• Most Valuable Player - Given to the best player in the entire league.
• 2 Silver Sluggers - Given to the best hitter in each league.
• 2 Fireballer Awards - Given to the best pitcher in each league.
• Rookie of the Year - Given to best rookie in the entire league.

Each owner will vote on all six, with two votes. The first vote (worth 10 pts) will be cast for any player not on his team, the second (worth 7 pts) cast for any player, including his own players. The player with the most points wins the award.
The award winning players team receives a $750,000 bonus.

The teams that win the Conference Championship can award a series MVP.
The team the wins the League Championship can award a series MVP.

There will be an Executive of the Year award given at the end of the season. This will be voted upon by the owners as well. One vote is cast (1st, 2nd, 3rd), and one can vote for himself. Points will be 10, 7, 5 for each vote, the most points wins the award. If an owner wins the award for a third time, his team is given a second franchise player. This second player is only available for the life of his contract.

First and foremost, ANYONE found cheating (owning two or more teams under different names, colluding, attempting to alter players, simming games***) will be immediately dismissed from the league and banned for life. This game is intended to be won, but more so for fun and the benefit of all that are playing, so let's keep it fun.

Anyone suspected of losing games on purpose, will immediately be investigated by the league office. Past games will be checked, and if enough evidence arises that the owner is attempting to lose, the issue will be brought to a vote before the other owners. As this is a very serious charge and penalty, 90% will have to vote in favor to claim guilt.
If found doing so, the owners team will lose the first two draft picks for the next 3 seasons and be fined $10 million. If it happens a second time, the owner will be dismissed from the league.

All owners will treat one another with courtesy and respect. If at any time, another owner has offended you, report the situation to the commissioner. He will investigate the report and decide whether the complaint is legitimate. The commissioner realizes that everyone is different and that accidents can happen. All owners will receive a one time warning. If an owner is reported again, the team will receive a $5 million fine. A third time will result in a team fine of $15 million and suspension from the league for the remainder of the season. A fourth and final time will result in dismissal from the league. This applies to all forms of member contact -- IM's, e-mails, message boards, etc.

If a team loses money for three straight seasons, it will be taken over by the league and sold to another owner (if available). The owner the team is taken from will be allowed re-entry into the waiting list if approved by a 3/4 majority of the current owners. If the team has to be run by the league, the team will trade away players on a first-come, first-serve basis to lower its payroll to $1.5 million per team in the league. The players from the team to be traded will be high salaried players, and placed on a trading block. Once the team reaches optimal payroll, trading will cease, and the team's roster will be set. It will be run by the league in this fashion until an owner can be found.

The commission can levy fines and punishments for other acts he feels disrupts or injures the integrity of the league.

Participation System

Every week the points will be tabulated and compared against the minimum required.
Any team that quadruples the minimum number of points required will receive a bonus of 4 points in Fan Interest
Any team that doubles the minimum number of points required will receive a bonus of 2 points in Fan interest.
Any team that has half the required amount will be docked 2 points of Fan Interest.

The point system will be as follows:

• Sending in export/sending "No changes need e-mail" - 1 point
• Submitting an article on your teams board - 2 points
• Responding to league e-mails (non-required) - 1 point
• League specific research - 5 points
• Completed trades, FA signings and contract extensions posted - 1/4 point
• Attending league events - 3 points
• Not responding to league e-mails (required) - (-10) points

The minimum required points every week will depend on the number of sims for the period and the number of e-mails sent out.

The reason Fan Interest is being used is to simulate the effect the owner has on attendacnce.  Good owners draw crowds (Peter Magowan) and bad owners drive away crowds (Jeffrey Loria).

If you receive a bonus when your Fan Interest is at 100, your bonus points will be banked so that any time your Fan Interest falls the points can be applied.
If your team drops to 0 at any time because of non-participation, your team will be taken over by the league.  The same rules apply as if you had lost your team because of money loss.  Once a team drops to zero, it will be reset at 25 for a league run team, or at 50 for a new owner.

If you receive 0 points in participation for 3 straight periods (6 weeks) you will removed from the BPLA.

Any time you have to be away from your team for any reason (vacation, pc problems, health/family reasons, etc) you need to let me know.  The participation system will be adjusted for you during this time, so you don't need to worry.  But if you don't inform me at all, I will assume you are not participating.  This is non-negotiable.  I am always on AIM, so I can be left a message, and you can always send a quick e-mail.  If you have computer problems, the internet is accessable from a lot of places, and you can reach me somehow.

Articles and responses will be judged by me.  I will not award points for posting "WooHoo!! Team X is # 1" in your board, I will only award points for genuine articles.  If you have a question about whether something is genuine or not, it probably isn't, but you can ask me.  Any questions about the system, ask me.