently completed season. In the case that the League Chair wins the pennant, the second-place team's owner shall be awarded the Pennant Chair.
   
   
6. THE ROTATING CHAIRS (2): The two Rotating Chairs shall be named by the Commissioner. These chairs shall be awarded to the owners that least recently served on the Selection Committee (either as a Rotating or Pennant Chair). Until all owners have served at least once, this chair shall be randomly awarded.
   
   
7. To be eligible for nomination, a player must be retired for at least one season, but no more than three seasons. For example, if Joe Jackson retires during or after the 1920 season, he shall not be eligible for selection until the 1922 season, but cannot be nominated following the 1924 season. (A player is not considered "retired" if said player is to return in a later season. For example, Ted Williams, 1943-1945)
   
   
8. To be selected to the Hall Of Fame, a nominee must obtain four (4) of the possible five (5) votes.
   
   
9. Existing or former owners of franchises in the VBG may only be selected for induction to the Hall of Fame directly by the Commissioner.
   
   
10. All owners are encouraged to engage in dialogue debating and promoting players for nomination for the Hall Of Fame.

          E.   CONFLICT OF INTEREST AMONG REVIEW COMMITTEE MEMBERS:  If any member of the Review Committee feels that he or she has a significant conflict of interest in an issue referred to the Committee, that member will abstain from the decision.  The remaining member(s) may appoint another owner to serve as a temporary Committee member for the resolution of that issue.  If all three members have a conflict of interest, the issue will by default be referred to the Commissioner Emeritus.  

20.          Noncompetitive Actions 

            A. THROWING GAMES:  Within the limits of each team’s rosters, owners are expected to do their best to win as many games as they can with the talent they have available.  “Throwing” games or intentionally depleting a roster for the purpose of improving a team’s draft position or influencing a pennant race between two other teams is not allowed.  Owners are also prohibited from attempting to persuade or induce other owners to violate this provision.  This does not prohibit draft and trade strategies that put a lower priority on winning in the current season in order to increase chances of winning in future seasons, or put a lower priority on winning in future seasons to increase chances of winning in the current season, or lineup decisions made for reasons other than trying to increase a team’s total losses.  A more detailed explanation of prohibited vs. permitted actions is available here. 

B.  COLLUSION:  Collusion, defined as any agreement between two or more owners to intentionally reduce competition between them, will not be tolerated and will result in termination of ownership of all parties involved and a lifetime ban from the league. Examples of collusion are described here.

            C.  VIOLATIONS:  If any owner suspects that another owner has violated Rule 20(A) or 20(B) or is attempting to violate it, he or she should report it to the Commissioner immediately.  The Commissioner may also take action on his own initiative.  If the Commissioner believes there is reason to suspect that an owner has violated this rule or is attempting to violate it, he will contact the owner(s) involved and ask for an explanation.  Owners suspected of violating this rule will be given the benefit of the doubt when the situation is ambiguous or the owner has a legitimate explanation for his actions, even if others disagree might with the wisdom of those decisions. The Commissioner will not take action unless, in his judgement, the most plausible explanation for an owner’s personnel move or strategy decision is to deliberately increase the team’s total losses or to collude with another team.  If necessary, game simulations will be postponed until the situation is resolved. 

Complaints under this section will be handled as privately as possible.  Announcements of violations, and the identity of the owner(s) involved, will only be made after the commissioner has determined a violation has occurred, and only in cases of flagrant or repeated violations or when it is necessary to announce the violation to explain a penalty to other owners.  Unless absolutely necessary, owners who are reported for possible violations of Rule 20(A) or (B) will not told who reported the possible violation without that person’s consent.

D.  PENALTIES:  If the Commissioner feels that a proposed trade, lineup change, strategy choice, or other decision would violate rule 20(A) or (B), he will prevent the action from being taken if possible, and warn the owner(s) to adhere to the rules.  If a violation is discovered after it is too late to prevent the action, the commissioner may use his discretion to take remedial action if possible.  A flagrant violation or repeated violations of this rule will result in the owner(s) drafting at the end of every round of the following annual draft.  If two or more owners are found to be colluding to affect a pennant race, the colluding owners may be expelled from the league. 

G.  COMPLAINTS INVOLVING THE COMMISSIONER’S TEAM:  If another member suspects that the Commissioner has violated rule 20(A) or (B) or is attempting to violate it, that member will contact the members of the Review Committee and provide any information to substantiate his concern.  The Review Committee will follow the procedures in sections C and D above, and have the same authority as the Commissioner under these sections.

H.  APPEAL OF DECISIONS:  Any owner who is penalized for violating this section may appeal that decision to the Review Committee under the provision of Rule 19.  At least 2 votes will be required to overturn the Commissioner’s decision. Any decision of the Commissioner or the Review Committee may be appealed to the Commissioner Emeritus, who may uphold the decision, change it in any way, overturn it, or decline to hear the appeal in which case the original decision will stand.