CRHBL
Rules & Regulations
(Covering 18s,28s, 38s, 48s)
(revised 4-04-04)
1.00 Eligibility
1.01 Age minimums: To be eligible to play in a Cleveland Roy Hobbs Baseball League (CRHBL) game, a player must be:
a)
·
b)
·
c) ·
d)
·
e)
· All players must have signed a contract and insurance
waiver, provided age identification per league rules, and paid required fees
prior to competing. (Once a player’s
driver’s license is on file, he need not resubmit it).
f)
· CRHBL may permit exceptions to these age
requirements by granting a waiver for special circumstances. Appeals to the age
requirements must be made in writing to the commissioner prior to the start of
the season.
1.02 In good standing: Players must be in good standing with the
league in order to be eligible to compete.
In good standing includes but is not limited to having served
suspensions for ejections, having paid all outstanding debts to former teams
and/or the league itself, having not been sanctioned by the league for behavior
infractions, etc.
1.03 Professional Experience: A player may not have participated in a professional
baseball game within the previous calendar year. Teams are limited to three (3)
former professionals who have been out of professional baseball for less than
five (5) years. Professional baseball refers to Major League Baseball, its
minor league affiliates and any league where players are paid to perform. (Also see Rule 4.02.)
1.04 Multiple
League Play:
CRHBL welcomes any and all players who meet the age requirements as defined in
Section 1.01. Players may participate in more than one CRHBL division, with the
following exception:
a)
Players may play in multiple CRHBL divisions. Any player choosing to do so, however, must
declare before the season begins which team he will play for in case a playoff
conflict should arise. If that player does not declare prior to the season, he
will be ineligible for that playoff game.
1.05 Penalties: A player found in violation of CRHBL eligibility regulations will be
expelled from CRHBL for five (5) years. Any manager found to have used an
ineligible player also would be expelled from CRHBL for five (5) years. All games in which the ineligible player
participated will be forfeited. An
expelled player or manager has the right of appeal to the Executive Committee
or may petition the league President for reinstatement after one (1) year.
1.06 League
Playoff Eligibility: To participate in CRHBL league playoffs, a player must:
a) Be on a
roster (meeting all roster / league eligibility requirements) prior to July 1;
and
b) Have
appeared in six (6) regular-season games.
c) A player,
who fails to meet the 6-game requirement due to injury, may petition the
Disciplinary / Protest Committee for a waiver.
The appeal must be in writing and include date of injury and
documentation of treatment, etc. The appeal must be submitted at least
one week (7 days) before playoffs are to begin.
d) Teams
qualifying for the playoffs are required to provide to the league a certified
eligibility list one week (7 days) prior to the start of the playoffs. List must include player’s name, uniform
number and the number of games played.
e) Use of
ineligible players will lead to forfeiture of playoff games in which the
ineligible player participated. Proof of
participation must be noted in the player’s team’s scorebook.
1.07 Governance: For the 2004 season, CRHBL will be governed
by a 3-member Governing Board, which will convene appeals/protest
hearings. Different members of the
Governing Board will have selected responsibilities throughout all of the
divisions.
2.00 Sportsmanship
2.01 Good
Sportsmanship
and adult attitudes must prevail no matter what the level of competition.
Umpires will eject players before, during or after games for any of the
following infractions, which the league considers to be unsportsmanlike
behavior:
a) Consumption of alcoholic
beverages during a game. (While the league cannot make judgments on sobriety,
managers are requested to prohibit players who arrive at games and appear
intoxicated or smell of alcohol from playing. Umpires will eject players who
smell of alcohol.) (See Rule 2.03
regarding alcohol.)
b) Threats of physical
intimidation of umpires, players or spectators, including any threatening
physical contact. (In case of no
ejection or where umpires are unaware of such an incident, managers need to
report incident to President for further action.)
c) Verbal abuse of umpires,
players or spectators, such as profanity, name-calling, belittlement or
excessive harassment. (Ball & Strike calls and judgment decisions are not
debatable.)
d) Throwing of equipment (bats,
helmets, gloves, etc.).
e) Fighting (see 2.03).
f) Managers
are expected to help umpires with players that are acting in an
un-sportsmanlike manner.
2.02 Ejection: Any ejection will carry a 2-game
suspension. Suspensions will carry over from season to season. Any player,
who is ejected twice within 12 consecutive months, will be suspended from CRHBL
for the season plus two calendar years.
