League Rules

Tampa Senior Baseball Rules

Standard Major League baseball rules apply to all games, with the following exceptions:

General League Rules

Umpires are to announce the "Official Start" time of the game at its inception. Each team should record that official start time in their record books. In the event that the official start time is not announced, or not recorded, the official start time of that game will be considered to have started at the scheduled time. Games are scheduled for a 3 hour tme limit, though games may extend beyond that limit in cases where an inning has started before the 2 hour and 45 minute "No new inning rule" comes into effect, and that last inning takes more that the remaining time to complete. Once an inning has been started, that inning must be completed. There is no drop dead time limit, however in order to maintain the intended time limit of 3 hours, no new inning will start after 2 hours and 45 minutes of play. The start of an inning is considered to be immediately after final out of previous inning. Not when a team takes their defensive position. For example, the 4th inning ends and the 2 hour and 45 minute time expires while teams are changing sides, the fifth inning has indeed started and teams will play that inning. There will be no time limit on playoff games, and the game will be played for the full 9 innings, weather permitting. In the event a playoff game is affected by weather, major league rules will be applied to determine the official outcome. In the event that the first playoff game is rained out, or otherwise cancelled, the Championship game will be played on the scheduled date, with the Division Champions being determined by playing one game of the second place team playing the first place team for each respective division title. The remaining teams will play consolation games according to their standings, although not all teams may participate, due to odd number of teams, or the team's decision not to participate in a consolation game.
There will be free and open substitutions on defense. Neither the umpires nor the opposing manager needs to be informed of any defensive changes.
A team must have at least 8 players at the official start time of the game, as determined by the umpires, or by the scheduled starting time of the game, if there are no umpires. At the opposing manager’s discretion, the team with only 8 players may pick up a league rostered, legal age player, attending the game as a spectator, or borrow a player from opposing team; selected by the opposing team’s manager. If a team cannot field a minimum of 8 players, that team forfeits the game and the official record will record a 1-0 loss. A practice game may still be played with the approval of both team managers. An exception to this rule is when the league has an odd number of teams for the season. In this case, a team is allowed to pick up a maximum of three players from the team, in their age division, who has a BYE that same game day.
Each player must have registered on the leage website an uploaded a legible copy of a state or government issued ID, clearly showing the registrant's picture and date of birth. Generally, this will be a driver's license, but as long as the ID meets the above guidelines, it is acceptable. Team rosters will be limited to 20 active players, which is the roster size limit imposed by the Insurance Company.
Tampa Senior Baseball will purchase an insurance policy, covering all teams in the league, with a liability limit of no less than $2,000,000.00 and a minimun secondary medical insurance limit of $10,000.00. Certificates of insurance coverage will be posted on the league's website, and will cover all the field location which the league plays on. The cost for this insurance will be prorated to each team, and will be part of each team's league fee.
Home team gets first base dugout.
Players may play in all age divisions, as long as they are of legal age minimums, but cannot play on more than one team in the same division, other than as an occasional substitute player (limited to four or less games per season). Players must be listed on each team's active roster if they play on a team on a regular basis. A player occasionally substituting on a team will not be required to be listed on that team's roster, however they must be listed on a different team's roster and must have registered on the league's website, in order to be allowed to play in our league.
An injured player, unable to bat, will be declared out for the first time his at-bat is skipped. Thereafter his at-bat may be skipped without penalty. A player ejected from a game must immediatley leave the field or play, and at the umpire's discretion, may be required to leave the field area. Each subsequent at-bat for that ejected player will be recorded as an out. The ejected player will also receive a one-game suspension, to be applied during the ejected player's next game.
Players may not touch or approach the umpires in a threatening manner. Only the manager has the authority to talk to the umpires about any issues arising on the field. Player who are ejected for touching or threatening an umpire will be suspended for a minimum of three games, plus the current ejection, for a total of four games, and may be suspended for the remainder of the season, or ejected from the league, depending on the severity of the offense.
The batting lineup may be a large as the manager decides, but must be a minimum of 8 batters.
Playoff games are generally scheduled after the spring season, and not after any short season, or summer/fall baseball. Playoff standings are determined by each team’s winning percentage record. In the event of a tie, head-to-head games will be the first tie-breaker, followed by runs scored, then runs against, then run differential. If there remains a tie for any position, after applying these tie-breaking rules, a coin flip will determine which team has the higher standing. Teams with the higher standing will be home team in each playoff game. The first place team will play the lowest seed playoff team. The second place team will play the next-to lowest seed playoff team, and so on. Playoffs are held only in the Spring season; no playoffs are scheduled for the Fall season, since that typically ends just before Fall tournaments begin.
Each team must supply three new baseballs at the start of each game. Two new baseballs will be given to the home plate umpire at the pre-game meeting by each team, and the third baseball will be kept by each team, until the umpire requests that these new baseballs be entered into the game. The home team will give their new baseball to the umpire first, upon the umpire's request for a new baseball, followed by the visiting team submitting their new baseball upon an additional request by the umpire. Managers may request the return of the number of baseballs they submitted during the game, from the home base umpire, immediately after the game.
A pitcher must be removed from his pitching position immediately upon hitting his third batter in the game. He may play any other defensive position, and can bat in the lineup, but cannot return to pitching for the remainder of the game. A pitcher, having been removed for any other reason by the manager, may re-enter the game and pitch again after a minimum of three batters having faced his replacement.

