NOTE: IF THE GAME IS NOT PLAYED HEAD TO HEAD, THE TEAM MP MUST HAVE THE MANAGER TENDENCIES SET TO THE FOLLOWING LEVELS IN THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

PH for a pitcher:         Most frequent
PH for a non-pitcher:     Most frequent
PH for platoon player:    Most frequent
PH in a blowout:          Most frequent
Using relievers:          Most frequent
Using closers:            Most frequent

IF THE GAME IS PLAYED HEAD TO HEAD, AN EFFORT IS TO BE MADE SO THAT TRADITIONAL SP's DO NOT GO MORE THAN 3 INNINGS.

NOTE: IF A PLAYER IS INJURED IN A POSTSEASON SERIES, THE TEAM CANNOT REPLACE THE PLAYER WITH A NON-ACTIVE PLAYER IN THE SAME SERIES THE PLAYER IS INJURED UNLESS THE PLAYER IS THE ONLY PLAYER ON THE TEAM RATED AT CATCHER. IF THE TEAM ADVANCES TO THE NEXT SERIES, THEN & ONLY THEN CAN A TEAM PROMOTE A NON-ACTIVE PLAYER TO REPLACE ANY OTHER INJURED PLAYER. THE INJURED PLAYER IS NOT TO BE PUT ON THE DL.

REGULAR SEASON:
POSITION PLAYERS, (BATTERS), MUST ATTAIN A MINIMUM % OF THEIR PLATE APPEARANCES, (PA'S), FROM THE DATA DISK NOT TO EXCEED 150% BASED ON THE AGE SCALE BELOW IN ORDER TO PROTECT A PLAYER AT THE END OF THE SEASON.
PITCHERS MUST ATTAIN A MINIMUM % OF THEIR BATTERS FACED FROM THE DATA DISK NOT TO EXCEED 150% BASED ON THE AGE SCALE BELOW IN ORDER TO PROTECT A PITCHER AT THE END OF THE SEASON.
THE PERCENTAGE TO TRACK APPEARS ON THE PLAYERS CARD, COMBINED TOTAL IF ON MORE THAN 1 TEAM.
EXCEPTION: CHANGE IN OWNERSHIP: IF A TEAM CHANGES OWNERS PRIOR TO THE ALL-STAR BREAK, THE NEW OWNER MUST MEET A MINIMUM OF 35% OF AB'S OR BATTERS FACED & IF THE CHANGE IN OWNERSHIP OCCURS AFTER THE ALL-STAR BREAK, THE NEW OWNER MUST MEET A MINIMUM OF 20% OF AB'S OR BATTERS FACED. THERE MAY BE OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES THAT ARE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION BASED ON WHEN A TEAM CHANGED OWNERSHIP IN A SEASON. IF AN N.L. TEAM, THE DH EXCEPTION USAGE FOR ONE PLAYER DROPS TO 15% IF THE TEAM WAS TAKEN OVER BEFORE THE ALL-STAR BREAK OR 10% IF THE NEW OWNER TOOK OVER THE TEAM AFTER THE ALL-STAR BREAK.

* MINIMUM PLAYING TIME TO PROTECT PLAYERS IS BASED ON THE FOLLOWING SCALE:
Up to the age of 26: 30%
27 - 30: 50%
31+ 75%
* THE AGES USED ARE THOSE ON THE PLAYERS 'CARD' OF THE CURRENT SEASON'S DATA DISK.

* PLAYERS INVOLVED IN REGULAR SEASON TRADES DO NOT HAVE TO MEET MINIMUM USAGE REQUIREMENTS. THEY CANNOT HOWEVER, EXCEED THE MAXIMUM USAGE LIMIT OF 150%.

DH EXCEPTION RULE FOR N.L. TEAMS:
* N.L. TEAMS ARE ALLOWED TO PROTECT ONE ADDITIONAL POSITION PLAYER OF ANY AGE THAT MEETS A MINIMUM OF 25% USAGE AS A BALANCE TO THE DH POSITION IN THE A.L. *

