Dynasty League Baseball Powered by Pursue the Pennant Rulebook

Table of Contents

Spring Training: Learning The Fundamentals
- The Lineup: Laying Out The Ground Rules
- Ratings
Rolling And Reading The Dice
Weather
Meeting At Home Plate
Play Ball
- Baserunner Advancement (?)
Situation Key
Playing Charts
Stealing
Pitcher Batting
Bunting
Injury
Player Rest & Use
DYNASTY League Baseball Powered by Pursue the Pennant Official League Rules

Spring Training: Learning The Fundamentals

Dynasty League Baseball includes two types of player cards: hitters and pitchers. Take a look at a hitter card and a pitcher card. If a number like 168 is rolled (dice are read in the order red, white and blue), check the hitter's card (numbers 0-499 are always found on the hitter's card) and look down the "vs. Right" column if he's facing a right-handed pitcher. You'll find the result of the play. Baserunner advancement is always indicated inside parenthesis. On a "1B" result, a runner on 2nd would come home. A runner on 1st would have the option to go from 1st to 3rd by going to the BASERUNNER ADVANCEMENT chart or he could hold at 2nd.

The Lineup: Laying Out The Ground Rules

Dynasty League Baseball is played according to official baseball rules. In your Manager's office before the game, you will be using a Pursue the Pennant scoresheet to write in your lineup and keep track of the game as it progresses.

Ratings

If you look at the middle column of any hitter card, a player's eligible positions are listed under the abbreviation "Pos:". Most of the ratings in DYNASTY League Baseball are based on a grading system from A-F, or a numerical system from 1-10.

A+ Truly great performance, ranking with the best of all-time.
A Excellent, tops in the league for the season.
B+ A notch below the best in the league.
B Very good, clearly above average.
C+ Slightly above average.
C Average, middle-of-the-pack.
D Poor, mediocre at best.
F Bad, rock bottom.

Error ratings: range from 5 to 100 in increments of 5, with 100 the highest possible fielding percentage.

Throwing ratings for outfielders and catchers: range from -4 (tops in the league for the season) to +4 (rock bottom).

Double Play Pivot ratings for 2b and ss: are either -5 (tops in the league for the season), +5 (rock bottom), or blank (middle-of-the-pack).

Position ratings R/E/T/D/P/H: these ratings are Range/Error/Throwing Arm/Double Play Pivot/Passed Ball/Catcher Handling of Pitchers. There are three types of configurations for the fielding ratings — one each for catchers, infielders and outfielders.

Catchers are configured like this: Range/Error/Throwing/Passed Ball/Catcher Handling Pitchers, e.g. A+/55/-4/A/A.

Infielders are configured like this: Range/Error/Double Play Pivot, e.g. A/60/-5.

Outfielders are configured like this: Range/Error/Throwing, e.g. A+/75/-4.

LF can play RF and vice versa. A player listed at CF can play all of the outfield positions.

Bats: colored in green in the upper left-hand corner of each hitter card is the side the player bats from and where he is likely to hit the ball (spray or pull).

Throws: pitchers' cards include the way the pitcher throws, located in the upper left-hand corner colored in green.

Endurance: if a pitcher has a numerical Endurance rating he is eligible to start a game. Pitchers with "Long" or "Short" Endurance ratings are eligible to pitch in relief.

Long relievers Endurance rating: 15
Short relievers Endurance rating: 7

Designer's Note: after you've finished writing in your lineup, it's a strategic help to also write in each team's bench and bullpen.

Rolling And Reading The Dice

If you take a look at the dice included with your game, you'll notice that they are ten-sided percentile dice. The Defensive Manager rolls all three dice to generate a number from 0-999. Read the dice in the order red, white and blue, with the red die representing the hundreds place, the white die representing the tens place, and the blue die representing the ones place. If you roll a white 2, a red 4 and a blue 3, the number is read as 423.

Designer's Note: you might be asking why the Defensive Manager rolls the dice instead of the Offensive Manager. One reason is that pitchers have the predominant influence on the pace of the game — some working fast, others working more slowly and deliberately. The main reason, though, is that just like in real baseball the defense must commit first with moves like bringing the infield in, giving the offense the final strategic choice. As a general rule the Offensive Manager should roll only for plays the offense initiates, such as Bunting, Stealing, Baserunner advancement when taking the extra base, or Deep Drive results. For plays on the INJURY chart, roll for your own players and hope you won't do too much damage!

Weather

Before the game, you can determine the weather conditions by having the home team Manager roll the dice. As with many of the outside charts you will be using, roll the white and blue dice to generate a number from 0-99 (remember the white die is the tens die and the blue die the ones die). Use this number to determine the temperature, sky and precipitation by checking the Weather chart for the region where the game is being played. Results are broken down by day and night for each month during the season. Check your schedule for the month you are playing in. You can use the following rules for determining day and night games if you don't have that information on your schedule:

Four game series: first 3 games at night, last during the day.
Three game series: first 2 games at night, last during the day.
Two game series: both games at night.
Single game: night game.
Rescheduled doubleheaders: during the afternoon if the doubleheader will be the final games of the series.
All other doubleheaders: twi-night.

