NATIONAL FUN TOURNAMENT

2012

 RULE ADDENDUMS AND INFORMATION

 The following addendums supersede all present rules as established by the National Adult Baseball Association (NABA) and the National Baseball Congress. These addendums will apply to the Las Vegas Fun Tournament only.

1. Eligibility - During the year 2012 Over 50 Baseball National Fun Tournament in Las Vegas, participants should be at least 48 years old as of December 31, 2012 to play in the 50 and over division.  A player must be 55 years old and 60 years old by December 31, 2012 to respectively play in the 55 and 60 and over divisions.   The tournament director reserves the right to directly assign both primary and secondary players to a team with 10 players or less, as well as to give waivers to specific individuals if needed to maintain the appropriate team levels of the tournament.

Participants who want to play on 2 teams may do so as long as they pay a secondary team fee, and are age eligible to participate with both teams.  If you are interested in playing more than one game a day (NOT GUARANTEED) then you may register to play on a secondary team as long as you are age eligible to play in that division.  If you are interested in playing more than one game a day (Guaranteed), then you may register to play on the TEAM USA organization as long as you are age eligible to play in that division.

 All managers of teams who do not have a minimum of 11 players registered and paid in full as of September 15th each year, will be required to accept direct player assignments made by the tournament director. Once assigned, those new players will remain on that team's roster, even if late registrants (preferred by the manager) would have completed that team's roster before the start of the tournament.

2. Stealing Bases - Stealing bases will not be permitted while the pitcher has possession of the baseball on the mound, or when he pitches it to the plate, or when the catcher attempts to throw the ball back to the pitcher. In addition, runners on base are not only imperiled from stealing, but are prohibited from taking bases as a result of wild pitches, passed balls, and dropped pitched balls by the catcher. If a pitched ball does not make contact with the batter's bat but does make contact with the ground, the ball will be immediately considered to be a dead ball, and the catcher must throw the ball back to the pitcher (only) to put the ball back into play. If a base runner has inadvertently tried to advance to the next base in that dropped ball/wild pitch/passed ball situation, the base umpire should immediately stop play and direct him back to the base that he came from, after the dead ball has been called and before the next pitch. However, if a pitcher or catcher attempts to pick-off the runner (taking too big of a lead), and the pick-off attempt hits the ground during that play, the base runner(s) may try to advance. Otherwise, all base runners are forced back to their bases. Pick-off attempts by the catcher can only be attempted if the ball has not touched the ground during or after each pitch.

3. Dropped Third Strikes - If a batter strikes out and the pitched ball is not caught on the fly by the catcher (the ball makes contact with the ground), the batter will be eligible to run to first base if it is unoccupied. All other runners on base cannot advance during the strikeout (see rule #2), unless the throw to first base to put out the batter (after striking out) makes contact with the ground. However, if there are 2 outs and first base is occupied, the batter (after striking out) will be eligible to run to first base just as traditional baseball rules allow. All base runners that are forced by the batter running to first base will be required to try to advance to the next base.

4. Runners - If a batter, after reaching base successfully and the play is finished, does not wish to run the bases (desires to be a non-runner), that batter may call "time" and have the last player in the batting order on his team run for him. (The decision to replace a non-runner must be made immediately after a player reaches base and before the first pitch to the next batter. No changes can be made after that next pitch, except for bonafide injuries as determined by the umpires.) If a player who is acting as a substitute runner is scheduled to be at bat while still on the base path, then the last player in the batting order will run for him so that he can take his turn at bat.

5. Batting Order - All teams will utilize an extended batting order. All players present will be placed in the batting order during "pool-play" and throughout the playoffs, with the exception of the Championship Game. In the championship game any additional hitters not in the lineup must be placed as a potential substitute on the lineup card according to traditional NABA rules.

6. Injury or Ejection - If a player is injured or is ejected by an umpire, the batting order will be shortened without penalty. Players who are removed from the batting order, but are still present at the field when it is their turn to bat (except players who are injured), will be declared an automatic out for being illegally skipped in the batting order.

7. Time and Innings - All games will be 7 innings or 2 hours and 30 minutes. No new inning will be started after 2 and 30 minutes have been played. However, once an inning has been started, that inning must be completed even if it extends the game beyond 2 hours and 30 minutes of playing time. In case of inclement weather or poor playing conditions, a game is considered official after 4 complete innings of play. All games may end in a tie if scheduled time runs out, except for the pool championship game and playoff games, which will be played to completion to determine a winner.

8. Emergency and Secondary Players - If a team anticipates being short-handed, the manager may recruit players from the emergency substitute list. A listing of all possible volunteers will be provided to each team manager before the tournament begins. Players who volunteer to play extra games (as emergency substitutes) should be notified as soon as possible before the scheduled games by the manager of the team that needs an additional player. These additional volunteer players should be added to a team in order for that team to have 9, or 10, available players for the game. On each lineup card, the manager identifies secondary and emergency substitute players, by placing an "S" for official secondary players and an "E" for emergency substitute volunteers just to the left of the player's name. All secondary players must be listed after primary players, and emergency substitute players must be listed after the secondary players at the very bottom of the batting order. Emergency volunteer players are not allowed to pitch, except when the opposing manager approves, along with that pitcher's manager, as well. During the playoffs, each team should field their own players only, even if they have only 9 players available. Volunteer players (during the playoffs) may be added to a team that has less than 9 healthy players, only with the approval of the tournament director.