Any player ejected 3 times within 5 years will be suspended from CRHBL
for the current season plus two calendar years.
All suspensions may be appealed in writing to the Governing Board.
2.03
Fighting: Players
involved in fights (regardless of who may have been the instigator) will be
suspended for the remainder of the season and may petition for reinstatement
before the following season.
2.04 Alcohol: Alcoholic beverages are prohibited
at the playing sites – before, during and after all league activities. Playing sites are defined as the playing site
itself plus the property owned by the same entity surrounding the playing site. This includes parking lots. Player(s) found in violation of
open-container ordinances at playing sites will be suspended for two games.
2.05 Tobacco: Smoking is prohibited on the
field of play or in the dugouts and their immediate area, before, during or
after games. Players who wish to smoke
must go to the stands or the parking lot—however, players are subject to the
field owner’s smoking rules (for example, most high schools prohibit use of
tobacco products except in designated areas).
Player(s) found in violation of tobacco regulations at playing sites
will be ejected and subject to subsequent penalties.
2.06 Property
responsibility: Player(s) responsible for damage or vandalism
to facilities and/or property used by the league will be suspended from play,
pending an automatic review of his actions by the Executive Committee.
2.07 Right of
Appeal: A
player may appeal an ejection and/or suspension to the CRHBL Disciplinary /
Protest Committee but must do so within 24 hours verbally (to the
President) and within 48 hours in writing (on CRHBL forms). Appeals will
be heard by the Disciplinary / Protest Committee, which will review the
incident to determine whether the suspension or expulsion should be upheld,
modified, or waived (the Committee does have the option of increasing
sanctions). Player may participate pending appeal.
In the case of suspension appeals, The Committee will have the following
options:
a) Rescind the suspension.
b) Increase the suspension
c) Decrease the suspension
Note I: In the case of a 2nd or 3rd
ejection suspension appeal, player has 14 days in which to file an appeal, however, player may not participate pending a
hearing.
Note II: In all cases an umpire’s report will be
solicited from the Umpires Association whose members handled a game out of which
a protest, ejection or appeal arises.
However, an umpire’s report will not be necessary for the implementation
of a suspension.
3.00
Registration /
Fees / Waivers
3.01
Registration: Before
competing in an CRHBL event, a player must:
a) Complete and sign a league
registration-contract / waiver form.
b) Make sure a photocopy of his
driver’s license or birth certificate is provided to the league.
c) These forms and the photocopy
of the age verification document must be in the hands of the President prior to
competition. No FAX copies are acceptable.
3.02 Fees: Registration fees are
tentatively set each January; however, they are subject to change until but no
later than May 1 if operations costs increase.
3.03 Insurance: CRHBL carries a $2,000,000
liability policy / $5,000 secondary medical policy through Roy Hobbs
Baseball. The per-
team fee is included in team registration fees.
3.04 Forfeit
Deposit: A
forfeit deposit will be assessed each year.
The current forfeit fee is $250, and it will be included in the team fee
payment.
a) If the team does not forfeit
during the season, the team has the option of receiving a full refund or it may
put the $250 on account for the following season.
b) If a team forfeits for not
having enough players but a 7-inning game is played, $150 of the forfeit
deposit is lost (making any potential refund $100).
c) If a team forfeits and no
game is played, the entire forfeit deposit is lost. The team must post a new
forfeit deposit before playing another game.
d) A second forfeit results in
the loss of the second deposit and will require a hearing by the Executive
Committee before the team is allowed to play any more games.
e) Teams receiving forfeit
victories (when a game is not played) will receive a $100 discount off their
fee for the following year’s season.
3.05 Fee
Payment: Managers are responsible for
their team’s fees and how they are collected. The President will set the
deadlines for the payment of fees, league registration, and insurance. Teams
will not be scheduled to play if fees are not paid.
3.06 New
Players:
Extra new player fee rule removed 2003.
3.07 Late
Additions:
Any player joining a CRHBL team after June 1 will pay a league fee of $25 and
submit the appropriate paperwork before competing, regardless of the time of
season he joins the CRHBL team.
3.08
Violations:
Players in violation will be suspended until compliance is satisfied; all games
in which the player appeared will be declared forfeited.
4.00
Rosters
4.01 Size: Minimum: 14 players;
Maximum: 25 players.
4.02
Ex-Professionals: No more than 50% of any team
roster (must meet eligibility requirements, see Rule 1.02).