OTHER IMPORTANT NOTES:
A) PLAYERS FALLING SHORT OF THESE REGULAR SEASON MINIMUM USAGE GOALS BECOME FREE AGENTS IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE CONCLUSION OF THE WORLD SERIES.
B) PLAYERS EXCEEDING THIS LIMIT BECOME FREE AGENTS IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE CONCLUSION OF THE WORLD SERIES IF NOT SOONER. THE MOMENT A PLAYER HAS REACHED HIS PLAYING USAGE LIMIT,  HE IS NO LONGER ELIGIBLE TO PLAY IN THE CURRENT, REGULAR SEASON & SHOULD BE FARMED OUT.
C) OVER USAGE SCALE. SHOULD A PLAYER EXCEED HIS MAXIMUM USAGE, THE TEAM IS PENALIZED AS FOLLOWS,:

151-160%: LEVEL 1 PENALTY
(EXAMPLE: WARNING &/OR LOSS OF OVERUSED PLAYER)
161-175%: LEVEL 2 PENALTY
(EXAMPLE: L1 PENALTY PLUS LOSS OF ALL ROOKIES, (THE SEASON THAT FOLLOWS)
176%+: LEVEL 3 PENALTY
(EXAMPLE: L1 & L2 PENALTIES & LOSS OF ALL DRAFT PICKS, (THE SEASON THAT FOLLOWS. IF NONE, THEN THE NEXT SEASON. LOSS OF FRANCHISE WILL BE HIGHLY CONSIDERED).

PENALTIES ARE AT THE LEAGUE OFFICIALS DISCRETION UP TO & INCLUDING LOSS OF FRANCHISE. DECISIONS OR PENALTIES WILL NEVER BE SET AS PRECEDENCE. REPUTATION, TENURE, ETC. WILL ALWAYS BE CONSIDERED.
WE WILL ALWAYS LOOK AT THIS ISSUE IN A CASE BY CASE MANNER IN RESOLVING THE OUTCOME.
DO NOT EXPECT CONSISTENCY IN THIS MATTER.

D) OWNERS MAY APPEAL THE POTENTIAL LOSS OF A PLAYER THAT DID NOT MEET REQUIRED MINIMUMS ON THE BASIS OF AN INJURY/INJURIES.

FOR BATTERS, THE GAME(S) THE PLAYER WAS INJURED ADDED TO THE AMOUNT OF GAMES THE PLAYER PLAYED IN MUST EQUAL THE MINIMUM USAGE % FOR THAT PLAYER, OF THE ACTUAL, REAL-LIFE/DATA DISK, GAMES PLAYED OR MORE.

FOR PITCHERS WE CALCULATE AS FOLLOWS:
1) DATA DISK BF/DATA DISK GAMES PLAYED IN = BF PER GAME (A)
2) A*GAMES INJURED = POTENTIAL BF SHORT (B)

"B" IS ADDED TO THE BF THE PLAYER REACHED IN FCBL SEASON PLAY. THIS FINAL NUMBER MUST MEET OR EXCEED THE REQUIRED BF TO PROTECT THE PITCHER.

EXAMPLE OF A BATTER'S INJURY APPEAL CASE:
Team 'A':
Player: Joe Baseball
Age: 28
Minimum usage required: 50%
Actual 2003 usage: 35%
Appeal Information:
Data disk games played: 45
50% actual games played requirement for a player this age: 22.5
Actual games played: 15
Games injured: 22
Total, (actual plus games injured): 37
Player retained. Player usage with injured games is equal to or greater than 22.5 games.

EXAMPLE OF A PITCHER'S INJURY APPEAL CASE:
Team 'B':
Player: Joe Baseball
Age: 28
Minimum usage required: 50%
Actual 2003 usage: 25%
Data disk BF, (286)/Data Disk games played in (72) = 3.97 data disk BF per game (A)
Appeal Information:
Data Disk BF: 286
50% BF usage requirement for a player this age: 143 (B)
Gameplay BF for the season: 73 (C)
Gameplay games injured: 10 (D)

D, (Games injured), *A, (Real-life BF per game) = 39.70 (E), (estimated loss of BF due to injury)
Total, C + E = 112.70 (F)
F did not meet or exceed B. Player is not retained.

