Age requirements vary in each division.
You must attain the required age on or before 12/31 of the current season year. So for example, if you turn 28 on or before 12/31 of this year, you are eligible to play in the National and American divisions.
Teams generally start getting together to practice around February. Our season runs from the beginning of April through the end of September with playoffs typically ending by the first week of October. We do not have a fall/winter season.
Click here to put yourself in our player pool. Teams needing players will check the league player pool. You can also go to our forms link to get a copy of the registration and medical waiver forms which you'll have to fill out before you can play.
The other alternatives are:
To bring in a new team, you must attend the pre-season manager's meetings, the first of which usually takes place in late January or early February (the first meeting time and place will be published on the web site sometime after the first of the year under the Latest News link). You must also provide a $500 non-refundable deposit to secure your team's entry. If your team drops for any reason (i.e., unable to get enough players, etc.) you do not get your $500 back, but it can be applied toward the payment of player fees for remaining players who join other teams in the league.
Teams must have a minimum of 14 paid players. There is no maximum number of players.
For the 2008 season, there are 11 teams in the National (morning 9am-12) division, 12 teams in the American (afternoon 3pm-6) division, and 6 teams in the new 40 and over Mountain Division.
The player fee is currently $230 ($315 total if playing in both divisions). Fees cover umpire and field fees, baseballs, hats, and insurance. $25 of the fee goes to MSBL National, and also pays for "Hardball" magazine which is the quarterly publication of MSBL. Team managers pay $155 as compensation for the time and effort it takes to run a team.
Uniform costs are additional, and vary from team to team. Most teams have major-league style/quality uniforms.
Teams can get a business to sponsor them to help with some or all of the cost.
There are normally 22-24 regular season games, depending on the number of teams. There is also an All-Star game in each division, playoff games for teams that qualify, and a championship game for both divisions.
Games are played in Tucson on city and county fields. Most of our games are played at the Reid Park Annex, which has 5 full size fields (4 lighted), and at the Kino Sports Complex, which has 4 fields (1 lighted) that we use.
We also make use of other fields around town in order to schedule all of our games, including local parks and high schools.
Although the majority of our games are scheduled on Sunday, we occasionally have games that take place during the week. If a game is rained out and has to be rescheduled, many times it will have to be rescheduled for a weeknight. It may also be due to field availability issues and the number of teams we have in our league.
All teams should expect to have some weeknight games on their schedule.
No. To figure out the prorated fee, subtract the national fee ($25), divide by the total number of games in the season, then multiply by the number of games remaining. Add the national fee back in, and that is what you should pay. Example:
$230 full season (24 games) $230 - $25 national fee = $205 $205 / 24 = $8.55 per game If you had 10 games left: ($8.55 x 10 games) + $25 = $85.50 + $25 = $110.50 total due
You can also use the online Player Fee Calculator.
Ties are broken by applying the following criteria in the order given:
Prior to the roster freeze date of July 1, you may add players to your team at any time. You may select players from the online Player Pool, or use "buddy picks" to add to your roster. After July 1, you may only add players if your team roster falls below 14 players. To prevent teams from bringing in "ringers" late in the season, a team needing to add players after July 1 must make their request for players to the league. The league will assign players to teams on a first-come first-served basis from the league player pool.
The league does not encourage players switching teams. If you feel that you have a situation that warrants special consideration, you should submit your request in writing to the board. Under no circumstances may players switch teams after the roster freeze date of July 1.
**Note: at the present time, the league does not provide any insurance coverage for injuries sustained during league practices or play. The league only has liability insurance which does not cover player/participant injury.
Any personal insurance claims will have to be submitted to your personal insurance provider.
If you wish to leave your prior season's team and start a new team, you can submit a request to the league board. If your request is approved, keep in mind that league rules do not allow you to take any other players from your former team to form the new team.
Players should check with their managers to see whether or not a game is cancelled due to weather. Keep in mind that just because it is raining in your part of town, it may not be raining at the field.
Managers should call the league hotline 881-2255 and/or check the league web page latest news link for the latest information.
Players do not need a password to look at scores, standings, stats, news, etc. The team manager or the person designated to input game results, stats, etc. must have a password. To get a password, email the webmaster and identify yourself and your team and instructions will be sent to you.
No. The league does not refund player fees. If the player who is quitting can find a player to take his place, the new player can take the place of the one who is quitting and part of his fees can be refunded to the player who has quit at the discretion of the manager of the team. The team manager must get permission from the league treasurer before requesting replacement of a player who has paid with a new player who has not paid.
Yes. You can play on a morning division team, and also a afternoon division team. Your player fee will be higher.
Your Tucson MSBL league membership fee includes a year's subscription to the MSBL National Magazine "Hardball". If you are not receiving your magazine, it could be because you are a new league member and your registration information has not been processed through the national office. If you have recently moved and changed addresses and did not submit a change of address through the post office this could also cause an interruption in delivery. If you are not receiving your magazine, email us and provide your name, current address, team you are playing on, and when you joined the league so we can look into this for you.
