Tri‑County Baseball League
Constitution and By‑Laws
Revised: January, 2007
Article 1: Mission
Statement
The name of this organization shall be the Tri‑County
Baseball League, formed for the purpose of Athletics; to stimulate and
participate in healthful games, sports and recreation; and to secure enjoyment
of outdoor benefits and pleasures. Its
members shall be pledged to the highest standards of ethics of amateur and
courteous contest.
Article 2: Officers
Section 1: Election of Officers
The officers of this League shall be: Commissioner, President, Vice‑President,
Statistician, Secretary, Treasurer, Publicity Director, and a member of each
organization.
All officers are to be nominated by a nominating
committee before the first annual meeting and those nominations are to be
approved or voted on by the members at the first annual meeting with the option
of a secret ballot if motioned.
Section 2: President
The President shall preside at all meetings of the League and
shall enforce the Constitution and By‑Laws and in case of a tie vote, he
shall cast the deciding vote. He shall
be compensated three hundred dollars ($300) for his services. He shall direct the calling of all meetings
of the League, conduct all the business of the League
when not in session, make a report for consideration at the next meeting of the
representatives, and appoint pro‑tem all committees not otherwise
provided for.
If, after a player's contract has been approved, the
President is in doubt as to a violation of any By‑Laws, he shall have the
privilege of suspending said player until an investigation has been made by
him. If, upon investigation, he feels
the player has not violated the By‑Laws, he can reinstate the player at
once. The President shall at once notify
the manager of the team involved as to the standing of the player.
The League President will not be allowed to represent any
team at a league meeting. The League
President cannot be the manager or a player of a Tri‑County League
team.
On all non-bylaw issues that come up during the season,
the President does have the authority to make decisions that are for the good
of the league, preferably with consent from a majority of the teams’
representatives.
Section 3 ‑ Vice‑President
The Vice‑President shall preside at all meetings and conduct
all business in the absence of the President, and perform such other duties as
the President may direct. In the event
of the resignation of the President, the Vice‑President shall succeed to
the Presidency. At times when the Vice‑President
is acting in the President's absence, baseball‑related matter shall be
handled through consultation with the Commissioner. He shall be responsible for making the league
schedule and shall receive the sum of two hundred and fifty ($250) dollars as
compensation for his services.
The Vice-President shall have authority as to the playing
dates of all games postponed, unless the managers directly involved arrange to
play the postponed game or at least schedule the postponed game within 5 days
from the date of the postponement. The
Vice-President will enforce all make-up dates and stay on top of all make-up
games.
Section 4 ‑
Statistician
The Statistician will be responsible for providing statistics on
the website on the first of every month and will be fined $20 a week for every
week they are not updated (enforced by Treasurer). The Statistician should also
try and have the most up-to-date stats available on game day for all teams
participating in TV games for the telecast. All data included on the Statistics
sheet shall be included in Statistics reports.
The Statistician will also keep the Vice-President and President
apprised of postponed or cancelled games not rescheduled. The Statistician will be paid a sum equal
to that of the Umpire Assignor (see Section 8), plus any viable
expenses incurred during the season.
The Statistician will be responsible for providing the President with a
list of outstanding make-up games at each League meeting. The President will then verify if these games
have been rescheduled. If not, the
representatives are responsible for scheduling the game at the meeting;
otherwise, the Vice-President will schedule the game(s). After July 4th,
any rainouts should me rescheduled on the first available open date for both
teams. After July 14th, it will be mandatory that all rainouts WILL
be rescheduled on the first open date for both teams, even if a neutral site
needs to be used.
The Statistician will be responsible for the
website. The Statistician shall be responsible for the Banquet
Program and shall be compensated One hundred ($100) dollars for the program.
The Statistician must update the Transactions Page on the website daily,
barring verifiable special circumstances and will be fined $10 every time the
Transactions Page is not updated two days in a row (enforced by the Treasurer).
Section 5 ‑ Secretary
The Secretary shall keep a record of all meetings of the
representatives, and perform such other duties as may develop upon him. He shall receive the sum of two hundred
($200) dollars as compensation for his services, plus any expenses incurred.
The Secretary is also in charge of all By-Laws updates starting in 2007 and
must keep a record of all proposed changes at the By-Laws meeting and prepare a
list for the January meeting for all members to vote on. Once all annual
changes are made, the Secretary must get the updated By-Laws to the Webmaster
to put on the website before the start of the season.