Temperature, Sky and Precipitation: after you've determined the month and whether the game is a day or night game, look down the column for the region you are playing in to find the number you rolled and the corresponding Temperature/Sky/Precipitation results. For example, if you are playing a day game in Wrigley Field in July and you rolled #44, look under the GREAT LAKES REGION to find that conditions are in the 80's with partly cloudy skies.

Check the Weather effects section at the top of the WEATHER chart to see if there are any additional adjustments or conditions ("Temperature", "Rain?" or "Snow?").

Wind Direction/Speed: roll two dice and look in the wind section of the ball park you are playing in. For example, checking the wind in Wrigley Field, if the number rolled is 98, the wind is blowing from right to left at 20-29 mph.

Note weather conditions and adjustments on your scoresheet.

Meeting At Home Plate

Umpire Crews are rotated from series to series. Assign a different crew to each home team for the first home series at the start of the season and rotate the crew by moving to the next numbered crew (crew #8 moves to #1). Make sure to include only umpires from the league you are in when making the assignments. Check the UMPIRE CREW chart by having the home team roll two dice to determine the home plate umpire before each new series. The umpire listed below the home plate umpire is the 1b umpire, next is the 2b umpire and then the 3b umpire. For each new game within each series, rotate the umpires clockwise — the 1b umpire becomes the new home plate umpire. Write in the home plate umpire on your scoresheet.

Play Ball

Hitters cards: roll all three dice. If the number is 0-499, you'll find the result on the hitter's card. Look down the "vs. left" column if the batter is facing a left-handed pitcher, or down the "vs. right" column if he is facing a right-handed pitcher.

Pitchers cards: the result will always be found on the pitcher's card when the number is 500-999. Look down the "vs. left" column if the pitcher is facing a left-handed batter, or down the "vs. right" column if he is facing a right-handed batter.

Once you've located whether the result is on the hitter's or pitcher's card and whether to read down the "vs. left" or "vs. right" column, you'll be able to read the result of the play right from the player card.

Sometimes more than one result may appear and you may need to check the situation to determine which result to use. Most results are normal situations, easily identified by their blue color.

Off to either side of the result, you may have a position listed that corresponds to the fielder the ball was hit to. For results vs. right-handers, use the position listed on the right side. For results vs. left-handers, use the position listed on the left side.

Base hits are indicated by 1B, 2B, 3B or HOME RUN.

Question marks: if a "?" follows a result, it indicates that you will need to go to a chart to determine the play result.

Ground Out (?), Hard Ground Out (?), or Soft Ground Out (?): refer to the GROUND BALL BASERUNNER ADVANCEMENT chart. This chart is divided into sections depending on the base situation and also into situations such as "hit and run" and "infielder playing in". Pitcher and Catcher can't be moved in or back, so they are always considered back.

Baserunner Advancement (?)

Baserunner advancement is listed after the play result and is found inside the parenthesis to the right of the result. Parentheses always indicate baserunner advancement. Question marks inside a parenthesis indicate an option to take the extra base.

For example, if the baserunner advancement was (2-H,1-3?), a runner on 2nd would come home to score and a runner on 1st would advance to 2nd and have the option to try for 3rd by going to the BASERUNNER ADVANCEMENT chart. To use this chart, make all applicable adjustments listed at the top of the BASERUNNER ADVANCEMENT chart to the player's Baserunning rating and roll two dice.

Cut-off play option: if the defense decides not to throw, they can use the cut-off play option found on the BASERUNNER ADVANCEMENT chart.

No parenthesis after hit: assume a 1 base advance for 1B and 2 base advance for 2B for all runners. On occasion you may see (1) or (2), which indicates a 1 or 2 base advance.

1B (?): gives the Offensive Manager the choice of sending the lead runner two bases, instead of an automatic one base advance, by going to the BASERUNNER ADVANCEMENT chart. With runners on 1st and 2nd, the Offensive Manager may send both runners. The Defensive Manager would then decide which runner to try to throw out by going to the BASERUNNER ADVANCEMENT chart.

Situation Key

On each player card there is a coded situation key between the green "vs. Left" and "vs. Right" columns. The situation key is your guide if more than one result appears on a line.

If more than one situation besides "Norm" applies, the situation furthest left in the key has priority.

NOTE on H&R: when a H&R play is on, that situation result has priority over all other situations. In the case of a strikeout on a H&R play, the runner must always attempt to steal and incur the -3 steal adjustment on all strikeout results in the game.

There are nine possible situations that may occur:

Norm — Blue. Occurs during a normal situation, which is any situation besides the other eight situations.

Clutch — Red. Occurs whenever the tying or go-ahead run is on base or at bat from the 8th inning on, or at any time when there are runners in scoring position with two outs. Clutch results are for hitters who perform especially well in clutch situations and are only used if the hitter has "clutch" listed after his Situation rating. If the hitter has "clutch" listed, check the pitcher's Situation rating — if the pitcher on the mound has a "jam" Situation rating listed, it cancels out the hitter's clutch rating and you would use the "Norm" result.

Jam — Orange. Occurs whenever the tying or go-ahead run is on base or at bat from the 8th inning on, or at any time when there are runners in scoring position with two outs. Jam results are designed to be used for pitchers who are able to pitch themselves out of a jam. If the pitcher has "jam" listed after his Situation rating, use the orange "jam" results. Check the hitter's Situation rating to see if he has a clutch rating listed — if so, it cancels out the pitcher's "jam" rating and you would use the "Norm" result. Pitchers who become tired lose their "jam" rating for the remainder of the game.

