BWL RULES - 2024
1. $250.00 entry fee per player (or more for you generous types).
2. Proceeds donated to charity. Two Leagues: American League and National League, 10 teams per league and divisions of 5 teams in each league. Teams will be assigned randomly. (National League: NY Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers, Montreal Expos, Cincinnati Red Stockings, Buffalo Bisons, Boston Braves, Houston Colt 45’s, Kansas City Cowboys, Baltimore Terrapins, Indianapolis Blues / American League: Cleveland Spiders, St Louis Browns, Washington Senators, Chicago Whales, Boston Americans, Philadelphia Athletics, Seattle Pilots, Louisville Colonels, California Angels, Saint Paul Saints)
3. Up to 10 players per team.
4. 4 people play in the field at one time: pitcher and three fielders. When the pitcher is on the rubber, all fielders must start each pitch in fair territory behind the singles line. You cannot cross the singles line until the ball has been hit. You can play with 1 pitcher and 2 fielders if you only have 3 players for the game. All fielders must start behind the fielder line until the ball has been hit. A line will be drawn in left, center and right field that fielders must start behind. The exception to the rule is if a woman is at bat, then players may move up to the singles line.
5. All players present must rotate pitching each inning. Females are not required to pitch unless you only have 3 players, then the female must pitch one inning. Females may pitch from the front rubber.
6. All players present must rotate hitting and not bat out of turn. If a player bats out of turn that player will be out. All teams will be required to turn in a lineup card before the start of every game listing their batting order and pitching order. If a player comes late that is not on the original line up will be inserted as the last batter on the lineup and the last pitcher on the rotation - i.e. if there are four names on the original lineup and a player comes late, they will be the fifth batter in the lineup and the fifth pitcher in the rotation.
7. 5 inning games
8. 5 runs maximum per inning – There is a mercy rule after 3 or 4 innings.
9. Ties will be recorded during the regular season. Extra innings will be played during the playoffs. In extra innings, the teams must continue their current pitching order.
10. Pitching distance is marked 35’ from the front of the pitching rubber to the back of the plate. A pitcher must start his pitch with his foot on the pitching rubber from a set position. Female pitchers may pitch in front of the rubber but must still be on the mat. If a pitcher is struggling to throw strikes, then the commissioner has the discretion to allow the pitcher to move to the forward rubber.
11. This is a gentleman’s league. Curveballs, knuckleballs and any other junk is strongly encouraged, as long as the pitch is not considered too fast. A pitch ruled too fast (30mph or higher on the radar gun) by a Commissioner will be a ball, with a warning issued to the pitcher. A second fast pitch will result in the pitcher being replaced (and losing their spot in the rotation). A pitch considered too fast is one that a player cannot reasonable recognize coming out of the pitcher's hand and be able to reasonably swing at the pitch before it crosses the plate. In addition, pitchers will not be allowed to lob the ball into the top of the strike zone. Any intentional lob pitch that crosses the hitting area above the shoulders and enters the strike zone in the top half of the strike zone will be a ball. Any pitch that was intentionally thrown as a lob pitch and is higher than 9 feet will be a ball. The rule change is to make sure pitches are below the shoulders when crossing the plate.
12. The strike zone is 22” wide by 30” wide and 8” above the ground.
13. The strike zone board will be 30” behind the back of the plate.
14. If the ball travels through the cut-out strike zone and the batter does not swing, it will be called as two strikes. If a ball is foul tipped with two strikes and travels through the strike zone it will be called as strike 3. You cannot foul out unless the ball travels through the strike zone.
15. There is no base running. The ghost runner will be in effect.
16. Ghost runners will move up per the bases advanced from the result of the current batter’s result. There are no sacrifice flies or tagging up. For Example: A runner on 1st advances 1 base on a single, 2 bases on a double and 3 bases on a triple. / A runner on 2nd base advances one base on a single and scores on a double, triple or HR. / A runner on 3rd base scores on a single, double, triple or HR.
17. If the batter receives four balls in the at bat, the batter will remain at bat, and the count will reset to 0-0. If the batter receives an additional four balls in the same at bat, a walk will be given, the batter will remain at bat, and the count will reset to 0-0. Regular walks will continue per four balls and the batter will remain at bat. A pitcher can walk one run home per inning.
18. Batters’ boxes will be painted or lined and a batter will be required to be in the box. No crowding of the plate to preclude the ball from going through the strike zone. If the hitter is in the batters box and hit by a pitch and has not tried to get out of the way of the pitch, the pitch will be counted as a strike. If the batter is out of the batters box in the field of play and hit by a pitch it will be counted as a strike. If a batter hits the ball in fair territory while not fully standing on the batters box will be called out.
19. All ground balls that do not cross the singles line or make it to the doubles line (sidewalk) are outs regardless if it was fielded cleanly or not. If a ground ball reaches the doubles line (sidewalk) even if it is touched by a fielder will be called a single. Female batters who hit the ball past the singles line regardless of in the air or on the ground will be rewarded a single, which includes if the ball is touched prior to the singles line and it still reaches past the line. If the ground ball reaches the sidewalk, the female will be awarded a double regardless if hit on the ground or air. A ball that hits the batters boxes, home plate or in the batters box area in front of home plate and rolls onto the field of play is a foul ball. A ball that hits the light pole in center field above the fence is a homerun. The tree above home plate and the tree in foul territory in left field are in play. Balls may be caught for an out after they hit those trees.