50 Division Rules

1. Batters may be thrown out at first base, and may become part of a double play, from any defensive player. This includes both outfielders and infielders who may have fielded the batted ball with one or both feet on the outfield grass. Runners advancing from any bases may be thrown out by any defensive player.

2. Running substitutions for batters reaching any base may be made using A/B Batting shared lineup slots, under the following guidelines: Time must be called by the offensive team and the A/B substitute runner must be on the base before the first pitch is thrown to the next batter. Substitue runners must be selected and identified on the lineup card prior to the game, and be shown as "A/B Batting". Pitchers, catchers and two other players may be identified on the lineup card as A/B Batters, for a total of four maximum A/B Batter slots in the lineup. Either player in the shared A/B Batting slot may bat or run, as directed by the team manager, each time that batting slot comes up in the order, however the running substitution, if elected, must be made as outlined above. This running substitution may take place at first, second or third base, but always before the first pitch is thrown to the next batter. Substitute runners may not advance by stealing any base; they may advance only on a pickoff attempt by the pitcher or catcher where the ball is overthrown or gets by the intended defensive player or a ball that gets by the catcher, and leaves the dirt perimeter around the catcher, or by a batted ball. This rule shall apply to a substitute runner taking a lead, and a runner taking a big lead may be subject to being picked off by either the pitcher or catcher; this will be a force play if the throw beats the runner back to the base occupied by the runner. Substitute runners attempting to steal will be automatically out if they touch the next base. The defense may elect to throw the ball to the base the Substitute runner vacated, and the runner will be declared out unless the runner beats the throw back to the base. This will be a force play on the runner, the defense does not have to tag the runner out. Pinch runners (a runner replacing an injured batter who safely reaches base) are not allowed to steal bases, and the above rules applying to substitute runners also apply to pinch runners. In this case, that injured batter must be removed from any defensive position they were playing at the time, and must be removed from the offensive lineup, effectively benching that batter for the remainder of that game. The Pinch runner effectively replaces the injured player in the batting lineup for the remainder of the game. Defensive replacement made be made by the manager using any player of their choice. These rules apply to substitute runners only. Standard rules of baseball apply to baserunners who reach base and run for themselves.

3. Defensive positions and pitching changes may be made at any time.

4. All players participating in this division must be a minimum of 50 years of age by the end of the current calendar year. Any player’s age or ID, challenged by the opposing manager must be on that team's roster, or a different team's roster, if they are a substitute player with valid ID uploaded with their registration form. Un-rostered or illegal players will be immediately ejected from the game.

60 Division Rules

1. Batters may not be thrown out at first base, or become part of a double play, from the outfield, from any defensive player. Fielders must have both feet on the infield dirt when the ball is put in play by the batter, then catch and throw the ball, while remaining on the infield dirt, in order to make the out at first base. Once the ball reaches the outfield grass, the batter is safe at first base. Once the ball reaches the outfield, even if an infielder attempted a play, and deflected the ball to another fielder, or even to himself, the batter is safe, and the batter cannot be thrown out at first base. Runners, already on base, advancing from any bases may be thrown out by any defensive player. Outfielders must begin the play with both feet in the outfield grass, and are not allowed to throw the batter out at first under any circumstances.

3. Defensive positions and pitching changes may be made at any time.

4. All players participating in this division must be a minimum of 60 years of age by the end of the current calendar year. Any player’s age or ID, challenged by the opposing manager must be on that team's roster, or a different team's roster, if they are a substitute player with valid ID uploaded with their registration form. Un-rostered or illegal players will be immediately ejected from the game.

5. In order to keep the games moving, and play as many innings as possible, the 60+ managers agreed to adopt the 5 Run Rule for each and every game. This agreement was made at the managers' meeting held on 12/4/2024. The intent of this rule is to prevent long lop-sided innings when a strong team is playing a weaker team. Each offensive team is allowed to score a maximun of 5 runs per at-bat, then their team at-bat ends, regardless of the number of outs. The 5th run is the limit per inning, with the exceptions stated below, even if multiple runs score off a batter's hit. For example, a team has scored 4 runs, bases are loaded and the batter hits a double, driving in all three runners. Even though that team scored 7 runs, only the first 5 runs count towards the official score. Exceptions to the 5 Run Rule: The team who is behind more than 5 runs will be allowed to score as many runs as needed to tie the score. For example, either the visitor or home team is behind 7 runs; during their at-bat, they will be allowed to score 7 runs to tie the game, then their at-bat will end, and the other team will come in to hit, regardless of the number of outs. The other exception to the 5 Run Rule, is that the official or declared last inning of play will be considered an "open" inning and both teams will be allowed to score as many runs as possible.