NASA RULES BALLOT RESULTS
1. RELIEF PITCHER USAGE FOR COMPUTER-MANAGED TEAMS. OPTION A passes by a vote of 11 to 4 with 1 abstention. Rule takes effect this season. OPTION A: When the visiting manager is using HAL to manage his bullpen, the following usage rules will apply: A relief pitcher may not pitch in more than 2 consecutive games. If in any single game, the pitcher pitches his (Relief Rating + 2) innings or more, he is ineligible to pitch the following day. Normal NASA rules will still apply to the home team. To prevent abuse of this rule, when it is in effect, owners are forbidden from using the "do not let HAL remove" option. 2. REVISED SP USAGE LIMITS IN PLAYOFFS. Issue PASSES by a vote of 16 to 0. This rule will take effect this season. Any pitcher appearing in relief in a playoff series must rest according the to the Super-Advanced Starting Pitchers Rest Chart before making his next start. For "previous outings innings", use the total number of innings pitched since his last rest day, computed as of the day of his last appearance. If that pitcher relieves in the interim, his rest days can be no shorter than the original calculation. 3. MODIFICATION TO FT/PT DEFINITION. Issue PASSES by a vote of 11 to 5. This rule will take effect for the 2002 season. Instead of using (AB+BB)/G >= 3.5 as the criteria for determining FULL-TIME player status, we will use PA/G >= 3.5. For the purposes of calculation, PA will be defined as (AB+BB+HBP+SH+SF). 4. MODIFICATION OF USAGE FOR HITTERS. Issue PASSES by a vote of 12 to 4. This rule will take effect for the 2002 season. Part-time players will be limited by plate appearances instead of AB. 5. RULE TO LIMIT CG FOR STARTING PITCHERS. Issue FAILS by a vote of 10 to 6. 6. CLARIFICATION OF ROSTER REQUIREMENTS/"INJURED" PLAYERS. Issue PASSES by a vote of 12 to 4. HOWEVER, we will postpone the implementation of the rule until NEXT year. There are at least two teams who could be affected by this, so in the interest of fairness we will postpone. After designating players as "injured", a team must still have at least two eligible, un-injured players at each position. Two starters cannot mutually back each other up without an eligible replacement from the bench. For example, if both the starting 2B and SS are rated at both 2B and SS, you still need at least one other player eligible at one of these positions on the available roster. 7. REGULAR SEASON PLAYOFFS: MULTIPLE TEAMS. Issue PASSES by a vote of 15 to 1. It will take effect this year. In the event of a tie between several teams for one or more remaining playoff spots, the following guidelines will apply. (1) Tie-breakers will not be used to eliminate a team from the playoffs. They can only be used to determine playoff seeding and home team advantage. If two teams are tied for a division, but the losing team would get the wild card anyway, a tie-breaker can be used and a playoff game is not necessary. (2) If teams are tied for a division, and at the same time tied for a wildcard position, the division championship shall be resolved first via a playoff game. The loser of this game will still be considered tied for the wildcard, i.e., his loss of the playoff game will not affect his regular season record for the determination of wild card standings. Additional playoff game(s) would be necessary to resolve the wild-card tie. (3) The possible number of situations that can arise are too numerous to mention. The Commissioner, in consultation with the Executive Committee, will specify the exact regular-season playoff structure with the above Guidelines in mind. If the Commissioner is one of the teams involved in the tie, the Deputy Commissioner will act in his stead. If he also has a conflict of interest, a neutral owner shall be appointed to make the ruling. 8. REGULAR SEASON PLAYOFFS: REST/DAYS OFF. Issue PASSES by a vote of 14 to 2. It will take effect this year. All players are considered rested at the end of the last scheduled regular season game. There are 2 off days between the end of the regular season and the beginning of the playoffs and depending on the number of playoff games needed, they will be scheduled on the first, or both days. Starting pitcher and relief pitcher rest rules carry over from on playoff game to the next, and also carry over into the post-season playoffs. 9. REGULAR SEASON PLAYOFFS: ROSTER/USAGE. Issue PASSES by a vote of 14 to 2. It will take effect this year. The roster for regular season playoff games is the same 30-man roster that was used in the final month of the season, no additions or deletions are allowed for any reason. Any player who has exceeded his regular season usage is ineligible to play in the regular season playoff game(s). All full-time players and starting pitchers may appear in regular season playoff games, even if they have used 100% of their allowed appearances in the 162-game season. Part-time players, swing men, and relief pitchers are still limited by their AB and IP. Part-time players who have reached their regular season AB limits are entitled to 2 extra AB in the playoff games. Pitchers who have reached their IP limits are entitled to 1 extra IP. 10. DEPLETED BULLPEN RULE. OPTION A is chosen by a vote of 9 to 7 over OPTION B. This rule will take effect this season. OPTION A: If a team has exhausted its available pitchers in the bullpen, the current pitcher must remain in for the rest of the game. Only in the event of injurey can a non-pitcher may be brought in to pitch. If the pitcher exceeds his NASA-allowed usage, he is ineligible to pitch for the rest of the series. If the team is being managed by HAL, we will accept whatever action HAL takes. 11. ADOPTION OF CLOSER RULE. Issue FAILS by a vote of 12 to 4. This means no change to current rules. 12. PLAYOFF INJURIES: OPTION B is selected with 10 votes. OPTION A received 0 votes, OPTION C received 6 votes. This rule will take effect for the current season OPTION B: 1-4: stays in game; 5-12: out for game; 13-16: out for game +1 day; 17-20: out for game + 2 days; 13. MODIFICATION TO NASA REGULAR SEASON INJURY RULE: OPTION A is selected with 9 votes. OPTION B received 2 votes, OPTION C received 2 votes, OPTION D received 1 vote, and there were 2 ABSTAINS. This means no change to current rules -- injuries will remain as GAME ONLY.