5.00
Player
Transfers
5.01 Any player who wants to
transfer from one existing team to another must submit a written request on a
CRHBL Player Release for that transfer.
CRHBL office and Governing Board members have appropriate forms. Forms
are also available on CRHBL web site.
5.02 The request must include
documentation of approval by manager of team player is leaving.
5.03 The Personnel Commissioner
must approve all transfer requests and will attempt to reach compromises where
any transfer may be denied.
5.04 Player has the right of
appeal to the Disciplinary / Protest Committee on any transfer that is
denied. Appeal must be postmarked within
five (5) working days of notification of transfer being denied.
5.05 Generally, transfers can be
denied under these circumstances:
a) Tampering: Proof a player was recruited or induced
financially, etc., to change teams.
b) The transfer runs counter to
CRHBL long-time philosophy that better teams should not “load-up” at the
expense of lesser teams.
c) Player has not “cleared”
himself from obligations to prior team. Manager challenging release must
provide proof of player obligation.
d) Player is requesting release
too close to start of season. The CRHBL board will use April 1 as a rough
guideline.
5.07 Players who do not follow the
guidelines will remain on the roster of the team they played for the previous
year. Said players may appeal to the
Disciplinary / Protest Committee but must prove hardship in failing to follow
the rules.
5.08 Players transferring are
responsible for the return of all equipment and/or uniforms belonging to the
team (or debts to that team) they are leaving before they are eligible to
compete for their new team. Manager is
required to notify Personnel Commissioner in writing of any such debt and must
provide documentation of those debts and of efforts in previous year to collect
said debt.
6.00 Pre-Game & Starting Rules
6.01 Where possible, home team has
the field until 15 minutes before the game. Visiting team has the field 15
minutes prior to the game. Be gentlemanly and help each other out.
6.02 When multiple games are
scheduled at the same site on the same day, there will be a minimum of 15
minutes between games (unless games are running behind and both managers agree
to start early). There will be a 15-minute break between games of a
double-header involving the same teams.
6.03 A team must have at least 8
(eight) of its players to start an official game. The deficient team has a
10-minute grace period to get enough players before the game is declared a
forfeit. A team may start a game with 8
players; however, the ninth slot in the mandatory 9-man batting order will be
declared an out until such time as it is filled.
6.04 If a game is declared a
forfeit, the deficient team may pick up players from the opposing team or other
teams at the site; umpires are NOT committed to calling a game under these
conditions.
6.05 Team at bat is responsible for
retrieving foul balls.
6.06 Managers are required to
submit the official line-up, including last name, first initial, and jersey
number of all players present at the time of ground rules, to the home plate
umpire and the opposing manager. Players arriving after the start of the game
then may be added during the course of the game once the opposing team’s
manager has been notified of the addition.
6.07 Both teams are required to
keep scorebooks and to communicate changes in the offensive line-up, pitching
and catching to the opponent’s scorekeeper or official scorekeeper if
provided. Penalty to item 6.06 or 6.07
a) First occurrence Warning and
appearance before Disciplinary / Protest Committee.
b) Second occurrence: Forfeiture of the game.
7.00 Games:
Complete & Length
7.01 Length: Games are seven (7) innings,
unless otherwise determined within a division; In any
circumstance where a team is playing a double-header (back-to-back games), both
games will be seven (7) innings.
a) Games starting 5:30 p.m. or
later on fields where there are no lights will be seven (7) innings.
b) Weeknight (Sunday through
Thursday) games scheduled to start at 8 p.m. or later will be seven (7)
innings.
7.02 Time Limit
/ 9-inning scheduled: No new inning may start after
2:45 hours of playing time, subject to local curfew. The game will be
complete when the inning is finished after the time limit. On tie games, see
7.07 Tie game resolution below.
7.03 Time
Limits / 7-inning scheduled: No new inning
may start after 2:15 of playing time, subject to local curfew. The game will be complete when the inning is
finished after the time limit. On tie
games, see 7.07 Tie game resolution below.
7.04
Rainouts: Can occur only prior to the
start of a game. Prior to the start of a
game – field owner, commissioner or home team manager (in that order)
determines status of field. Once game is
under way, rain decision is in the hands of the umpire.
7.05 Complete
games: Five
(5) innings (4½ if the home team is ahead) – for both 9- and 7-inning games.
7.06 Suspended
games: If a game is not a legally
complete game when stopped by weather, darkness or power failure, it will be a
suspended game. It will be resumed at
the point it stopped at a date set by the President.
