About the MNBL:
The Men's Night Baseball League is a 21 and over league. We play in Woburn, MA at Ferullo Field. . This league was founded on having fun first and foremost - so don't show up trying to be the next minor league superstar. We have a great time through healthy competition, good friends, and the occasional libation.
All teams are chosen by draft. You cannot enter a team into the league. No one is guaranteed to play on the same team as a friend. The team you get drafted on is the team you play on.
2024 League fees:
Returning Player - $325
New Player - $325
Men’s Night Baseball League (MNBL) Rules:
1 RULES
1.1 MNBL uses the Official Major League Baseball Rules as its rules for play. Any exceptions to these rules are listed in this rules document.
1.2 A majority vote of the Managing Board is needed to add, delete or amend league rules as needed.
2 SCHEDULE
2.1 All regularly scheduled MNBL games are played on weeknights, Monday – Thursday. The season starts in the first week of June and begins with four weeks of each team playing one game per week on Monday or Wednesday night.
2.2 Beginning in week five of the season, teams start playing two games a week on any given night, Monday – Thursday.
2.3 Makeup games are scheduled on and any open night, as close as possible to the rained out
game, while still allowing enough time for each time to successfully field a team.
2.4 Each team will player 21 games per season, three games against the seven other teams in the league.
3 CONDUCT
3.1 Unsportsmanlike conduct is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to:
Abusive language towards umpires or players
Flagrant verbal or physical abuse by a player or manager
Assault and battery on players, managers, or any member of the umpiring crew
Failing to leave the playing field or designated area after an ejection by the umpire leading to forfeiture of a game.
3.1.1 Any player ejected from a game is subject to a one game suspension, and put on probation for the rest of the season.
3.1.2 If a player is ejected from a game, they are suspended for the following game, as subject to additional suspension and possible expulsion.
3.1.3 Any player ejected from a game while on probation is expelled from the league without refund
3.1.4 Any player ejected must leave the playing field area immediately. They may vacate to the parking lot area, but are to have no interaction with umpires after the game.
3.1.5 When a player is ejected from a game, their manager is also ejected from the game as well. Manager will not face additional game suspension.
4 VOTING
4.1 Each team has one designated manager. This manager is part of the voting body on the MNBL
4.2 MNBL voting body votes on all rule changes proposed by MNBL Commissioner
4.3 Any manager can propose a rule change to be brought to a vote
4.3.1 All proposals must be vetted through the commissioner before a call to vote
6 DRAFT
6.1 Draft is held each season, typically 2-3 weeks prior to the start of season
6.2 Each manager is allowed to keep 8 players, plus themselves, for a total of 9, from the previous season
6.3 An additional player can be kept if a manager gives up their Free Agent selection. They can only exercise this option if they have a Free Agent spot available (ie did not forfeit it from previous season)
6.4 The draft is broken into three sections, held in this order
Free Agents
Returning players
New Players
6.5 Draft order is set based on the following:
5th place (1st team to not make playoffs) - #1
6th place - #2
7th place - #3
8th pace - #4
First round playoff team eliminated from playoffs with worse regular season record - #5
Remaining first round playoff team eliminated from playoffs - #6
Runner up - #7
Champions #8
6.6 The last round of the returning player draft will be orders as followed:
Championship team will be slotted to receive the last available returning player.
Runners up will be slotted for the 2nd to last
The team with the worst record (not based on draft order) will be the last team to pick in the final round.
For example, if there are 5 players left to be picked heading into the last round, the picks would go in this order:
5th seed (1st team out of playoffs) – (5th to last pick)
4th seed (4th to last)
3rd seed (3rd to last)
Runners up (2nd to last)
Champions (last pick)
This ensures that the Championship team gets the last pick of returning players each season, while the “worst” teams get a chance at a newly player, in hopes of building better parity.
6.7 Each team is allowed to bring in one player as a Free Agent to their team, each season. This player is slotted in the Free Agent round of the draft. Any team not exercising their Free Agent selection will select a player from the New Player Draft, in the same draft order. Team bringing a Free Agent into the draft (or keeping an extra returning player) are skipped in this round.
6.8 The New Player draft follows the same draft order as the Returning Player draft. New players will be drafted until each team has reached the min/max roster size.
7 TRADES
7.1 Trades must consist of an equal number of players moving in each direction between teams
7.2 Trades can be Player for Player, Multiple Players for Multiple Players, or a mix of Players for Assets (draft picks, 30 packs, etc).
