Fox River Valley Legion League Bylaws

ADMINISTRATION
1. Organization – League officers shall be President, Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer. League shall consist of two conferences with the American Conference consisting of the North, Central, and East Divisions, while the National Conference shall consist of the South and West Divisions. Each conference may be further divided into divisions at the league’s annual meeting. Division directors (one per division) and league statistician to be appointed annually by league president. League President has disciplinary authority as merited.
2. Annual meeting – Annual spring meeting shall be held in January. Announcement of time and place to be published in Green Bay Press-Gazette and Appleton Post-Crescent for two consecutive Sundays prior to annual meeting. All league business advisors and managers of record the previous year are to receive notice via e-mail at least two weeks prior to meeting date. Those business advisors/managers with no e-mail address listed will have a copy of the agenda mailed to them.
3. Additional meetings – Additional meetings may be called by league officers or any three concurring division directors, provided notices are sent out at least one week in advance to all league managers.
4. Attendance – Each team must be represented at the annual meeting or notify league president in advance. Team schedule may be jeopardized if not represented.
5. League dues – Annual fee of $100 per varsity team, and $25 per JV team shall be paid to the league secretary-treasurer no later than May 31. A $10 per month late fee will be assessed for late payment. Nonpayment of dues by the following year’s annual meeting shall result in a one-year suspension from league play.
6. Awards – The league will provide conference and league championship trophies. The league will also provide individual trophies to the top hitter and top pitcher within each division. Winners of the hitting and pitching awards are determined by formulas. Award-winners are automatically invited to league banquet.
      Hitting – A candidate for the hitting award must have a minimum of two at bats per scheduled league game. For a player having a high batting average, but not enough at bats, the statistician will add the number of at bats necessary to reach the minimum on to his total. The average will then be recalculated. This will still qualify the hitter for the award.
      Pitching – A candidate for the pitching award must have a minimum of 1.5 innings per scheduled league game to qualify for the award. The pitchers will be rated using the following formula:
                                                                                                            Factor
      A. Percentage of wins versus total decisions                                        1
      B. Innings pitched                                                                               2
      C. Strikeouts per inning (most)                                                            2
      D. Walks per inning (least)                                                                  2
      E. Hits per inning (least)                                                                      2

      The ranking each qualifying pitcher holds in each category is multiplied by the factor for that category to arrive at a point total. The points scored for each category are then totaled, with the pitcher having the least amount of points receiving the award.
7. Rules – The Official Rules of Major League Baseball will govern at all times, in addition to the National Rule Book and State of Wisconsin Handbook .
     A. The designated hitter may be used for the pitcher only.
     B. Re-entry is not allowed.
     C. Courtesy runners are not allowed.
     D. A 10-run rule is in effect after five innings.
     E. Neither coaches or umpires are allowed to waive any rule(s) by mutual agreement.
8. New Members – New teams must apply for membership at the annual meeting. Applicant must show proof of adequate facilities, player pools and financial support.
9. Leave of Absence – If a team serves three consecutive years as a full member, it can draw up to two consecutive years leave of absence, and return as a full member, but under guideline for new teams as stated in Administration Section 8 of these bylaws.

ROSTERS

1. Team Roster – Rosters shall include name and uniform number. Roster must be submitted to league statistician prior to playing first league game. This will assist statistician with the league website.
2. Player limit – The league player limit is 18 boys. ALL players must be eligible according to National American Legion rules.
3. No Dual Participation – American Legion baseball players shall not play with any other baseball team while a member of an American Legion baseball team, except for amateur programs that involve only players of the same age level as American Legion Baseball, and do not interfere with a player’s responsibility to American Legion Baseball. See Wisconsin American Legion Baseball Rule 2, part C for further explanation.
4. Line-up Cards – Each team is to have a line-up card available for opponents before any game may start. This card must have first and last names of each player with starters indicated.

EQUIPMENT
1. Balls – Approved balls for league play are: Diamond DHS-G and D-PRO, Spaulding #1, Reach #0, Wilson #1010, McGregor #97 and #97C, Rawlings #R0 and #R1, Western Collegiate WA-1 Pro and the official American Legion Ball. Home team must have at least six new balls available for each game. They must be all of the same manufacturer.
2. Uniforms – Player uniforms are to conform to state handbook. Manager and coaches must be in uniform. Former pitcher may wear jacket over uniform except when batting.
3. Helmets – All batters and base runners shall wear double ear flap helmets. Bat boys and bat girls must also wear helmets. Base coaches must wear a helmet when on the field in accordance with the National American Legion Baseball Rule 1J.
4. Catchers – Catchers are required to wear a safety helmet, throat protector, and protective cup in addition to normal catcher equipment.
5. Cleats – Metal cleats are allowed.

SCORE AND STATISTICS REPORTING
1. Scoring – Home team is official scorer.
2. Reporting – Both teams are responsible for submitting scorecard to league statistician no later than 48 hours after the game is completed. Teams are also responsible for contacting newspapers immediately following game with score and highlights. Consult directory for phone list.
3. League statistician – Statistician will notify respective newspaper and radio stations for publication on a weekly basis. League standings, weekly scores, leading hitters and pitchers and any other pertinent publicity items are to be included in report. As of 2002, mailings will be no longer sent out. All league information is available at www.frvlegion.com. Teams not returning scoresheets are subject to fine by league president.

