Ground Rules

written by Commissioner Gallaway

• Trees: Any ball in the air hitting a tree is immediately a dead ball and cannot be played or caught. If the ball is in foul territory when it hits the tree is it foul. If a ball is in fair territory and hits a tree it is a home run.

Color Commentary - posted 286 days ago in Rules

The Rules of the Road...

written by Commissioner Gallaway

Before we were evicted from a national park which our tax dollars support, these were the ridiculous rules that were included in our permit.

Read the full entry - Color Commentary [1] - posted 490 days ago in Rules

Official Rules

written by Commissioner Gallaway

(As Approved May 13, 2005)
(Amended March 20, 2006)
(Amended August 4, 2006)
(Amended March 27, 2007)

There are quite a few rule changes this year. Please read through the rules carefully, but here are the highlights.

• Allow one-handed batting in special circumstances
• Lower mercy rule to 10, or 5 runs if game going long
• Require teams to provide umpires
• Forfeit first game after 5 minutes NOT 15 minutes
• After one warning, on appeal, runners leaving base early will be called out

PLAYING RULES

The Potomac Wiffleball League will utilize the same rules used in Major League Baseball with the following exceptions:

1. The Field – The field shall be a level playing surface of grass or dirt to the extent possible. Fair territory shall be the area no less than 15 feet in front of home plate, between lines that could be drawn from the back point of the plate, through the top left and top right corner of the plate extending to the home run fence or area. This will make an angle at home plate of approximately 54 degrees. First and Third base shall be 40 feet from home plate, on their respective foul lines. Second base shall be 65 feet from home plate, on a line drawn directly through the center of the two foul lines. The Pitchers rubber shall be placed at 30 feet on the same line as second base. The home run area or fence shall at no point be less than 70 feet from home plate, and the sum of the length from home plate and the height of the fence shall at no point be less than 74 feet.

2. Umpiring – In the absence of an umpire, teams will umpire their own games. Consensus among players will settle all disputes. On close plays, ties go to the fielders.

3. Equipment – All bats used in league play must be regulation, yellow WIFFLE bats. They may not be altered in any way, however they may have plastic tape on the handle. Balls must be WIFFLE, baseball size.

4. Pitching – All pitches must be slow and have an arc on them. The batter may ask the pitcher to slow pitches down. There are no balks. The pitcher must have one foot on, and one foot in front of the rubber when the ball is released. Pitching shall rotate between innings between the members of the team on a pre-determined schedule similar to a batting order.

5. At bats – There will be no balls, walks, or called strikes. Batters may choose, if they believe a pitch was a strike and they should have swung, to call a strike on themselves at their sole discretion. Batters may choose not to swing at any pitch. Hit batters will not advance. One-handed batting is not allowed, unless a player only has the use of one hand due to incapacitation or disability.

6. Pitcher’s Hand – In addition to any other method of putting out runners, a batter/runner is out if the pitcher obtains control of the live, batted ball before the batter/runner reaches first base.

7. Infield Fly – No infield fly rule will be in effect.

8. Stealing first – Batters may not steal 1st base after the catcher drops strike three.

9. Stealing and leading off – Base runners may not lead off; nor may they steal. Runners may leave their base after the batter makes contact with the ball. If a runner leaves a base before the batter makes contact with a fair ball, and doesn’t return to that base, the runner will be called out if the defensive team appeals to that base before the next play occurs. If a runner leaves a base and contact is not made with a ball, even if the runner returns, on appeal from the defensive team, the umpire will issue a warning to each team, and on the next and subsequent appeal(s) from either team, the runner leaving base without contact being made shall be called out.

10. Pegging – Fielders may throw the ball at runners. Runners struck below the neck will be out. Runners hit below the neck with a thrown ball which first hits any player, a base, or the ground first, will be out. If a fielder misses a runner in a pegging attempt, the maximum amount of bases that any runner may advance is the base they were heading to, plus one. Runners must advance at their own risk, and should more than one pegging attempt be made, the rule will be applied at the time the last pegging attempt is made.