7.07 Tie
games: If the score is tied when the
time-limit rule is enforced in a legally complete game, the game will be
completed in the Roy Hobbs Shootout format.
a) Play one inning at
a time, with the last batted out from the previous inning starting the new
inning as a runner at second base.
b) Each hitter start with a full count.
If the pitch is a strike (called or swung at and missed) , the batter is out; if the pitch is a ball, the batter
walks. Or the batter hits the ball fair
and advances at his risk. Batters can foul balls off without penalty.
c) Each team
gets 3 outs. If the score remains tied
after each team has batted, repeat the process with full innings until one team
has scored more runs to win.
7.08 Mercy
rule: 12 runs after 7 innings in a 9-inning game; 12
runs after 5 innings in a 7-inning game.
Teams will forfeit under the following conditions:
8.01 Fewer than 8 players are
available at the start of game after 10-minute grace period.
a) If a game has been declared a
forfeit and both managers agree to share players.
8.02 Fewer than 8 players are
available after the start of (or during) the game because players being lost
due to ejection’s or injuries. This is
case regardless of the inning the game is in.
8.03 Use of an ineligible player.
8.04 Failure of an ejected player
to leave the park.
8.05 Lack of uniforms (all players
on the field must be in uniform – this includes base coaches and
managers). (See Rule
10.02.)
9.00 Protests / Suspension appeals
9.01
Protests: Allowed only on rules
interpretations or violations. Protests
on a judgment call by an umpire will not be accepted. Retroactive protests will not be accepted.
9.02
Process: Protests must be made at the
point at which a rule has been broken or miss-applied. To protest a game, a manager must:
a) Stop the game before the next
pitch is thrown.
b) Notify the umpire and the
opposing manager that the game is being played under protest and why.
c) Write in the HOME team’s
scorebook the situation and on what grounds the game is being protested. The manager must sign it.
d) The umpire must sign the HOME
team’s scorebook, noting the situation of the game (including the count on the
hitter) when the protest was lodged.
e) Write a check for $50 to
Cleveland Roy Hobbs Baseball and give it to the home plate umpire. (If the protest is upheld, the $50 will be
returned to the manager; if not, the $50 goes to the league.)
f) Complete protest form,
postmark it within 24 hours of the game.
9.03
Disciplinary / Protest Committee: The Committee will rule on all game protests that
occur during the course of the Cleveland Roy Hobbs Baseball season including
playoffs. Additionally, the Committee will rule on all matters that arise from
player ejections and other disciplinary matters as directed by the league
office. Members of the Committee include but are not limited to members of
CRHBL and any other person(s) deemed appropriate by the chairman of the
Committee, i.e., umpires required for rules interpretation, etc. The presence
of a minimum of three (3) members shall be required for a Disciplinary /
Protest meeting and any ruling to be valid. The Chairman of the Committee shall
be appointed by the President of the league and shall chair all meetings. In
the Chairman’s absence, the league President shall act as Chairman of the
Committee.
9.04 To CRHBL: The protest is submitted to
the league President or the Cleveland Division Commissioner or his appointed
representative.
9.05 Protest /
Suspension hearing: The Disciplinary / Protest Committee will hear all protests and appeals.
The procedures for both are identical, see 9.06 for procedures.
9.06
Proceedings: Each
manager, per his request, will have 3 minutes to explain his position on the
protest. If the protest is in regard to
an umpire’s decision, the umpire or his representative will be given 3 minutes
to explain his decision if the umpire’s presence is needed (in all protests, a
written report will be requested from the umpires on the situation). In the case of an appeal of suspension due to
an ejection, an umpire’s report is requested and his/her presence is not
needed. The Disciplinary / Protest Committee will meet in closed session to
render a decision on whether to uphold or deny the protest.
9.07 Rulings: The decision of the Disciplinary / Protest Committee is effective
immediately.
10.01
Uniforms:
Teams are strongly encouraged to use Kiama
Custom Aparrel for their uniform needs. Kiama Custom Aparel
is familiar with the uniform quality requirements of Roy Hobbs member leagues
and is cost competitive with other uniform suppliers.
10.02 Uniform
Quality: All
teams must have uniforms of a baseball quality not unlike those worn by
professional teams and be in accordance with the rules of baseball. No T-shirts
allowed (2- or 3-button jerseys must be a
10.03 Equipment:
All teams
are required to have the following equipment: Six helmets with at least one
ear-flap, full catching gear, and at least three bats.