The Secretary must maintain a Hall of Fame members contacts list with addresses and phone numbers for
all living members (use Bob Ravier and other members
of the Hall of Fame Committee to stay on top of this). The Secretary should
email the league minutes to all team reps and Officers within 10 days of every
meeting.
Section 6 ‑ Treasurer
The Treasurer shall be the custodian of the funds of the League,
and he shall give and take the receipts for all monies handled by him. He shall keep all monies in the bank in a
checking account. He is responsible for
providing financial reports on the All‑Star Game, League Banquet, and
other special events. He shall keep
records of monies owed by team and keep the President apprised of outstanding
balances. He shall receive the sum of two
hundred ($200) dollars as compensation for his services.
Section 7 ‑ Publicity
Director
The Publicity Director shall prepare a newspaper article
preliminary to the season. For this
article, each team is required to supply the Publicity Director with
preliminary information about the team ‑‑ site changes, new
managers, new and returning players with relevant statistics, and other
information of interest. The Publicity
Director may edit at his discretion. He
will keep the newspaper informed of All‑Star, Playoff and Banquet activities. The Publicity Director needs to phone in all
schedule changes that occur during the season to the Morning Call so their
daily schedule listings for our league is completely accurate every day. He
shall receive the sum of two hundred fifty ($200) dollars for his services,
plus any expenses incurred.
Section 8 ‑ Umpire
Assignor
The Umpire Assignor shall be selected by vote of the team
representatives and shall receive the sum equal to one umpire’s game fee times the
number of teams in the league, not including phone expenses. We’ll use 2003 as an example: The umpire’s
game fee is $43 and the there are 13 teams, so the Umpire Assignor’s fee is
$559. The Umpire Assignor shall present
the League with a full roster of umpires (with phone numbers) and the tentative
May umpires schedule before the start of each season. He is responsible for assignment of umpires
to scheduled and re‑scheduled games and for
dealings with the Bethlehem Umpires Association.
Section 9 ‑ Officer
Enforcement of By‑Laws
The President, Vice‑President, Statistician, Secretary,
Treasurer, and Publicity Director shall have the power to enforce any violation
of the By‑Laws and can take the necessary action immediately upon
violation. Officers missing more than
two meetings per year will be fined $20 for each meeting missed (except in the
event of unusual circumstances as verified by the President).
Section 10 ‑
Commissioner
A Commissioner shall be appointed by the Representatives. His appointment will run indefinitely, and a
new Commissioner will be appointed when needed.
His powers, duties and responsibilities shall be to settle all baseball‑related
matters submitted to him by the President and according to these By‑Laws.
Section 11 ‑ Additional
Responsibilities and Compensation
A number of additional responsibilities shall be given to
individuals appointed by the President and shall receive compensation as
follows:
* Banquet Manager: The individual who manages the banquet, to
include head count, contact with banquet site, table arrangements, and
determination of monies owed by team (in consultation with the Treasurer) shall
receive $100.
* Complimentary Banquet Tickets: Shall be awarded to all officers, to include
the Commissioner and the Chair/Chairs of the Hall of Fame Committee.
Section 12 – Manager’s
Checklist of responsibilities
A number of responsibilities are listed here for all Managers in
the Tri-County League:
1) Must have a representative at every league meeting
unless there are unforeseen circumstances verified by the President or there
will be a $50 fine.
2) Every team must have an email representative.
3) Every Manager should have a copy of the bylaws and
American League rule book at every game.
4) Call the Morning Call
(610-820-6558) and the website (see Contacts List) after every game by 10:00 or ASAP after a night game
or there will be a $10 fine.
5) Reschedule your rainouts within 5 days of the rainout
(you can put the rainout on a date several weeks after the rainout, but
SCHEDULE the make-up date within 5 days of the rainout.
6) Remember roster deadlines (drop deadline June 19 and
add deadline June 21).
7) You must email all roster moves to the Statistician
and Secretary even if you called them in to the Statistician already (a checks
and balances “system”) and if you make a roster move within 60 minutes of the
start of the game, then you must notify the opposing manager before the game
starts, too.
8) Please get all stat sheets in within 72 hours of the
completion of the games ($20 late fee).
9) Know your ground rules for
your home field and the teams sharing the Scherersville
fields should have the same ground rules.
10) Remember you have bought 5 Banquet tickets (included
in your league fees), so you should try and get at least 5 people to go to the
banquet.
