Eligibility
& Teams
All Men’s Club members in good standing,
age 21 or older, and with dues-paid current are eligible to play.
Captains will draft teams using the
wrap-around method and based upon a random drawing for draft order (lowest #
drafts first). Another random drawing will be done prior to beginning the draft
to determine the draft order of the “extra” players. For example, assume there
are 10 teams drafting 164 players: all captains will again draw numbers, and
the lowest 4 numbers will draft the extra (last) 4 players, the lowest number
drawing first.
Adding Players after the Draft
If there are Men’s Club members who
request to play after the draft has been completed, the softball committee will
consider the request but make a determination based upon the specific
circumstances. If they allow him to play, the committee will decide which team
the player gets assigned to based upon a best-efforts attempt to keep or
improve parity among the teams. Players cannot be added for the playoffs.
Pre-Game
The captain of the home team (the team on
the right on the schedule) is responsible for getting the equipment and setting
up the field prior to the games. If he isn’t able, he needs to find a
replacement.
All bases are 60 feet, and the pitchers
mound is 40 feet from home plate.
The softball chairmen will furnish a new
16-inch softball at the beginning of each game, and these should be returned
with equipment at the end of the game.
Forfeit
Teams will need a minimum of 8 roster
players to play an official game, and will not be allowed to use non-roster
players in official games. NOTE: If a team is forced to play with only
8, the opposing team will provide a catcher, but to retrieve pitches only.
Score of a forfeit in baseball is 9-0; our
7-inning softball forfeit score will be 7-0.
Players shall make every effort to be on
time to games; if a team isn’t ready to play within 15 minutes of the scheduled
start time, that team will forfeit the game.
Any team that forfeits 2 or more games in
a season is immediately disqualified from the playoffs.
Games
All games are scheduled to start at 6:30
pm and not later than 6:45 pm. Later in the season these times may change to
6:00 pm and 6:15 pm to account for the loss of daylight. Games will start
immediately after players from both teams have had some optional batting
practice (4 swings per player max).
Games shall be played as scheduled, and
each game will be seven (7) innings. In case of a tie, teams will play as many
innings as necessary to determine a winner.
Under no circumstances shall games be
cancelled without the notification and sanction of one of the softball
chairmen. In the case of severe weather, the chairmen will decide if games will
be cancelled.
Any game that is called off before five
(5) innings are completed will be deemed a suspended game and be considered a
double forfeit in terms of the standings.
Max ceiling of pitching arc is 12 feet and
floor is 6 feet
All batters will begin each bat with a
1-ball, 1-strike count, and a two-strike foul ball is a strikeout.
All players in attendance will bat in the
same order throughout the game
An injury is not an out
Captains will make sure that every player
who so desires plays at least 2 innings in the field
Lead-offs are allowed but there is no
stealing
The infield fly rule will be in effect
Intentional walks are a legitimate (but
highly discouraged) softball strategy
Avoiding Contact
Base runners must attempt to avoid contact
with fielders. Any player deemed by the umpire to have not made a legitimate
effort to avoid contact shall be called out. Avoiding contact may be achieved
by sliding, side-stepping, etc.; however, running out of the base paths is not
an acceptable means of avoiding contact and will be deemed an out, subject to
the umpire’s discretion.
(cont.)
Men’s Club Softball Rules-2009, Page 2
Conduct / Umpires / Umpire Abuse
Physical altercations will not be
tolerated. Anyone who initiates an altercation will be banned from the league.
In the event that a game doesn’t have an
umpire, the team batting will provide the umpire who will do his best to call
balls, strikes and other plays in a fair and unbiased manner.
There are ZERO excuses for umpire abuse,
and under no circumstances will abuse of umpires be tolerated, including
volunteer umpires from our own teams. Any instances of umpire abuse must be
brought to the immediate attention of the league chairmen, who will promptly
review the matter and make a ruling. Any player found to have physically or
verbally abused an umpire will be suspended from play for the season.
The “Case Rule”
Especially egregious errors and mistakes
(e.g. strike-outs, grounding into double-plays, getting picked-off, making last
out of the game, etc.) require that the offending player bring a case of beer
to the next game.
Post-Game
The captain of the home team (the team on
the right on the schedule) is responsible for returning the equipment IMMEDIATELY
after the games to:
Lawn Manor: (John) Campbell's house, 4354 W. 107th PL,
708-229-0142
P.I.E.: (Jim) Burke's house, 10829 Kenton,
708-636-0334
All players need to be mindful and
respectful of our neighbors when socializing after their games and everyone
should make a good effort to patronize our sponsor, Gilhooley’s.
As by request, please leave the park by
9:00PM.
All players should leave the fields in
good order, and make certain that all trash is picked up. Please deposit all
trash into the “very large” trash bags that will be provided in the equipment
bins.
Captains (or one of their players) should
report game results to Tom Phelan at falo98@aol.com by the Sunday following
the game. Results should include scores, best individual performances, some
highlights or humorous items from the games, and umpire assessment.
Playoffs
Only the top 8 teams (of 12) will make the
playoffs based upon their final regular season records. The 1st place team will play the 8th place team,
the 2nd the 7th, and so on.
Standings will be sorted as follows:
1. Overall record
2. Head to head (only if ALL tied teams
have played each other)
3. If head to head doesn’t work (because
all tied teams did not play everyone who’s tied or all tied teams have the same
record against tied teams), Run Differential (RD) will be used for the tied
teams. RD = Runs Scored (RS) minus Runs Allowed (RA). RD includes ALL games played
(including forfeit scores).
4. If 2 or more teams tied in RD, use
lowest Runs Allowed Per Game (RAPG) average.
5. If RAPG is still tied, draw cards.
The format for “Super Saturday” will be
the same as the regular season; all batters will begin with a 1-and-1 count.
Any problems will be at the discretion of
the Tri-Chairmen and the Men’s Club Board.
Our Major
Sponsor: Gilhooley’s
A great deal of our success as a Men’s
Club can be attributed to the support we receive from our sponsors. Please do
your best to support Gilhooley’s after your games so that they
continue to support us. Good Luck!