Super Tough JAM+ rating: JAM+ pitchers have additional situation ability in that they use the grey "RR" situation STRIKEOUTS results instead of blue normal situation 1B and 2B results on those two result lines in jam situations.

Tired — Yellow. A pitcher becomes tired anytime after the number of batters faced indicated by the pitcher's Endurance rating has been reached and then two subsequent batters reach base safely by a hit, walk, hit by pitch or error. Endurance ratings reflect the number of pitches thrown, converted into batters faced, before a pitcher starts to tire. For example, if a pitcher has an Endurance rating of 35 and has just faced his 35th batter and then gives up a walk and a single, he is now considered "tired" for the rest of the game. Intentional walks do not count as a batter faced or as one of the two subsequent batters to reach base safely.

HIGH STRESS INNING: starting with the 7th batter faced in any inning, reduce the pitcher's Endurance rating by (-5).

Tired — Doesn't Have Good Stuff Today: occurs once a pitcher has allowed five earned runs. At that point the pitcher is considered not to have his good stuff and must use the "tired" situation results.

Overworked status: all MLB teams have season IP cap ranges that they use for two reasons — injury prevention and decreased performance. Stephen Strasburg's shutdown in 2012 is the most memorable example. The other reason for the "Overworked" status is to more realistically replicate volume vs. rate performance: if two pitchers have the same ERA and one pitcher pitches 225 IP and the other pitches 150 IP, the pitcher pitching 225 IP is more valuable.

Pitchers will be able to pitch up to 1.5 times their actual MLB IP. If a pitcher starts a game over the IP limit, they will be designated as "Overworked", which will be indicated by purple color on the roster.

Overworked pitchers will be degraded by having them always be "tired" and use the tired situation results, which removes all situation modifiers (on, off, jam) and includes the UMPIRE chart result extra chances of injury from the injury chart. In addition, "Overworked" pitchers will have their Durability rating reduced by two grades (i.e. a pitcher with "B" Durability will be downgraded to "D" Durability).

Bringing a reliever into the game not warmed up injury risk: if you bring a reliever into a game who is not warmed up, "tired" situation status will include the UMPIRE result injury check up until the pitcher is warmed up properly.

In — Dark Green. Occurs whenever the "infield is in" or the "corners are in" regardless of what position is listed for the Hard Ground Out result on line 14 of the hitter's card. To bring either the infield in or corners in (1st and 3rd), the Defensive Manager announces his intentions before he rolls the dice.

H&R — Magenta. To put the hit and run play on, the Offensive Manager can do so as the Defensive Manager rolls the dice. The hit and run play can be put on whenever a runner is on 1st, but only one time per at-bat. You can't put the H&R play on with two out.

Some hitters have special hit and run ratings that follow the Bunting rating after the "/". Check the Bunting/H&R section of the hitter's card.

"A" H&R rating: indicates a high success on hit and run plays of being able to protect and advance the runner. Strikeout results on either the pitcher or hitter card have an "A-foul" result for "A" rated players to foul off the pitch, in which case you will need to consult the Foul Territory chart.

"1B" H&R rating: indicates a high number of hits on hit and run plays. There is a special category on the INFIELD RANGE POSITION chart for this rating.

On — Purple. "Runners on-base" occurs whenever a runner or runners are on-base. "ON" results are designed to reflect pitchers who give up a low percentage of their homeruns allowed with runners on-base and are only used if the pitcher has "ON" listed as a Situation rating. Pitchers who become tired lose their "ON" rating for the remainder of the game.

Designer's Note: Jim Palmer (never allowed a grand slam) and Catfish Hunter are classic examples of how this situation impacts pitcher performance.

Off — Light Green. Leadoff situations occur whenever the first batter in each inning bats. Off results are designed to reflect pitchers who give up a very low percentage of their walks leading off the inning and are only used if the pitcher has "off" listed as a situation rating. Pitchers who become tired lose their "off" rating for the remainder of the game.

Designer's Note: Dennis Eckersley and Curt Schilling are the types of pitchers this situation impacts.

RR — Grey or Strikethru. See the Optional Player Rest/Rust Rules below.

Playing Charts

Infield Range?/Outfield Range? Whenever you roll an Infield Range or Outfield Range result, go to the RANGE chart to find the result of the play. Check which direction the hitter tends to hit the ball by looking at the Bats: section of his card. Roll two dice on the RANGE POSITION section of the chart to find out where the ball has been hit. Use the fielder's Range rating to determine the result by rolling two dice and checking the RANGE RESULTS section of the RANGE chart for type of surface (grass or turf). Some results refer you to the RANGE RESULT KEY.

Example: a right-handed spray hitter faces a pitcher and an Outfield Range result comes up. Check the OUTFIELD RANGE POSITION section of the RANGE chart and roll two dice. If the number rolled indicates the ball is shot into the gap in center field and the center fielder has very good range (B+), roll two dice on the OUTFIELD RANGE RESULTS chart in the shot-into-the-gap section to see if he makes the play — a high enough roll produces a diving catch.