11) Make sure EVERY player on
your team signs a league waiver. Do NOT sign it for them. Make sure they fill
out the info on the waiver for the website profile.
12) If any umpires show up late or if you have ONE
umpire, please email the umpire Assignor and the president with that
information.
13) You should keep your umpire’s phone list with your
By-Laws and American League rule book.
Article 3: Franchise
Section 1 ‑ Franchise
Fees
A new franchise deposit of two hundred ($200) dollars
shall be deposited with the League Treasurer at the first League meeting of the
year (January). The franchise deposit is
a non‑returnable fee payable after the team is accepted by the League.
If a manager of a team (one who has already paid the
franchise fee and fielded a team for at least one full season) is unable to
field a team during one regular season, but returns to the League during the
following season, his team will be exempted from paying the franchise fee. This exemption applies to one year of absence
from the League only; after that year, franchise fee must be paid.
Section 2 ‑ Transfer of
Franchise
A transfer of franchise from one manager to another must meet at
least two of the following conditions to be considered a transfer, rather than
a new team:
1) Team must play at same field as in prior season
2) Team must retain at least 5 players from the prior season
3) Team must use same uniforms and team name as in prior season
If at least 2 of the conditions are not met, the team
will be considered a new team and is subject to franchise fees and approval by
League representatives.
Section 3 ‑ Team
forfeits twice in one season
If
a team has forfeited 2 games during the current season, then that team must be
voted in as a new franchise to remain in the league the following season. The
franchise fee would not apply in this situation.
Article 4: Representatives
Section 1 ‑
Representatives, Roll Taking, and Fines
The Representatives shall consist of a member of each team, which
board shall control all matters of interest to the League. It shall have the power to decide questions
appealed to it from the different Clubs, act upon complaints and charges
brought and shall settle such business as may be brought before it by such
Officers of the individual Clubs.
A quorum shall consist as follows: If a six‑team League,
shall have four members; if an eight‑team League, shall have five
members; if a ten‑team League, shall have six members; if a twelve‑team
League, shall have seven members; if a fourteen‑team League, shall have
eight members; and if a sixteen‑team League, shall have twelve
members. When the roll is called at any
meeting of the League, the representative must answer by giving his name
instead of the usual yes. This signifies
who shall do the voting for that Team or Club.
A twenty ($50) dollar fine shall be imposed upon a Club
for not having a Representative at a meeting and shall be paid at the next
meeting. According to Article 13,
section 2, fines will be doubled if not paid at the next meeting; this doubling
will be rigidly enforced. Any team
failing to have a representative at two consecutive meetings, or missing more
than three meetings per year (except in the event of a game or unusual
extenuating circumstances as verified by the President), will result in a fine
of $100. Failure to pay said fine shall
result in suspension of further League play by that team until fine is paid,
and all suspended games will be forfeited.
Any team forfeiting two league games during the season shall lose its
membership.
Late arrival at league
meetings (excluding teams with games):
Representatives arriving over fifteen minutes late (except in the event
of unusual circumstances verified by the President) will receive a warning on
the first occasion and a $5 fine on each occasion thereafter.
League fees will be determined by the Treasurer before
the start of the season. League Fees are
due and payable in May. All teams must
pay their league debts by no later than the start of the season
or they will be unable to play until the fees are paid. Each game missed due to failure to pay will
count as a forfeit. If a team folds
while owing money to the League, the team's manager will be placed on the
monies‑owed list until the balance is paid to the league.
Every team must name a representative that is financially
responsible for all bills before the start of the season.
Article 5: Players
Section 1 ‑ Roster
Eligibility
Each team shall have the privilege of having 25 players, plus 3
designated legion players. The Manager
is automatically eligible for the Playoffs and counts as one of the 25 players. Legion players only need to meet half of the
requirements needed to be eligible for the playoffs.
If the player is a professional baseball player returning
from organized baseball, he cannot play until 2 days after the President has a
release or a copy of a release in his possession (i.e. the president receives
the release on Monday, verifies the release on either Monday or Tuesday, then
the player is eligible to play on Wednesday). Also, the same rules apply to a
player placed on the voluntary retired list, written evidence must be provided
to the President.
A professional player may be placed on any roster and does
NOT have to be released before June 19th to be eligible to play, as
long as the above requirements in the above paragraph are met (i.e. Ken Griffey
is placed on a roster on June 20th, gets released on July 9th,
provides proof of his release, he is eligible to play on July 11 and if he meets
the qualifications for the playoffs, he is then eligible).
