About the New England Legends Baseball League

Members of the NELBL:

Your Executive Council and Board of Managers have been busy in the off-season, trying to improve the Bylaws & Rules of Play for our great league.  I will serve my final year as President of the NELBL in 2026, joined by returning Vice-President & MA Millers Manager Joe Desiato, returning Secretry & new NH Granite Manager Timoty Koukos, and new Treasurer Rich Brouillette; we thank former Treasurer Dwight Barnes again for his years of exceptional service to the NELBL!

I invite you to review the updated Bylaws as well as the Rules of Play, linked both in this article as well as in the header above.  For your convenience, here are the primary changes we made to the Bylaws & Rules of Play in preparation for the 2026 season:

Index of Updates

  • 2026-01-12: 1.4.2 & 1.4.3 (and underlying subsections) updated to clarify process whereby members of the Executive Council who are also managers can vote as representatives of their team, but cannot cast a deciding vote as a member of the Executive Council.
  • 2026-01-12: Deleted original sections 1.4.4 & 1.4.5, which are handled by updated sections 1.4.2 & 1.4.3.
  • 2026-01-12: 2.2.2 updated to require minimum 50% of regular season games played for players in their first three years in the NELBL to qualify for playoffs, while dropping that minimum for players after three years to 25% of regular season games played to qualify for playoffs.
  • 2026-01-12: 2.2.3 added to accommodate players who are unable to physically bat or play in the field, but who are interested in keeping score or serving as base coaches for at least four (4) innings, and thus qualifying as a game played toward playoff eligibility.
  • 2026-01-12: 3.3.7 added to emphasize that the NELBL will not use a pitch clock nor batter’s clock, nor will a pitcher that disengages from the pitcher’s rubber three (3) or more times during an At-Bat.
  • 2026-01-12: 3.12.4.1 & 3.12.4.2 swapped, moving Points to first consideration, and Winning Percentage to second consideration in Playoff Seeding.
  • 2026-02-09: 2.2.2 simplified to state that all players must participate in a minimum of five (5) games to qualify for playoffs.
  • 2026-02-09: 2.2.3 added to provide an option for players that are physically unable to play in the field or bat but would like to keep the scorebook or serve as a base coach for at least four (4) innings to qualify as a game played.
  • 2026-03-09: 3.10.8 added language requiring at least one (1) functioning AED per each official NELBL baseball game.

  • 2026-03-09: Appendix 6.6 added Return of AED Clause.

  • 2026-03-09: The Board of Managers also confirmed the playoff structure for 2026:

    • The playoffs will be a "Round Robin" tournament, e.g., each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn, which contrasts with an elimination tournament; additionally, the two final teams that come out of this Round Robin will play a best of three championship series.

If you have any questions, or if we can be of any service to you, please let your manager know!

With kindest regards,

TAB

 

Troy Barber, President

New England Legends Baseball League

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