Error? Error results are resolved by rolling one die on the ERROR POSITION section of the ERROR chart to determine the player who has a chance of making an error, then rolling two dice on the ERROR chart using the fielder's Error rating.

Deep Drive? When a "Deep Drive?" result occurs, use the "Bats:" section to determine the side he bats from and where he tends to hit the ball (pull or spray), and roll two dice on the DEEP DRIVE LOCATION chart found in the BALL PARK charts to determine which part of the park the ball was hit to. Next, find the hitter's Power rating vs. the type of pitcher you're facing in "vs. left" or "vs. right". Roll two dice to determine the number of feet the ball was hit from the DISTANCE HIT chart. Go to the BALL PARK chart you're playing in and make any adjustments to the number of feet hit (Wind, Temperature and How well the ball carries) before checking the BALL PARK chart to find the result in one of seven outfield locations.

Designer's Note: suspense is increased by determining how many feet for a home run before you roll the dice.

Batter HOME RUN result indexed by Pitcher HR per 9 IP for pitchers with zero Deep Drive? result vs. that left/right side: on the batter card's HOME RUN result on line #9, if the pitcher has zero Deep Drive? results vs. that side, roll one die — if the number is greater than or equal to (HR per 9 IP) x 10, the result is Deep Drive?; otherwise it is a HOME RUN. For example, if a pitcher has 0.1 HR per 9 IP, a dice roll of 1-9 is a Deep Drive? result (0 is a HOME RUN result); if a pitcher has 0.4 HR per 9 IP, a dice roll of 4-9 is a Deep Drive? result (0-3 is a HOME RUN result). No index check is made if the pitcher is tired or overworked.

Umpire? Results include umpire strike zones, effect of temperature on hitting, catcher's handling of pitchers, ball park hitting backgrounds and possibility of a wild pitch or passed ball. Roll two dice using the UMPIRE chart and check the appropriate rating to resolve the play. The Ball Park Hitting Background rating is found in the BALL PARK charts.

Tired situation result injury check: if you roll 514-540 and the pitcher is tired, use the yellow situation walk result and check for injury to the pitcher. A pitcher with No Stuff in the tired situation uses this same injury check for rolls of 514-540 once he reaches 0 Endurance.

Foul? These are foul balls with a chance of being caught. Check the Foul Territory rating in the BALL PARK charts and roll two dice on the FOUL TERRITORY chart. Foul results without a "?" indicate the ball went into the stands.

Bizarre? Usually every baseball game has a play that is unusual or bizarre. To find the result of a "Bizarre?" play, roll three dice and look up the result on the BIZARRE chart.

Team Chemistry: intangible player ratings are sometimes referred to as Team Chemistry ratings. To determine Team Chemistry, add up individual Intangible points using players' Intangible ratings for players on the 25-man roster and make adjustments for roster changes.

Intangible Rating	Points	Team Chemistry Rating
A	+30	≥45: Excellent
B	+15	(-44) — 44: Fair
C	0	≤(-45): Bad
D	-15
F	-30

Other Intangible ratings: a "~" indicates a hot temper; "BL" indicates a catcher excellent at blocking the plate.

Stealing

If the Offensive Manager decides to steal, he announces intent before the pitcher rolls. Go to the ATTEMPT chart and roll two dice using the pitcher's letter "Hold" rating and the runner's "Lead" rating (use the appropriate 2nd, 3rd or home rating) to determine if the runner gets a "Good jump — attempts" result or a "Poor lead — holds" result.

Pitcher's Pickoff/Hold ratings are configured like this: Pickoff/Hold: 1 / D (+2). The letter grade indicates the pitcher's ability to keep the runner close and prevent an attempt to steal. The numerical hold grade in parenthesis reflects SB% vs. that pitcher, used to adjust the baserunner's "Steal" rating. Pickoff ratings run from 1 to 10, with 10 the best.

If the runner gets "Good jump", go to the STEAL chart and roll two dice using the runner's Steal rating (use the appropriate 2nd, 3rd or home rating). Adjustments must be made for the catcher's throwing arm and the pitcher's numerical Hold rating. Make adjustments for Turf and Strikeout on Hit & Run found at the top of the STEAL chart if they apply.

Holding runners: runners on 1st are always considered to be held unless the Defensive Manager indicates otherwise. If a runner is not held, he gets a "Good jump — attempts" result. Pitchers' Lead rating is always 1.

Pitcher Batting

On the Bats/Card section of each pitcher card is the side the pitcher bats from and whether he is a pull or spray hitter, along with the pitcher batting card number and Power rating.

Pitchers must have at least 45 AB to be used as a pinch hitter. When facing a pitcher batting who has less than 45 AB, the pitcher on the mound uses the JAM situation in all situations, even if the pitcher on the mound does not have a JAM situation rating.

Bunting

If the Offensive Manager decides to bunt, he does so as the pitcher rolls the dice. This prevents the Defensive Manager from changing the depth of the infield (in or back). Roll two dice on the BUNT chart and refer to the result key. You can bunt for a hit by calling out your intentions only when the bases are empty — use the special "Bunt for a Hit" results.

Injury

If you are required to check for injury, go to the INJURY chart and roll two dice using the player's Durability rating to determine the duration of the injury.