10.04 Helmets: All batters (earflap toward
pitcher) and runners must wear helmets
10.05 Bats: Wood and metal bats are allowed; maximum differential of –3 differential with a 2 5/8s-inch diameter. No previous –5 bats (regardless of composition) will be allowed. If a challenged bat is found to be illegal, the hitter will be warned the first time, ejected the second; the bat will be confiscated and forwarded to the league office. The owner may retrieve the bat from the league office.
10.05.01 Wood Bats:
10.06 Cleats: Metal cleats are allowed.
10.07
Baseballs: CRHBL
supplies baseballs to each team. The home
team and the visiting team will each supply 3 baseballs – 2 new and 1 good used
– for each game.
10.08 Catchers’
Equipment:
Catchers are required to wear a skull-cap, a protective cup and throat guard
(can be built into mask).
11.00 Playoff Tiebreakers
11.01 For post-season playoff
seeding, the following tiebreakers will be used:
a) Head-to-Head
b) Fewest runs allowed,
head-to-head
c) Fewest runs allowed in games
won
a) Fewest runs allowed in all
games
b) 3-inning game in the Roy
Hobbs Shootout format.
The Major League Baseball rulebook, with American League specifications,
serves as the official guide for governing play for any
12.00 Safety Rules
12.01 To prevent injuries, all
players should avoid any intentional collisions with a fielder.
12.02 Any runner who deliberately
runs into or forcefully slides into a fielder will be ejected.
12.03 Illegal slides will result
in the sliding player being called out and ejected.
a) A legal slide is directly to
the base (defined as player being within an arm’s length of the bag) on a
straight line from the previous base. A
slide may go past the base. In general,
the players should slide at all bases where there is an apparent play.
b) An illegal slide is described
as:
I.
barrel-rolling
II.
body blocking
III.
sliding with such momentum that it takes the sliding player
well beyond the base.
IV.
sliding out of the baseline.
V.
sliding with spikes above the fielder’s knee
12.04 The rules committee is
concerned about unnecessary and violent collisions with the catcher at home
plate, and with infielders at all bases. The intent of this rule is for
base-runners and defensive players to avoid such collisions.
a) When there is a collision
between a runner and a fielder who clearly has possession of the ball, the
umpire shall judge:
I. Whether the collision by the
runner was avoidable (could the runner have reached the base without colliding)
or unavoidable (the runner’s path to the base was blocked) or
II. Whether the runner actually
was attempting to reach the base or attempting to dislodge the ball from the
fielder.
III. PENALTY: If the runner, a) could have avoided the collision and reach the base,
or b) attempted to dislodge the ball, the runner shall be declared out even if
the fielder loses possession of the ball. The ball is dead and all other base
runners shall return to the last base touched at the time of the interference.
IV. A.R.1 – If the collision by
the runner was flagrant, the runner
shall be declared out and also ejected from the contest. The ball shall be
declared dead.
b) If the defensive player
blocks the base (plate) or baseline clearly without possession of the ball, or
is not in the immediate act of catching the ball, obstruction shall be called.
The runner is safe and a delayed dead ball shall be called.
I. A.R.1 – If the runner
collides flagrantly, he shall be
declared safe on the obstruction, but will be ejected from the contest. The
ball is dead.
12.05 The catcher is not allowed to
block the plate without the ball or a reasonable expectation of a play on the
runner. If he does, the runner will be
safe, and the catcher will be warned. A
second warning in the game will result in ejection.
12.06 Any fielder who forces a
runner to slide by faking a tag will be ejected. The runner advances one base.
12.07 Same ejection, suspension and
expulsion rules (and appeals) apply as described in Section 2.00 of CRHBL
Regulations.
13.00 Batters Box Rule
13.01 Batters must keep one foot
in the box at all times while at bat.
The following exceptions:
a) When batter is driven out by
a pitch or has swung at a pitch.
b) Defense calls time out or
pitcher is off the mound.
c) Defense attempts a play or a
wild pitch / passed ball occurs.
d) Catcher leaves his position
e) Offense (or batter) calls
time out.
f) Batter fakes a bunt or
assumes possible ball 4 (this does not mean go all the way to first base).
13.02 When the batter is out of
the box, he may not leave the dirt area around home plate except in the case of
a substitution, a conference or an equipment problem.