Section 2 – Protocol for
Adding Players to the Roster
You must call or email the Statistician with all roster moves. You
can call, text message or email a roster move even 1 minute before game time if
need be. When you make a roster move, even if you call it in to the
Statistician, you must at some point also email those roster moves to the
Statistician and Secretary (a checks and balances “system”) and if you make a
roster move within 60 minutes of the start of any game, then you must notify
the opposing manager before the game starts, too.
.
Section 3 ‑ Roster Date
Each respective team shall have the option to add and drop players
and the deadline for dropping players is June 19th. Once a player is
dropped, they cannot be re-added to their roster the rest of the season. All
final drops made on June 19th must be posted on the website by the
Statistician on June 20th. All teams then have until June 21st
at midnight to finalize their rosters with any additions (no more drops can
be made, though). The Statistician will immediately post the Final rosters on
the website on June 22nd..
Section 4 ‑ Players
with Multiple Contracts and Outstanding Debts
Every player must sign a Trico
waiver/contract before playing in any games. No exceptions. Should any player
sign contracts for 2 teams in the Tri‑County League, he shall be barred
from further participation in League games during the current season until he
receives a release from one team.
If a player is dropped or quits, he cannot sign with
another team until he is released from the original team and returns all
uniforms, equipment, and monies owed.
After a player has returned uniforms, equipment, and monies owed, his
release cannot be held up by the original team and becomes automatic. If his status is in dispute, the President or
his representative will determine his playing eligibility. There will be a three‑day interim
period after the date of the release during which the player cannot play for a
new team.
Outstanding debts not paid to
team: Each team will turn in at the January
meeting a list of players who owe teams money,
uniforms or equipment from the previous year.
These players are not eligible to play for any team until the debt to
the original team is settled. This will
give the player time to settle the debt before the season starts; if the debt
is not settled, he cannot be placed onto a roster. If the player's original team decides to take
him back, they must determine whether or not to remove him from the list. If the player disputes whether he has settled
with the previous team, the managers will vote on his status. The list of players owing uniforms and/or
equipment (not money) will be exchanged with the Blue Mountain League (BML),
and players owing uniforms and/or equipment to one League will not be allowed
to play in the other. Managers cannot add anyone to the blacklist for monies
owed after May. However, equipment and uniforms owed will be enforced
year-round. After the season is over, players are not
responsible for monies owed for the previous year.
There will be a 3-day
interim period starting the next calendar day after the release during which
the player cannot play for another team. The release does not take effect until
the statistician has been notified via voicemail, email or direct contact. So
if a player is released ANY time on Monday, then that player is NOT eligible to
play until Friday.
Section 5 ‑ Suspension
of Players
For any offense which merits player suspension, the penalty for
such offense shall be decided by the President.
The President will notify the team's manager of such a decision. The player may appeal his case, but his
Manager must make the appeal for him to the League.
Section 6 ‑ Ejection
from Game
Any player being ejected from a game must leave the ballpark and
remain outside hearing distance of the ballpark. Use of profanity or excessive throwing of
bats and/or helmets is a condition for being ejected from a game. Ejections and distance from the ballpark will
be at the umpire's discretion.
On the first offense, an ejected player will receive a
one-game suspension. On the second
offense, he will be suspended for two games.
On the third and subsequent offenses, he will be suspended for the next
three games. Umpires are responsible for
notifying the Umpire Assignor of ejected players, and it is the responsibility
of the Umpire Assignor to keep records of ejected players and number of offenses. The Umpire Assignor will keep the
President and Secretary apprised of these ejected players and their status.
Section 7 ‑ Bodily
Contact with Umpire
Should any player, coach or manager strike, bump or shove an
umpire, he is to be immediately suspended for at least 3 games (with any
additional penalty to be determined by the President). If a second offense occurs, the player will
be suspended 5 games and a third offense will mean the player is suspended for
balance of the season.
Section 8 ‑ Uniform
Regulations
A batter must wear a protected headpiece when batting. Coaches, to coach on the bases, must be in
full uniform, unless both managers agree.
Uniforms must all be team uniforms; it is preferred ‑‑ but
not critical ‑‑ that they all match. Games cannot be held up or protested due to
uniforms that don’t match.