Designer's Note: DYNASTY League Baseball is designed to reflect both frequency and length of injuries. It's sometimes thought that if you're not playing a 162 game schedule, length of injuries should be reduced based on the percentage of the season you're playing. Keep in mind injuries are part of baseball — if a line drive off your ace pitcher breaks his leg, he's not going to heal any faster because your season is shorter. Also remember that if the length of injury is reduced, a short season makes the chance of being injured less likely. In order to balance out the adjustment of decreasing the length of injury, the frequency of injury must be increased, which can't be done without changing the playing charts. The bottom line is the most realistic way to play is to not reduce injury length.

Player Rest & Use

Required Pitcher Rest

Starter IP	Days Rest	Short relief IP	Days Rest	Long relief IP	Days Rest
0-2	2	0-1	0*	0-2	0**
2.1-3.2	3	1.1-2	0**	2.1-3	1
4-9	3***	2.1-3	1	3.1-4	2
>9	4	3.1-4	2	4.1-7	3
				>7	4

* Maximum appearances in 4 consecutive days: 3. Short and Long relief pitchers' Endurance rating is reduced to 4 if pitching on the 2nd consecutive day and reduced to 1 on the 3rd consecutive day of work. ** Maximum appearances in 3 consecutive days: 2. *** Starting Pitchers' Endurance ratings are reduced by 7 if pitching on 3 days rest.

Short relief maximum number of IP: 4 IP. If all other pitchers have been used and you are forced to use a pitcher beyond the maximum number of IP, the rest requirement is 4 days.

Bullpen Warm-Up Rule

Prior to entering the game, relief pitchers must be properly warmed up. Pitchers may only warm up twice during a game. If a pitcher is not used during his second warm-up, he must use the tired situation results if he enters the game. Relief pitchers may not enter the game unless they have warmed up for two batters, or the pitcher on the mound is ejected or injured. The break between half innings counts as one batter. Two pitchers may warm up at the same time. When a pitcher starts warming up the half inning prior to or during the time when his team takes the field defensively, the duration of his warm-up lasts until the side is retired.

Optional Player Rest/Rust Rules (RR: Grey or Strikethru)

Rest/Rust results reflect deterioration of hitting skills from being tired or rusty. Also used for JAM+ pitchers.

Offensive Rest applies:

After 6 innings of catching, with temperatures in the 90's.
To catchers who catch more than 12 innings in 1 day.
Day game following a night game: catchers playing in a day game if they played more than 5 innings the previous night.
To players who've played in the field for 5 consecutive games without a day off, with temperatures in the 80's or 90's.

Offensive Rust: when a player does not make an official plate appearance for 10 consecutive days he gets rusty at bat. A player loses rust after his first game back. This includes players coming back from an injury, but not players called up from the minors.

Defensive Rest: Catcher applies:

After 6 defensive innings of catching a game in the 90's.
Catchers catching 7 consecutive games must use the rest adjustments starting with the 8th consecutive game played, and continue with these playing reductions until they are rested defensively for a full game.
Catchers catching more than 12 innings per day.

Use the catcher defensive rest adjustments below:

Catcher's Passed Ball rating is reduced by 2 grades.
Catcher's Error rating is reduced by 30.
Catcher's Throwing rating is increased by 2.
Catcher must use the RR situation results.

Defensive Rust: occurs when a player doesn't play in the field for 15 consecutive games. This includes players coming back from an injury, but not players called up from the minors. The player gets rusty and must reduce his Error rating by 30 for his first game back in the field.

Use: Minor League Callup %

Equals the percentage of games available during a 162 game season. Players coming up from the minors during the season are usually assigned a "Use" percentage. If a player has a percentage listed for his "Use" rating, this indicates the percentage of the season that he can be called up for. This is a continuous percentage, meaning that if you are playing a 44 game season and the player has a "Use" rating of 20%, he can be called up and on the roster for 9 consecutive games. Playoffs are treated as a separate season based on the maximum possible length of each series.

Use: Utility (AB vs. LH, AB vs. RH)

Indicates the player wasn't a full-time player and was used in a utility or platoon role. A player with a utility "Use" rating can only be used for the number of AB listed. For example, a player with Use (vs. LH 55, vs. RH 114) can be used for 55 AB vs. LH pitchers and 114 AB vs. RH pitchers.

In order for a hitter with a utility "Use" rating to pinch hit, he must have at least 20 AB vs. the type of pitcher (LH or RH) that he is pinch hitting or starting against.

Revised Use 10 AB rule for starting: in order for a hitter with a utility "Use" rating to start, he must have at least 10 AB vs. the type of pitcher (LH or RH) that he is starting against.

Expired Use AB rule: utility Use AB players are able to continue playing vs. LH or RH pitchers once they have reached their AB limit. However, once they have reached their AB limit, the player is assigned Pitcher Batting Card #5 along with a two grade reduction of his Power rating.

Designer's Note: Earl Weaver's 1980 Baltimore club featured a platoon in left field including John Lowenstein, Gary Roenicke and Benny Ayala. A left-handed batting Lowenstein hit .500 in 8 AB vs. LH pitchers. In DYNASTY, Lowenstein's only possible AB vs. LH pitching would come from starting a game vs. a RH and staying in the game if a LH pitcher was brought in to pitch. Lowenstein would be limited to 8 AB vs. LH because of his Use Utility rating of (8 AB vs. LH, 188 vs. RH).