9. Avoiding Forfeits - Extra players from the opponent's team may be utilized (with the permission and approval of the manager and his team, who have more than 9 players present, and only with the approval of the tournament director) only as a last resort to avoid a forfeit. No player, however, will be forced to play against his own team.

10. Pitching Restrictions - There are no restrictions on pitchers in the tournament. Pitchers may be removed from the mound and be allowed to return. However, once a pitcher has been removed as a pitcher during an inning, that pitcher may not return to the mound until at least the next inning.

11. Wood Bats - Only wood (metal wood, and composite wood are allowed) bats and spikes will be permitted.

12. Five Run Per Inning Rule - Once a team has scored 5 runs in an inning, play is halted and the half inning is over. However, if in achieving the 5 maximum runs allowed per inning, an over-the-fence home run is hit with men on base that results in more than 5 total runs, all of the runs will be scored. (For example, if the bases are loaded and four runs have already been scored in a half inning and the batter hits a grand slam over the fence, 8 runs will count.) This rule will apply to all innings except the last scheduled inning and any extra innings that time allows, when each team may score as many runs as possible. This is necessary to insure that the team that is behind will have the opportunity to catch up during their last inning at bat. In a slowly played game (in which many runs may have been scored), if 2 hours of game time have elapsed and 5 or less innings have been played, the home plate umpire (in conjunction with the official Over 50 Baseball "Game Field Supervisor") may be forced to designate the 6th or possibly an even earlier inning as the final inning and treat that inning as stated above for scoring unlimited runs. Such a decision must be made before the 3rd out is
made in the top half (visitor's half) of the possible last inning in question.

13. No Collision Rule - In order to prevent injuries at all bases, a no collision rule will be enforced. Base runners must either slide or give themselves up. However, sliding is not required in this tournament because of the age group. Players should not be forced to slide, if they wish not to, but a non-sliding player must not interfere with continued play on the field by avoiding the play or giving themselves up.

14. Mercy Rule - There is no mercy-run rule. This will insure that players on the short end of a big losing score will still get their opportunities to bat.

15. NABA Rules - Additional special rules are covered in the Manager's Rulebook and Guidelines as printed by the NABA. All other official rules are determined by the National Baseball Congress Rulebook. When in doubt, contact the tournament director. Protests must be addressed by the manager only and directed to the home plate umpire and the opposing manager before play continues. Because of the uniqueness of our rules, the umpires may have no authority over, nor any knowledge about certain rules and situations. When in doubt, a manager should immediately consult with the opposing manager to determine legality of a play before play continues. Since there will be an NABA representative/executive acting as a "Game Field Supervisor" at each game field, rule questions should be addressed to them. The game field supervisor will contact the tournament director and a decision will be made immediately on the field. Otherwise, protests will not be valid and cannot be considered. All tournament team managers are required to possess these "Addendum to the Rules" during all tournament games.

16. Reporting Scores - Las Vegas Tournament scores must be reported/confirmed with the "Game Field Supervisor" immediately after the completion of each game. Daily tournament information will also be accessible on the NABA website at www.dugout.org and on the toll-free telephone line 1-800-621-6479.

17. Schedules - A schedule is completed for every team, for each day of the entire tournament with the exception of the playoffs and championship games.  Each player will receive a copy from their manager.  If two or more teams are tied in the standings/seedings at the end of pool play or at any time that tied records need to be broken, the traditional NABA tournament tiebreaker rules will apply. Managers should read and know the NABA tiebreaker rules given at the managers meeting. 

18. Dugouts - The home team always occupies the first base dugout, except in approved special situations. Any multiple teams, such as the Browns/Fossils, Mariners and Braves organizations, which consists of 2 teams (one in each age group), will play back-to-back on the same field each day. Those organizations will stay in one dugout all day, even though each of their teams may not be the same home or visiting team in both games.

19. Home and Visitors - The best seeded team will (usually) be the home team during all playoff games and championship games. The decision concerning which team will be assigned as home team in each pool game will be made by the tournament director, with the intent to provide equality in home-team assignments.

20. Team USA - With the establishment of "Team USA", these teams will play at 3:00 PM each day to ensure that the players, who play on their primary teams at either 8:15 AM or 11:30 AM, have the ability to play on their assigned Team USA. Team USA's are comprised exclusively of secondary players and will play in the division which makes them age eligible, and allows the tournament director to balance the divisions.  If Team USA plays in a championship game, the only players eligible for such a game will be those who are listed on that specific team's roster provided at the beginning of the tournament.