13.03 This rule is to keep the
game flowing. When a player is in
violation, the umpire will ask the offending batter to return to the batter’s
box – one warning per offending player.
If the offending player does not return to the batter’s box (or if the
violation is repeated), a strike will be called without a pitch being thrown.
14.00 Line-Ups
Philosophy: CRHBL encourages participation of all players. One method to ensure participation would be
to include all players in the batting order at the start of the game. Another method would be to place a player in
the starting defensive line-up if he is not in the initial batting order. Offensive and defensive teams are considered
separate – a defensive player not in the offensive line-up may be added to the
batting order or inserted in a shared batting position at any time. Each
player at each game should have an opportunity to play some defense as well as
bat at least once.
14.01
Defensive: There are unlimited defensive
substitutions for players who are physically capable and willing to play.
14.02
Offensive: All players who are capable
and willing to bat must bat at least once every game.
14.03 The starting offensive
line-up must have at least 9 batters (all can be DH’s if it’s the manager’s
choice). The maximum number of batters
is limited only by a team’s roster.
a) The batting order may be
expanded at any time.
b) The batting order may NOT be
decreased.
c) If a game begins with 8
players, all must hit; players who arrive late must be added to the bottom of
the order until the line-up has at least 9 hitters.
14.04 Managers are required to
submit the official line-up, including last name, first initial, and jersey
number of all players present at the time of ground rules, to the home plate
umpire and the opposing manager and the official scorekeeper if provided.
Players arriving after the start of the game then may be added during the
course of the game – the opposing team’s manager and scorekeeper MUST BE
notified of the addition for the player to be able to participate.
15.00 Substitution
15.01 Defense: Free substitution at all times. (Exception:
See Pitchers, next item.)
15.02 Pitchers: Pitchers may re-enter as pitchers as long as
they remain in the game defensively. A
re-entered pitcher is limited to 4 warm-up pitches.
15.03
Offense: Those players not in the
initial offensive line-up can be inserted in the batting order by adding them
to the end of the line-up or by having them pinch-hit or pinch-run for another
player. Anytime a player is added or
inserted to share a battling slot, the manager must notify the umpires and the
opposing manager and scorekeeper. In any
situation where a player is announced as a pinch-hitter or a pinch runner,
baseball batting-order rules apply (any player who is pinch-hit or pinch-run
for cannot bat or run again – but may remain in the game defensively).
15.04 Offensive
sharing: Two (or more) players may share a position
(batting or running) in the offensive lineup; the sharing may be initiated by
the manager at any time and is not limited to one batting position.
a) Neither player may appear anywhere else in the offensive
lineup.
b) If one of the players is incapacitated
(cannot play) for any reason, the remaining players in the shared position
continue as before.
c) If all players in the shared
position are incapacitated (cannot play) for any reason, and no substitute, who
has not appeared in the offensive line-up is available, the batting position is
an automatic out.
15.05 If a player in the offensive
line-up has to leave the game due to injury, other commitment or ejection, he
must be replaced in the line-up by another player.
a) If there is no reserve player
available, the position is declared vacant and it will be an automatic out
whenever the position comes to bat for the remainder of the game (including a
resumed suspended game if there still is no replacement – the original player
may not re-enter if he had been ejected).
If an ejected player is at bat when ejected, his replacement will assume
the ball-strike count. If there is no
replacement, it is an automatic out.
b) Exemption: If a team bats
everyone available and the offensive order is at least 14 batters long, the
batting position of players forced to leave for injury or other commitment will
be bypassed (the batting order may not decrease below 13, and players leaving
the batting order due to injury may not continue to play defense); an automatic
out will only be enforced in case of an ejection.
16.00 Courtesy runners
16.01 No courtesy runners are
permitted. Exception: A courtesy runner
may be used for the catcher with 2 outs as a speed-up consideration only when
mandated by the umpire. The courtesy
runner must be the last offensive player to be put out (either as a runner or
as a hitter).
17.00 Pitchers
17.01 Pitchers may re-enter as long
as they remain in the game defensively.
17.02 There is no maximum on how many
innings a pitcher may pitch in a game or a week.
17.03 While pitching, a pitcher may
not wear white or gray undershirt sleeves or wear batting gloves or wristbands
on his pitching arm.
17.04 If a pitcher hits 4 batters
in a game, he must be removed.
17.05 Intentional walks are
allowed. However, catchers must call for
the four pitchouts.