If you're playing less than a 162 game season, you should multiply the AB listed by the percentage of a 162 game season you're playing. You can keep track of utility players' AB on the INJURY/USE REPORT.

Use: Spot Starter

Indicates the pitcher was not a full-time starter. Pitchers that have a spot "Use" rating have a Games Started restriction indicating the number of games he can start. Keep in mind if you're playing less than a 162 game season, you should multiply the number of Games Started by the percentage of a 162 game season you're playing. You will need to keep track of spot pitchers' Games Started on the INJURY/USE REPORT.

DYNASTY League Baseball Powered by Pursue the Pennant Official League Rules

The Importance Of Standardized League Rules

The Official League Rules represent a long-awaited and necessary movement to organize baseball simulation leagues. These rules combine the best of both worlds between Fantasy leagues and baseball simulation games. Existing leagues are encouraged to change and will be able to enjoy the benefits of standardized rules. These benefits include the ability to much more easily recruit new players to join your league, since they know the rules and will be more confident that the league will be well run. Standardized rules will also help eliminate disputes.

The Official League rules have been play tested over the past forty years and work very well in ensuring league parity, fairness and allowing expansion teams and teams taken over by new owners to have a good chance of winning.

Franchise Application

You can choose between playing in a local league with the Board version or with the Online version, which allows you to play with people around the world and/or with a group of your friends. The Online version works extremely well if your friends are not local and allows you to meet new friends in public leagues or to create or join a private league.

Each franchise consists of the team name, ball park, and accompanying weather conditions. You will be in the dual role of both GM and Manager. Franchises are awarded on a first come first serve basis in the order of entry when joining the league.

Finding Players For Your League

If you wish to be a Commissioner of a private league and are looking for players for your league, the best place to start is with your friends. You can then invite your friends to an Online version private league.

The Online version Private League Directory allows Commissioners to place your league on the "Leagues Looking for Players" tab and updates league listings in real time.

Where else should you look for players? You might find players who play other baseball simulations or are in a fantasy league. Try friends at school, work, church, softball league, or anywhere else you come in contact with people interested in baseball.

Joining A League

The Online version is a revelation for leagues — it is so easy to join a league! Just click the join button after clicking on the league link and select your team from one of the public leagues. Private draft leagues are also available if you have your own group of friends or if they have an opening.

Where And When To Play Your Games — League Meetings

It is essential to pick a day of the week and time that you will regularly play your series (for example, Sunday night at 7:00 PM). The reason this is important is that it will be the glue that keeps your league continuity together.

The Online version has a regular day and time to play your series. You can always reschedule if you miss your regular time. The scheduler in the Online version allows you to easily reschedule if you can't make it that week.

The Commissioner's home is a good place to play for local Board version leagues. You'll discover getting everyone together makes it more fun by enabling you to follow how the rest of your league is doing. Having your league play at a sports bar, batting cage or other public place is a good way to attract interested people to your league.

Names Of Franchises

Keep your franchise names realistic by using the actual team name of the franchise you selected. It will make it much easier to remember which ball park each owner plays in as well as weather conditions, etc.

Player Talent Pool Size

Talent pool is the group of baseball players eligible in your league based on the spring training 40-man roster list of the current season, including invitees.

Players available in the draft consist of the players who are on the current 40-man official roster, including Spring Training invitees for the current season using the most recent player card season set. These teams comprise the player pool.

Keeping the talent in the player pool at a realistic level is very important. Player pool size limit and ratios: it's important to limit the player pool size for several important reasons. Anyone can draft a team of All-Stars, but not everyone can determine who are the better bench players, upcoming rookies and where to place your emphasis when drafting scarce talent. Your results and statistics will be much more realistic if you can avoid the platooning of All-Stars and throw in a few less-heralded players. If your league expands, you'll be able to add a new team into the player pool for each expansion team, giving expansion teams a fair chance to compete rather than having all the talent locked away. Trying to build a winning team is much more challenging and realistic using these ratios.

Teams added to player pool:

3, 4, 5 and 6 franchises: add two additional teams.
8 franchises: add three additional teams.
10 and 12 franchises: add three additional teams.
16 franchises: add five additional teams.
20, 24 franchises: add six additional teams.

Live Draft

The draft is a bidding-style live draft with a continuous ownership contract system. Each owner receives $300 of fictional money to spend on his team. A total of 38 players are drafted by each team. The draft consists of the following two phases.

Regular Draft Phase

Salary Cap: $300
Type of draft: bidding style
Number of players selected in this phase: 26

The Regular draft phase consists of open bidding for the first 26 active players on each team's roster, with each team's salary cap at $300. Owners take turns announcing a player up for bid until all teams have 26 players on their active roster. Players are announced for bidding by owners starting with the franchise owner with the worst won-lost percentage from the previous year, or by alphabetical order by city name. Note that since everyone has the opportunity to bid on each player in the draft, there is no advantage in acquiring a player by announcing his name. Each owner must have at least $1 allocated to bid on each of the 26 players for his active roster.

Franchises are allowed to exceed the $300 salary cap after the draft and during the season when new players are acquired via trades, but must get below the $300 salary cap with at least $1 available to bid per player needed to fill out their 25-man roster before the regular phase of next year's draft. Each of these drafted players is signed to a three year contract, with the fourth year being an option year for the franchise at the same salary.