7.3 When trading pre-draft, a team can only trade a player that is on their keeper/protected list. You cannot trade players you don’t own the rights to, and to own the rights they need to be protected
7.4 Mid-season trades are at the approval of the commissioner and handle on a case by case basis
7.5 Trades of Future New Player Picks are not permitted as there is no guaranteee that a team will have a new player draft pick each year.
8 ROSTERS
8.1 Roster size is set by vote each season at managers meeting. It should be no fewer than 14 players and no more than 15 players.
8.2 Players need to be on their team’s roster prior to the start of team game 11 in order to be playoff eligible, and eligible to be kept the next season. Any player added to a roster after the teams 11th game is not eligible for playoffs and cannot be protected in the next years draft.
8.3 A player can be listed as a Gap Year player in order to reserve their spot in the league, and still be protected by their current team, in the next season. The team is not required to protect a Gap Year player when they are eligible to return. If they are unprotected, they will be placed in the Returning Player draft.
9 WAITING LIST
9.1 The Waiting List is comprised of players who registered and paid for the draft, but were not selected to a team.
9.2 If a team loses a player, prior to the season starting, they can select a player of their choice the the original waiting list. They cannot select a player that was added to the waitlist after the draft.
9.3 A team can fill an open roster spot with a player that is not on the waiting list. To do so they will forfeit their Free Agent pick for the next season. The newly acquired player will be slotted as their free agent in the next season. If that player does not play the next season, the free agent pick is forfeited.
9.3.1 The same rules apply from a protection/playoff standpoint in which they have to be on the roster by the 11th game to be playoff and keeper eligible.
11 PLAYOFFS
11.1
The top four teams at the end of the regular season make the playoffs. Tie-breakers are as follows:
Two team tie:
Wins (if win pct is the same)
Head to head record
Three team tie:
Wins (if win pct is the same)
Head to head record if one team has better head to head record than the other two teams.
Then revert to the two team tie breaker
If no team has better head to head record against two other teams:
Overall W/L record between the three teams
Overall run differential between the three teams
11.2
Playoffs are a best of three series
11.3
Seeding:
1 vs. 4
2 vs. 3
Higher seeds are home for games one and potential game three.
Winners of each series advance to the finals which is best of three.
11.4
The higher remaining seed is home for games one and potential game three in the Championship
12 GAMEPLAY
12.1 Game 1 starts at 6:15pm and Game 2 starts at 8:30pm
12.2
No inning can be started after 2 Hours and 15 minutes from the first pitch. Umpire is to let both teams know of the official start / end time.
12.3 Teams may start games with 7 of their own players and borrow players from another team (or the Alumni list) in the league to reach 9 players. Once a team player arrives, he must replace the borrowed player. Borrowed players will bat. If a team does not have enough players and can not borrow a player, the open slots in their batting order are automatic outs.
12.3.1 - Borrowed players bat last in battling order
12.3.2 - Borrowed players play corner outfield positions
12.3.3 - If team player arrives, they will replace borrowed play in lineup, or be added to the bottom of the batting order (manager’s decision)
12.3.4 - No borrowing players in the playoffs
12.4 All players, unless hurt, must play a minimum of 3 innings a game and bat once. Players may EH for the entire game instead of playing the field. You can EH as many players as you like. Innings at EH count as playing time. DH can be used for the pitcher only. If a player is late, the time missed can count as their playing time.
12.5 Manager may bat as many batters as he desires -with a minimum of 9 batters in the batting order. Players must remain in that batting order for the entire game unless substituted for. If a player in the batting order is injured or comes out of the game for whatever reason all player will get bumped up in the batting order.
12.6 Substitutes must bat at least once before being replaced. The player removed from the game can only re-enter for the player he was removed for, in the same spot of the batting order. If a substitute is removed from the game, they cannot re-enter.
12.7 A courtesy runner can be used for one designated player that is named before the game starts. The pinch runner will be the last out of the batting order OR a player that is not currently in the game. Opposing manager to make the selection.
12.7.1
No courtesy runners are allowed in the playoffs.
13 Continuation / Rain outs
13.1 Rain outs/games called off because of rain will be rescheduled at a later date.
13.2 Unofficial games (not reaching 4 1/2 innings) will be restarted at a later date.
13.3 Playoff games must be completed in full. If rain suspends a playoff game at any time, it will be picked up at the same point and played to completion (min 7 innings)
14 Miscellaneous
14.1 Winning team must must report score to website within 12 hours
14.2 No batting practice on the field prior to a game/No soft-toss into the fences.
14.3 Non-league players are NOT allowed to play in the ANY GAME at ANYTIME. Any team using non league players will forfeit the game.
14.4 Wood bats only
14.5 No hidden ball trick
14.6 All base runners must avoid contact with player fielding the ball by sliding or veering off. 