20. A singles line 40’ from home plate will be painted straight across the field. Any ball that lands on the ground past that line will be a single (unless a female hitter – see rule 19). If the ball lands past the singles line and reaches the sidewalk the batter will be awarded a double. If the ball lands in the hedges it will be a double. If the ball hits the hedges and then drops on the fence, it will be ruled a double. If a player tries to catch a ball in front of the singles line and it ricochets off their hand and lands past the singles line in the air it is a single. If a player tries to catch a ball in the air and it ricochets off their hand and lands past the sidewalk, it will be ruled a double. If the ball ricochets off a player’s hand and hits the fence directly after, it will be ruled a triple. If the ball hits the fence in the air directly, it will be a triple. If the ball lands over the fence it is a homerun. For clarification, if the ball crosses a line in the air, regardless of where it lands, it is ruled a single, double or triple (this also includes the foul lines before the singles line. A player may not bat a ball back from across the singles line in the air to be an out. A player may not deflect a ball in the air back from across the doubles line to be a single. A player may not deflect a ball that is foul regardless if it has not hit the ground back into fair territory. If the ball hits the light pole above the fence line, it will be ruled a homerun. If a ball lands in the rose bush in the air down the right field line it will be ruled a triple. If the ball travels over the rose bush and does not touch it, it will be ruled a homerun. If the ball hits the light pole above the rose bush it will be ruled a homerun. If the ball travels on to the side walk or lands on the side walk between the rose bush and the tennis court fence it will be ruled a double.
21. All balls can be caught for an out. You cannot catch a ball of the hedges, rose bush, or off the fence.
22. Only official Wiffle Ball trademarked balls can be used. (holes on one side only).
23. Only the official yellow Wiffle Ball trademarked bat can be used. No taping of the bat past the handle will be allowed. Pine tar major league baseball rules apply for distance of tape. Equipment to be provided by BWL, but as long as players’ equipment meets BWL standards, personal bats are permitted. Female batters may use either the league approved yellow bat or league approved female bat.
24. Any ball that hits a foul line will be considered a fair ball.
25. During the regular season, at least 3 people must be present for the entire game to constitute a legal team. If a team does not have the minimum 3 players, the Commissioner on duty will conduct a random draw from the interested players in the crowd. Subs will be selected to play with the team short on players. The total number of players selected will be at the commissioner’s discretion. Only approved registered BWL players may be used as a sub. No non BWL players can be used at any time. All games will count including games with approved substitute players. If no one is present from the team then that team will forfeit. If both teams don’t have 3 people, the same random sub rules apply until both teams have at least 4 players (3 is fine if there are not enough players to get to 4 each). If there is a forfeit, the players may recruit players currently at the field for a scrimmage game, but the outcome will not be recorded.
26. The season will consist of 9 games per team (one game per week). Each team will have a home and home series with the other teams in their division. American League will play American League teams, and the National League will play National League teams only during the regular season (Old School – no interleague play)
27. Playoffs after the season will include the top 8 teams per league. Each series is a 3-game series. The winners of each division will get a bye in the first round and will be seeded as 1st or 2nd place teams for their respective league. 3rd place in the National/American League will play the 6th place team in the American/National League. 4th place in the National/American League will play the 5th place team in the American/National League. These are crossover games (National plays American and vice versa). The #1 seeds in the American/National will play the winner of the 4/5 series and the #2 seeds in the American/National will play the winner of the 3/6 series. The semi-finals will then be re-seeded to attempt to get the highest seeds playing the lowest seeds. The commissioner’s reserve the right to try to make teams from different leagues matchup in the semi-finals. If there is a tie between teams, the tie breaker will be first head to head competition, then total number of wins, then most wins in the division, followed by a coin toss. The higher seed will play game 1 and 3 as the home team in each series. The World Series will be the best of 3 games with a coin flip to decide who is the home team for games 1, and 3.
28. Cam Walts Invitational. The Commissioners will do our best to have some sort of losers bracket/playoff to honor our esteemed social director, Cam Walts. Cam showed us what it means to be a great loser (or was it winner?)!
28. For the playoffs a team must have a minimum of 4 players to play. If they do not have 4 players for the game, they will forfeit each game that don’t have 4 players. Subs will be permitted for the playoffs, but the only players that are permitted to play are those that are on the BWL waiting list and have not been assigned a team. If you pick up a player off this list, that player remains on your team for the remainder of that series. A list will be provided to the team Moms prior to the start of the playoffs.
29. If games get rained out on Monday night, Tuesday night will be the makeup night, or if Wednesday night is rained out then Thursday night will be the make up night. We will play each Tuesday or Thursday as needed until caught up on the schedule.
30. The BWL rules committee reserves the right to change rules to enhance the competition. A commissioner will be present for all the games and will make all rulings, which shall be final. Each commissioner will be sitting in a chair at the singles line on the 3rd base side of the field. If not, rulings will be decided by majority with one thought in mind…what would the fans want?
31. Be Nice Rule. Poor sportsmanship, arguing with Commissioners or any other shenanigans will be dealt with harshly by the Commissioners, with penalties ranging from suspension to fines (with proceeds going to charity of course). The BWL board reserves the right to suspend or remove any player from the league for any acts or behavior that is unbecoming to the league.
32. Drug Policy. The BWL will follow the rules and regulations of the United States Anti-Doping Association. All testing will be random, but if you hit 5 homeruns in a game your chances of a random test increase greatly.
33. Eligibility. The BWL will follow all eligibility rules of the Southeastern Football Conference. To summarize, you are eligible if you have graduated high school (or have a GED equivalent) and have not been convicted of a felony in the calendar year. If you have been convicted of a felony in the calendar year, your coach will have the option to keep the punishment “inside the program” but you must sit at least one game.