Salary Cap: set up as a way to promote league parity and discourage sellers from dumping big salaries on the final year of a contract onto contenders. CAP $330: teams can't exceed going 10% over $300 at any point in time, setting the hard salary cap at $330. Any trade that would put a team over the cap will be vetoed by the Commissioner.

Minor League Draft Phase

Type of draft: paired picks.
Number of players selected in this phase: 12.

The Minor League draft consists of paired picks (1 and 12, 2 and 11, etc.) which are determined on a "draw from the hat" basis or reverse order of W-L percentage. "Carded" players who were not selected in the Regular phase of the draft comprise the Minor League draft.

These players have a different type of contract and salary than the players selected in the Regular phase of the draft. A player selected in the Minor League draft has a salary of $0 his first year. The franchise owner has the option of inviting the player back to the team the second year for a salary of $10, or releasing him back into the draft. The third year, the player must be released to re-enter the Regular phase of the free agent draft.

Draft Preparation: preparing for the draft is one of the most fun and important aspects of being in a draft league.

Player Contracts

Once a player has been drafted in the Regular phase, he must be kept on your team for a minimum of 3 years unless one of the following occurs, which automatically releases the player from your team prior to the draft:

Option 1: for leagues NOT using all the real life teams in the player pool. A player is automatically released from his contract if:

He is traded to a real life team outside the DYNASTY League player pool.
He becomes a real life free agent and signs with a real life team outside of the DYNASTY League player pool.
He retires from baseball.
He is released and is not picked up by a real life team in the DYNASTY League player pool.
For any reason other than injury, suspension or hold out, he is not on one of the 40-man rosters or a Spring Training invitee of one of the teams in the player pool prior to draft day.

When any one of the above occurs, the player leaves the team and the salary paid to him goes back to the franchise owner, who can now use that money for next year's draft to acquire new players.

NOTE: the five conditions above also apply to players signed to guaranteed contracts.

Option 2: for large leagues of 20 or 24 teams using all the real life teams. No automatic releases from contracts.

Options to release players under contract for all leagues:

Buying Out Contracts: franchise owners may choose to buy out a player's contract for an amount equal to half the player's salary (rounded up to the nearest dollar) for each year remaining on the contract.

Example: if a player was signed to a $40 contract during the regular phase of the draft (3 year contract plus option year) and before next year's draft you wanted to buy him out or had to buy him out to get under the salary cap before the draft, it would cost you $40 [($40 x 2 years remaining = $80 total value) x 1/2 buyout = $40]. The buy out amount would be subtracted from the $300 of available money for drafting players next year for both years still remaining on his contract. Your salary cap before the draft would be reduced by $40 ($300-$40=$260) to bring you to $260 available for the new draft. This would be the only situation where the salary cap would be below the $300 mark. Salary caps can never be increased above $300. Released players then re-enter the Regular phase draft.

Prior to the 2nd year draft, each franchise must submit their current roster to the commissioner and provide a list of players who they choose to release (if any), in order to provide a listing of players available for the draft. Once releases and buyouts are submitted to the Commissioner, no further releases or buyouts can take place prior to the draft.

Regular Phase Contract Option Year: a player's contract lasts three years with the fourth year being an option year for the franchise. This means that upon entering the fourth year of a player's contract:

The franchise owner has the choice of picking up the option on the contract for a fourth year at the same salary, after which the player will automatically re-enter the Regular phase of the draft.
The franchise owner has the choice of not picking up the option for a fourth year of the contract, making that player a free agent. The player will then re-enter the Regular phase of the draft.
The franchise owner has the option of guaranteeing the contract for additional years. Once the guaranteed contract expires, the player automatically re-enters the Regular phase of the draft. The player's salary is increased by $5 for each year the length of the contract is extended, starting with the option year.

Example: if you signed a player originally for $30, and upon entering the 4th year of his contract you decided to give him a 3 year guaranteed contract, his salary would be $45 [$30 + (3 yrs. x $5)] for years 4, 5 and 6.

Trading

Trading can occur at any time except for the following exceptions:

Between the trade deadline and the end of the season. The trading deadline date and time is the same as the real life deadline. It's a great idea to organize an outing and bill it as a trade meeting — going to a baseball game is ideal, since you can talk trade all night. Remember to report trades to the Commissioner.
Once the draft list of eligible players is submitted for the current draft and continuing through the end of the draft.

Expansion And New Franchise Owners

Whenever a new owner takes over a team he has the choice of taking the team "as is" or releasing his entire team into the free agent pool. The new owner will have $300 to use to bid on free agents in the Regular phase of the draft should he decide to release his entire team.

Movement Of A Franchise

Owners may not move franchises to a new city or ballpark. The stability of the league will be improved by not having franchises pick up and leave every year.

Rainouts

Are considered as an off-day, with a double header scheduled the next day.

Commissioner, Co-Commissioner And League Secretary

The most important attributes of a Commissioner are the ability to get along with people, flexibility and patience, yet be able to earn the respect of the league members.

Responsibilities of a Commissioner:

League schedule.
Recruitment of members.
Creation and distribution of league reports (1 per month).
Settling disputes.
Overseeing the operation of the league.