POSTSEASON:
POSITION PLAYERS, (BATTERS), THAT HAVE LESS THAN 100 AB'S & STARTING PITCHERS THAT HAVE LESS THAN 50 IP, BASED ON THE DATA DISK IN USE, MAY NOT PARTICIPATE IN POSTSEASON PLAY.
NOTE: IF A PLAYER IS INJURED IN A POSTSEASON SERIES, THE TEAM CANNOT REPLACE THE PLAYER WITH A NON-ACTIVE PLAYER. IF THE TEAM ADVANCES TO THE NEXT SERIES, THEN & ONLY THEN CAN A TEAM PROMOTE A PLAYER TO REPLACE AN INJURED PLAYER. THE INJURED PLAYER IS NOT TO BE PUT ON THE DL. IN ADDITION, INJURED CATCHERS ARE THE ONLY PLAYERS THAT MAY BE REPLACED DURING A PLAYOFF SERIES SHOULD A CATCHER SUFFER AN INJURY DUE TO THE UNIQUENESS OF THE POSITION. THIS IS A MLB RULE.

5.2 MANAGERS SHOULD ONLY USE PLAYERS AT POSITIONS THEY ARE RATED FOR AS PLAYERS WILL GET THE WORST POSSIBLE RATING IN A GAME SITUATION WHEN THEY ARE PLAYING "OUT OF POSITION." IT IS NOT MANDATED THAT A PLAYER "MUST" PLAY ONLY AT A RATED POSITION HOWEVER, IT IS NOT IN THE TEAMS BEST INTEREST TO PLAY SOMEONE OUT OF POSITION. YOU ARE THE OWNER, GM AND FIELD MANAGER AND ARE WELCOME TO PLAY THEM WHERE YOU WISH. HERE IS THE DETAILED EXPLANATION FROM 'DIAMOND MIND' AS TO THE IMPACT OF PLAYERS BEING PLAYED OUT OF POSITION:
OUT-OF-POSITION PENALTIES, (From Diamond Mind):
The game automatically imposes penalties on the range & error rating for players at a position they are not rated for. The magnitude of the penalty depends on the similarity & relative difficulty of the new position & the other positions for which the player is rated. The penalties are smallest when moving from a harder position to an easier one.  For example, a CF can be moved to LF or RF without paying much of a price, & a SS can move to 2B or 3B without much of a problem. Moves in the other direction incur a higher penalty. The penalties are also much larger when moving to a very different type of position. An outfielder moving to the infield will suffer a lot more than an outfielder moving from one outfield position to another. Catcher is a unique position, so moves to & from catcher are penalized more heavily than other moves. Our goal with this approach has been to make it possible for DMB managers to move players to new positions in much the same way that real-life managers do. There are lots of real-life shortstops who get moved to third or second & center fielders who shift to a corner outfield spot. Less often, you'll see catchers moved to first & first basemen moved to left or right. We want the game to accommodate moves like that while making it much more difficult to get away with moving a right fielder to Shortstop.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR CONSIDERATION INTO THE FCBL HALL OF FAME:
BATTERS/POSITION PLAYERS:
PRIOR TO THE LEAGUE REACHING THE 12 SEASON MARK:
PLAYER TO HAVE PLAYED A MINIMUM OF 5 YEARS, HAS BEEN RETIRED FOR 2, & HAVE 2500 PLATE APPEARANCES.
AFTER THE LEAGUE REACHES THE 12 SEASON MARK:
PLAYER TO HAVE PLAYED 10 YEARS, HAS BEEN RETIRED FOR 2, & HAVE 5000 PLATE APPEARANCES.

STARTING PITCHERS:
PRIOR TO THE LEAGUE REACHING THE 12 SEASON MARK:
PLAYER TO HAVE PLAYED A MINIMUM OF 5 YEARS, HAS BEEN RETIRED FOR 2, & HAVE 3200 BATTERS FACED.
AFTER THE LEAGUE REACHES THE 12 SEASON MARK:
PLAYER TO HAVE PLAYED 10 YEARS, HAS BEEN RETIRED FOR 2, & HAVE 6400 BF.
RELIEF PITCHERS:
PRIOR TO THE LEAGUE REACHING THE 12 SEASON MARK:
PLAYER TO HAVE PLAYED A MINIMUM OF 5 YEARS, HAS BEEN RETIRED FOR 2, & PITCHED IN 250 GAMES.
AFTER THE LEAGUE REACHES THE 12 SEASON MARK:
PLAYER TO HAVE PLAYED 10 YEARS, HAS BEEN RETIRED FOR 2, & PITCHED IN 500 GAMES.

PLEASE NOTE THAT SPECIAL CONSIDERATION CAN BE MADE FOR CERTAIN PLAYERS IF THEY DO NOT MEET THE ABOVE CRITERIA HOWEVER, THIS IS AT THE DISCRETION OF LEAGUE OFFICIALS.