Section 9 ‑ Appearances
for Playoff Eligibility
In order to be eligible for the playoffs, a player must have a
number of plate appearances equal to 2/3 of the total number of games scheduled
(rounded to the next whole number if applicable) to be played for their team
for the season. If an opponent forfeits a game to your team during the season,
then 1 plate appearance is subtracted from the total needed to qualify for all
players on your team and the same goes for subsequent forfeits.
A player can also be eligible for playoffs as a pitcher
if they have a total number of innings pitched equal to the total number of
games scheduled for your team at the start of the season divided by 2 + 1. If
an opponent forfeits a game to your team during the season, then 1 inning
pitched is subtracted from the total needed to qualify for all players on your
team and the same goes for subsequent forfeits.
Example: In a 32‑game
schedule, a player must have at least 22 plate appearances or have pitched at
least 17 innings.
Designated Legion players only need to meet half of the
requirements listed to be eligible for the playoffs (rounded to the next whole
number if applicable).
If a player switches teams during the season, the first
team’s stats do NOT count toward the player’s playoff eligibility for his new
team.
The team’s manager is automatically eligible for the
playoffs, if approved by the other managers, is automatically eligible for the
playoffs, even if he doesn’t make a single regular-season appearance.
Section 10 ‑ Teams
Using Ineligible Players within a playoff series
Each playoff team should receive a list of eligible players for
each playoff team from the Statistician prior to the playoffs. Score books will be made available at the
meeting prior to the playoffs. If the
list cannot be provided due to games not received at the time of the meeting
before the playoffs, final verbal confirmation of eligibility should be made at
the meeting and lists should be sent to each playoff team as soon as they are
available.
If a team is determined to have used ineligible players,
the team will be fined forfeit fees for all games involving said ineligible
players. The manager will be suspended
both as a player and as a manager for a length of time determined by the
President.
Article 6: Umpires
Section 1: Selection and Payment of Umpires
The League will rely on the Umpire Assignor to chose
Umpires for the League. If only one official
umpire is present at a game, the game must be played with one official umpire,
and the umpire shall receive 1½ times his usual compensation if he acts
alone. If the home team pays the ONE
umpire $98, then that team shall be reimbursed $23 by the Umpire Assignor
within seven days if only one umpire is present. See Section 2 for protocol of
who to contact if only one umpire shows up.
Umpires will be paid by the end of the fifth inning and
preferably before the game begins. In
the event of an incomplete game, umpires are paid for 1/2 fee from start of
game until the completion of the fifth inning.
After the fifth inning is complete, they are paid the full amount. If a team fails to pay after the fifth
inning, the team will be warned on its first occurrence, fined $10 on its
second occurrence, doubling on each successive occurrence. The umpire must inform the Umpire Assignor,
who will keep a record and inform the President after every occurrence, who
must inform the team rep responsible for each infraction.
A spectator can be picked to umpire bases, if both
managers agree, and he shall be compensated.
However, if a spectator acts as a co‑umpire, the official umpire
shall receive his usual compensation.
Any umpire who plays on a
League team is prohibited from umpiring in the League, unless both teams agree
to his use as an umpire. The Umpire
Assignor must notify both teams in this event prior to the game.
Section 2 ‑ Umpire
Regulations
The Umpires shall make it their business to arrive on the playing
field and be dressed and prepared to begin the game 5 minutes before starting
time of the game and see that the infield, foul lines and batter's box are
properly marked. He is not to start the
game until any defects are corrected. It
is recommended that both managers confirm that the umpires at the game match up
with the umpires listed for the game on the website.
A ten ($10) dollar deduction from the umpire fee is
imposed if an umpire is not at home plate, ready to go at the scheduled start for
the game. If an Umpire arrives at a game
before the start of a game that is rained out, he is to be compensated eight
($8) dollars.
If both Umpires fail to show up for a game, it will be up
to the Managers to decide whether or not to play the game with fans
officiating. The Umpire Assignor and the
President should be notified within seven days if either or both umpires fail
to show up for a game. If an Umpire does
not show up for two games without a satisfactory reason, the Umpire Assignor
will remove him from the list of eligible umpires. For any other situations involving the
actions of umpires where the manager has a concern or grievance, the Umpire
Assignor should be contacted within seven days.
In any games where only ONE umpire shows up or either or
both umpires are late, the protocol for reporting this is the Home Team needs
to email the President, and then the President will forward the email the
Treasurer and the Umpire Assignor.