Responsibilities of a Co-Commissioner:

Rosters.
First in line of succession for Commissioner.
Draft day duties: creation of the list of players available for the draft, and updating of rosters and the draft list during the draft.

League Secretary responsibilities:

Draft day: running total of money remaining for each team; auctioneer of players.
Award ceremony.
Second in line of succession for Commissioner.

Post Season Play

Two off days are included after the end of the Regular season, unless there is a tiebreaker. Each series also includes an off day for travel after games 2 and 5. Assume a 20 game season to determine game availability and pro-rated usage for a 7 game series, a 15 game season for a 5 game series, a 10 game season for a 3 game series, and a 7 game season for a 1 game play-in or tiebreaker.

Player Etiquette Of League Members

Win or lose, keep things in perspective and be a good sport. One of the things you should not do is play for money — it only encourages cheating and arguments. One of the worst things you can do as a league member is to fail to contact your opponent well in advance if you can't make a league series. If you have a dispute, try to settle it using the fairest and most realistic solution to actual baseball.

Reasons Why Leagues Fail — Avoid These Pitfalls

Can't find enough players to get started or replacement players to continue the league.
Schedule too demanding and season never finishes.
Cheating, disputes and arguments.
Lack of parity — league rules allow the best teams to lock away and hoard talent indefinitely.

Setting Up A Schedule

Online version public leagues play a 162 game season over a 6 month period. The Online version makes it easy to run a league, especially when it comes to a 162 game season, where the computer manager profile can take over for series that are not played when people may get busy during the season.

Online version schedule format is designed to simulate a pennant race, but all months are used when setting up the schedule. The schedule runs from Opening Day in March to the last day of the regular season in October. Make up games that you miss ASAP by contacting your opponent and making arrangements to play.

Schedule Breakdown By Number Of Teams

Organization (# of teams)	Teams per League	Series in League**	Series out of League*	Games per Team
3 (1 League)	8	0	48
4 (1 League)	6	0	54
5 (1 League)	4	0	48
6 (1 League)	4***	0	50
8	4	4	2	52
10	5	2**	2**	54
12	6	2	2	54
16	8****	2	0	42
20	10****	2	0	54
24	12****	2*****	0	54

* vs. each team out of league, "2 game series" ** vs. each team in league, "3 game series" *** 2 "3 game series" and 2 "2 game series" **** 2 Divisions per league ***** "3 game series" in Division, "2 game series" outside Division

Designer's Note: one of the main reasons for having 3 game series instead of 4 game series involves make-up games. During the course of the season you'll find there will be series that have to be made up. While it's possible to play six games or two series in an evening, eight games with two series is too many games to play in one night.

Minor League Callups And Releases

Players sent down to the minors must remain there for 10 days.

Injury/Limitation Report Rules

This report is required to be with you during all games. You will list AB used up on Use requirements and injuries as they occur during the game on your report. Also remember to always number your games on your scoresheet in the order you played them, to determine injury length and pitcher rest. Opposing players and the Commissioner may wish to view this report on request. It is also important to bring all of your scoresheets to check for pitcher availability due to rest requirements.

Rain Outs: rain outs are treated as an off day and count towards pitcher rest and injury duration. If more than one game remains of a series, the next two games are considered as a double header. Pitchers do not receive rest between games of a double header.

Rescheduled Games: games that are missed must be made up as soon as possible. Always make sure to contact your opponent and either the Commissioner or Co-Commissioner if you can not play during the scheduled date. For weather purposes, use the month that you are actually playing the rescheduled game in.

Active Roster: prior to each game you must determine your 25 man roster.

Positions: if injuries or ejections leave you with no players who can play a position, the most logical player (players who have played the position before in their careers, infielders playing other infield positions, etc.) is used for the remainder of the series and is assigned the worst possible defensive ratings. This situation must be remedied after the series, either by a call-up from the team's Minor league, a trade, or acquiring a "scrub" player left over from the draft.

In extra innings, a pitcher may play the outfield or infield for one batter using the worst possible defensive ratings if the manager wants to make a double switch and bring in a new pitcher for one batter and keep the current pitcher in the game.

League Rules Concerning Pitcher Batting

American site: DH. National site: pitcher bats.

Official Reports

Are made out at the end of each month starting at the end of April. These reports will be available through the following month and will be available at each league meeting. Remember to bring your scoresheets from at least the two previous series to each meeting in order to check on pitcher availability. Report all injuries and the game number that the player was injured ASAP to the Commissioner's office.

Statistics

Board version leagues should make keeping statistics optional. It is useful for teams to keep statistics, but requiring them to be kept and turned into the League office will be difficult for both league members and the Commissioner to keep up with.

Online version tracks statistics, leaders, game logs and standings in real time.

Designer's Note: small leagues of 6 or less may be able to make keeping statistics mandatory.

Pennant Race Scenario

This is a great way to play for one player, two players and even larger groups. Each player manages his favorite team down the stretch, picking up the season for the final month. This always leads to red-hot finishes as you re-live the most exciting part of the season. If two players wanted to replay a classic pennant race, one would manage one team and the other the rival team. If a series is scheduled that does not include both of those teams, the manager whose team wasn't included takes over for the opposing team, trying to knock off the other manager's team to gain ground in the pennant race.