Horizon Air Summer Series rules are formulated and interpreted by the  Summer Series Committee to the extent such rules may differ from Major League Baseball Rules under which the Summer Series is played.

A minimum of number of games, as determined by the Committee, must be played in the Host City by a team to qualify as a Summer Series Team.

Summer Series games are:

1.   Those games played in the Host City between teams approved by the Committee.  These approved teams are Summer Series Teams.

2.   Those games played by a Summer Series Team outside the Host City against another Summer Series Team.

3.   Those games played by a Summer Series Team against a non-Summer Series opponent, if that non-Summer Series opponent is deemed to be a competitive and worthy opponent and is a team that might otherwise have been invited to play in the Host City.

The Summer Series schedule will be final prior to the season and will set forth all Summer Series games against all opponents.  The schedule will be posted on this web site with daily standings kept.

Should a game be rained out or otherwise not played for a legitimate reason in view of the Committee, that Summer Series Team must schedule another acceptable game to make up the lost game.  

If the rainout or other lost game cannot be made up in an acceptable fashion then the Committee shall decide how that might impact the standings. 

It is the responsibility of the home club to timely report scores, rainouts or other items that impact the game to the Horizon Air Summer Series.  Failure to so report may result in a forfeiture or other penalty as decided by the Committee.

Participating in this Summer Series neither requires any team to be in or out of a league nor are there any entry fees to play.

The team with the best win/loss record at the end of the season will be crowned the Horizon Air Summer Series Champion in each division. 

Individual team play will be annually reviewed by the Committee prior to invitations being offered to teams in an effort to strive for competitive balance within the Horizon Air Summer Series.  

All players, coaches and other field personnel must have health insurance.

TIE-BREAKING RULES

The following tie-breaking rules recognize the Horizon Air Summer Series principle of overall competition.  The Summer Series does not key on the notion of head-to-head competition for tie-breaking that tends to be a function of league play. 

Tie-breaking games come from within Horizon Air Summer Series games.  Tie breaking games are known in advance and are easily followed. 

Tie-Breaking:

Teams must play equal number of games. 

The following examples presume 40 games in the McCullough Division and 24 games in the Engelken Division.

If at the end of the season, with teams having played the required number of divisional games, there is a percentage tie by two or more teams in a division for a position, the tie shall be broken as follows:

For each team tied for a position, the tie-breaking game shall be the result of each tied team’s 40^th game for those teams in the McCullough Division, and the 24^th game for those teams in the Engelken Division.  The win-loss result of that game is added to each respective team’s season win-loss record.  The team with the then best resulting wining percentage wins.

If a tie still remains after using the 40^th game, then the 39^th game is used and added to the now cumulative win-loss record and, if still a tie, the remaining games are counted, in this reverse order, until a team with a better winning percentage prevails.

If, after going through all the games, there is still a tie then the tie shall remain and co-champions declared.

Example:

Team A, B, and C are tied for first at the end of the season in the McCullough Division with a record of 30 – 10. 

The results for the 40^th game are:  A – win, B – win, C – win.  With these results there is no change in overall win-loss record and the teams remain tied.  Hence, the results of the 39^th game now figure in. 

The results for the 39^th game are:  A – win, B – loss, C – loss.  A wins the first place position, while B and C are tied for second place.  Hence, the results of the 38^th game are looked at. 

The results for the 38^th game are:  B – win, C – loss.  B wins the second place position.

PROTESTED GAMES

If the game in question is one in which both teams are in the same league, then that league’s protest rules and decisions control.

If the game is one in which the teams are from different leagues, then a protest may be submitted to the Horizon Air Summer Series (HASS). 

A protest must be declared by the manager at the time of the incident to the Umpire in Chief and before play resumes (the next pitch is thrown) in order to be considered.

All protests are to be in writing and submitted to the HASS within forty-eight (48) hours of the conclusion of the protested game.  The HASS Invitational Committee will serve as the protest committee.

The protest must include all the necessary facts upon which a decision can be made.  Include the section(s) from the Major League Baseball Rule Book upon which the protest is based and how the section(s) apply in this case.

MLB Rules may be seen at:

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/official_info/official_rules/foreword.jsp

The protest must also include the telephone numbers of all the umpires, the official scorer and the opposing manager.

Failure to protest properly will result in non-consideration of the protest. 

You may submit the written protest by e-mail to:

Office@SummerBaseballSeries.com

Or by fax to:

530-741-6658

A game may be protested only when a manager claims that an umpire's decision is in violation of the rules. No protest is permitted on judgment decisions by the umpire.

The HASS requires a very high standard to overturn the decision of the umpiring crew.

Even if it is held that the protested umpire’s decision violated the rules, no remedy will be ordered unless, in the opinion of the HASS, the violation had a material, adverse and overwhelming effect on the protesting team's chances of winning the game and that the umpire’s decision was without merit or logic.

In light of this high burden of proof, it is advisable that time be taken to settle the dispute at the time of its occurrence.  It may be better to consult the rulebook and hold up the game for a time in order to be sure the rules are applied in a proper fashion.

SCHEDULED GAMES

Each year the Horizon Air Summer Series Invitational Committee chooses what games out of a team's overall schedule will be included in the schedule of Summer Series games.  While choosing these games is an art, not a science, the Invitational Committee strives for the most competitive games possible.  

Tournament Play:

Tournament play for many teams is included on the Summer Series schedule.  Unless otherwise noted, on a day when tournament play is listed as a Summer Series game and the Summer Series Team plays more than one game that day in the tournament, the first game played and completed that day, or in case of delay as soon thereafter as practical, shall be the Summer Series game.

Tie Games:

A game ending in a tie shall count in the standings when resumption of play is not able to occur between the two teams and the Invitational Committee is not able to add, generally because of the end of the season drawing near, a future game to the schedule that wasn't originally scheduled as a Horizon Air Summer Series game, but could have been so scheduled since the game was competitive enough.    

Rainouts/Cancellations:

Occasionally, one of these games may be rained out or otherwise not played on the date scheduled.  In that case there are three ways to deal with the issue, presuming the game in question was not a forfeit under baseball rules:

1.  Games rescheduled between the same two teams are acceptable as long as that rescheduling is reported to the Summer Series at the time of the rescheduling and prior to play.  Click Here to Contact Summer Series.

2.  If a game is cancelled and is not planned to be rescheduled between the two teams, then the Invitational Committee will add a future game on the schedule that wasn't originally scheduled as a Horizon Air Summer Series game, but could have been so scheduled since the game was competitive enough.  

3.  Finally, if neither of those two options are available, most probably because the end of the season is near, the Invitational Committee will unseal an envelope it has for the team, the contents of which is a list of games compiled before the season of games that the Invitational Committee did not include on the Horizon Air Summer Series schedule, but could have included because such games were competitive, and the results of the first game on that list will be used for the first game that was not able to be replayed and so on.

The final day of Horizon Air Summer Series play shall be the final day of games played at the Host Stadium, All Seasons RV Stadium in Marysville, California.

These rules are subject to change without notice.