UMPIRES AND PROTESTS
1. Umpires – For each home game, the home team must furnish at least two qualified umpires, 19 years of age or older. All umpires are required to wear appropriate uniform. Direct relatives of team member not permitted. Umpires not to smoke on diamond.
2. Protest Procedure – Protest must be made to umpires immediately following the infraction and before next pitch is made. Protest publicly announced by umpire-in-chief. Protesting team to send written protest as well as names, address and telephone numbers of umpires to league president with protest fee of $15. Letter to be postmarked no mater than 24 hours of conclusion of game. If not as above, protest not allowed. All protests to be decided by protest board to consist of league officers and division directors, but not including division directors of protesting division. A minimum of three officials will constitute protest board. Their decision shall be final. Result of protest to be announced as soon as possible but no later than 10 days after game. Umpire team must file written report with league president within three days of game.

PLAY AND POSTPONEMENTS
1. League Play – A playoff schedule will be established as determined at the annual meeting. Team must play all of their scheduled league games to be eligible for the division championship. Any exceptions must be approved by the league president. If a tie exists, the following tiebreaker shall be used: 1) head-to-head, 2) least runs allowed in all league games among tied teams, 3) coin flip.
2. Postponed Games – All postponed games must be rescheduled within two weeks of originally scheduled game and played as soon as possible, except at end of schedule where all games must be played within one week after last scheduled game. Any team that does not complete its schedule intentionally as above described shall forfeit game to opponent and be placed on probation the next year. Both teams are responsible for rescheduling games within above period. If home team cannot obtain facilities, the game shall be scheduled on a neutral field or opponents field if a neutral site cannot be found. League games shall not be postponed for reasons other than rainouts, or if one of the teams is participating in the WIAA State Baseball Tournament. In this case, teams will be allowed one day off after the State Tournament.
3. Non-league games – Non-league games may be scheduled with any other team within league or outside league. League games will take precedence.
4. Pre-game practice – All league games shall start at time scheduled. Home team fielding practice shall start 35 minutes before game time and visiting team fielding practice shall start 20 minutes before game time. Five minutes is allowed for introductions and for umpires and ground rules. There will be no batting practice for visiting team unless prior arrangements are made.
5. Length of game – All games will be seven innings, with a 10-run rule after five innings.
6. Weather conditions or time changes – Home team to notify opponent as soon as possible on any changes in time or adverse weather conditions.
7. Notification of postponements – League statistician must be notified within 48 hours by home team if game is postponed or rained out, and if possible, the makeup date.
8. Darkness – Games terminated by umpire due to darkness shall be treated the same as a rained-out game. (Five innings constitute an official game. If darkness or rain halts play when game is tied, it is a suspended game and shall be resumed at the point of suspension at a date agreed upon by both coaches). In case of rain or interruption due to other unusual circumstances, any game so affected shall continue from point of interruption.
9. Forfeits – Forfeits are considered a win and a loss. They are not to be rescheduled for league standing purposes, but can be rescheduled as a non-league game upon agreement of both coaches. If a team forfeits a league game the following shall take place: 1.) If the away team forfeits, they will pay a fine of $150 to the home team. 2.) If the home team forfeits, they will be asked to pay double the league fee to enter the league the following season. 3.) All teams that forfeit a league game will be placed on probation for one (1) year for the first offense, and five (5) years for the second occurrence. If a team forfeits a league while on probation, they will be suspended from the league for the following season, and will need to reapply for admission to the league following the completion of their suspension.
10. Injury substitutions – Must follow National American Legion Baseball Rule.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFFS (If applicable)
1. Playoff games – The conference playoff hosts will be the team with the highest winning percentage in the regular season. Should there be a tie win winning percentage, the team with the least runs allowed in all league games will host. Should there still be a tie, a coin flip shall be used to determine the host. For the league playoff, the same criteria shall be applied to determine the host.
2. Length of games – There shall be a 10-run rule after five innings. State Tournament rules apply when resuming a suspended playoff game.
3. Rotation – If the designated home team cannot get a facility, the game shall be played at a neutral site. If a neutral site cannot be found the game shall be played at the next team in line to host.

LEAGUE ALL-STAR GAME
1. Game – An all-star game shall be played each year, between the American team and the National team. Teams shall be represented by a division as determined by the league president at the annual meeting. No free substitution shall be permitted.
2. Date – The date and site of the game will be selected at the annual meeting each year.
3. Player Selection – Each team MUST nominate three players. The top player recommended by a team is automatically selected to the squad, with the remaining players selected on an at-large basis by the all-star coaches. No team may have more than two players selected. The at-large pool will come from the Nos. 2-3 recommendations on the all-star nomination form. A total of 27 players will be selected for each team.
4. Banquet – The league all-star and awards banquet will immediately follow the all-star game. The host team for the all-star game is responsible for securing a banquet facility. All-star players are required to attend the banquet. The league will pay the meal for all-star players, coaches and league award-winners.

ALIGNMENT
1. Alignment – Selection of conferences and/or divisions are to be based on geographic locations, size of schools drawn from and usual and/or anticipated tournament classification.
2. Realignment – Realignment to be approved by majority vote of managers present at annual meeting.

AMENDMENTS
1. Amending Bylaws – To amend these bylaws, any changes must be mailed to each manager at least two weeks prior to the annual meeting, and approved by the majority vote of those managers present at that meeting. It is understood that any amendment must have the written approval of the Department of Wisconsin Baseball Committee.

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