11. Game – A complete game will consist of 6 innings, with 2 outs per team, per inning. In the event of weather or other factors as agreed upon by both teams, the completion of 4 innings, or of 3 and a half innings if the home team is leading, shall constitute a complete game.

12. Mercy rule – If at the end of any inning a team leads by 10 runs or more, the game will be over. If the home team leads by 10 or more runs at any time during the bottom half of any inning, the game will be over. After 45 minutes of play, if at the end of any inning a team leads by 5 runs or more, the game will be over. After 45 minutes of play, if the home team leads by 5 or more runs at any time during the bottom half of any inning, the game will be over.

13. Outfield Fence – Fair balls that go under or though the outfield fence shall be ground rule doubles. Balls that are fair, but roll past the foul side of the foul pole and fence shall be live and in play and there will be no limit to the amount of bases that the runner may advance.

14. Speed-up Rules – Runners are not required to run out all of the bases on an over the fence home run. The on-deck batter shall have a bat, and be ready to go as soon as the proceeding at-bat has been completed.

15. Foul Tip/Foul Ball – There shall be no such thing as a foul-tip. Any ball caught off the batters bat in fair or foul territory, shall be an out.

LEAGUE RULES

Rosters: Each team must file an official roster with the commissioner prior to the first game in which the team competes. Each team’s roster shall include a minimum of three players and maximum of six players. Each team may change its roster up to three times before the completion of the first half of the regular season, and up to one time during the second half. The official schedule will indicate the division between halves. For the purpose of this section, a change is the exchange of one player for another. Guest players will not count as changes. No other roster changes may be made without the approval of a majority of the league’s managers. Trades between teams are not allowed.

Players: No player shall be eligible to play in a league game until that player has completed a player information card and signed the league’s liability waiver.

Schedule: A complete, balanced, schedule shall be determined by the commissioner once the official league teams have been finalized. The schedule shall consist of a regular season, and no less than two rounds of post-season play. The final round of post-season play shall be called the Wiffleball World Series, various copyrights not withstanding, and shall be a best of 3 game series. The next to last round of post-season play shall be called the Division Championship Series’, and shall be no less than a best of 3 game series.

Managers: One player on the roster shall be designated as the team manager, who shall be authorized to represent the team in all matters for which no rule requires a team vote. If the manager is not present at a particular game, the team’s players present may designate an acting manager.

Guest Players: Notwithstanding any other rule, a team may add no more than one guest player to its roster during each regular season game, provided that the guest has never played during the same season for another team in the league.

Number of Players: Each team shall have exactly three players in the game at all times.

Forfeits: A team that cannot field 3 players within five (5) minutes of the scheduled game start time shall forfeit the game. Forfeits shall be scored as 6-0 for the winning team.

Umpires: There shall be two scheduled umpires for each game, a home plate umpire, and a base umpire. Each team shall be required to provide one umpire for games played on the same day, but at different times, than the games their team is playing in. They shall be required to provide an umpire for the same number of games that their team played in. The schedule shall indicate which teams are assigned to provide umpires to each game. If a team fails to provide an umpire for any game they are scheduled for on a given day, the team shall be warned by the Commissioner. If they fail to provide an umpire for any future game, the team shall forfeit their next scheduled game, immediately after their failure to provide an umpire.

Rules Changes: A 2/3 majority vote of teams shall be necessary to change playing or league rules

Commissioner: The teams shall elect a Commissioner who shall be responsible for the day-to-day management of the league, and shall facilitate any changes to league rules or the settlement of disputes on challenged games. Games shall not be eligible to be challenged based on a judgment call, only the mis-application of the rules. Any suggested dispute resolution that the Commissioner decides can be overturned by a 2/3 vote of the league teams.

- posted 701 days ago in Rules