Little League Regulations
Little League Baseball has a set of regulations which govern operations of local leagues, as well as specifying restrictions on team rosters and line-ups. What follows is a summary of these regulations, tailored to baseball players aged 5-12 (the limits in Rutherford Little League). Persons with questions regarding these regulations are encouraged to consult the actual text of the regulations or contact Little League officials. Please note that these pages were last updated in 2015; Little League rules have changed since. Please refer to the latest rules and regulations published by Little League Baseball for updated information.
Regulation 1 - The League
The league is the only unit of organization. Individual teams, sponsors, etc., have no standing. Each league elects a board of directors, usually every September. The board then elects the league officers. The league president is forbidden from managing, coaching, or umpiring, and other board members are also restricted. The president and board have the final say on selection of managers, coaches, and umpires.
Each league shall draw its players from a specific area defined by a map, and all players must live or attend school within those boundaries. The league shall not have fewer than four, nor more than ten, Major League level teams. Each league is also required to provide accident insurance coverage for all players, managers, coaches, and umpires, and to screen its volunteers in accordance with Little League’s Child Protection Program.
Regulation 2 - League Boundaries
No league is permitted to draw players from outside its specified boundaries. The boundaries may include multiple communities, or specific precincts within a city. Little League Baseball “froze” league boundaries in 2006, and boundary changes must be approved by Little League headquarters in Williamsport, Pa.
A league may retain a player who once lived or attended school within its boundaries, although that player may have moved or the league may have adjusted its boundaries. The rule applies to players on Major, Senior and Big League teams, and to those Minor and Tee Ball players who have siblings on Major League teams.
Regulation 3 - The Teams
Each Major League team in a league shall have the same number of players (12 - 15, the number determined by the local board of directors). If a team loses a player due to injury, illness, change of address, etc., it may draft a player from the Minor League to replace the player lost. Note: A player may never be removed from a Major League roster on the basis of playing ability.
Regulation 4 - The Players
A player is eligible to participate in a particular level based on the player's age. The determination date has been revised several times. It was 31-Jul from the 1960s to 2005 and then became 30-Apr in 2006. Starting in 2016, the determination date is 31-Aug of the playing year for players born in 2006 or later.
Age groups include:
| Age | Suitable Levels |
|---|
| 4 | Tee Ball |
| 5-6 | Tee Ball; Coach/Machine Pitch if returning player |
| 7-8 | Coach/Machine Pitch; Minor League |
| 9-11 | Minor League; Major League |
| 12 | Major League; Intermediate League |
| 13 | Intermediate League; Junior League |
| 14 | Junior League; Senior League |
| 15 | Senior League |
| 16 | Senior League; Big League |
| 17-18 | Big League |
Note: Not every chartered league offers every listed level, or opens each level to all ages listed. Rutherford Little League opens its baseball program to players of league age 5 through 12 and offers programs through Major League.
Field sizes are as follows:
| League | Pitching Distance | Distance Between Bases |
|---|
| Minor League (up to age 8) | 40 feet | 60 feet |
| Minor League (9-up), Major League | 46 feet | 60 feet |
| Intermediate League | 50 feet | 70 feet |
| Junior, Senior, and Big League | 60 feet 6 inches | 90 feet |
An example: For 2015, a player born 30-Apr-2002 (league age 13) is ineligible to play in Major League, but may participate in Senior and Junior League. A player born 1-May-2002 (league age 12) is eligible to play in Major League, and is permitted to continue in tournament play even though he has achieved the chronological age of 13. A league that offers Junior League may open that program to players of league age 12 as well.
Subject to approval, an individual who once lived within a league's boundaries who has served for at least two seasons as a dedicated manager, coach, or board member and who continues to serve that league may have his children try out and be selected in that league even though the individual no longer lives within league boundaries.
Every player on a Little League team roster wll participate in each game for a minimum of six (6) defensive outs AND bat at least one (1) time in each game. A player who fails to meet this commitment must start the next scheduled game and play both the omitted requirement from the previous game and the full requirement for the current game before being removed. The manager who violates the rule is also subject to severe penalties. A league may choose not to impose penalties in a game shortened for weather, darkness, curfew, or the 10-run rule.
The mandatory play rule differs in tournament play. Each player present in uniform must complete a turn at bat (come to bat with no count and stay up until retired or becomes a runner). In addition, if a team has 12 or fewer eligible players in uniform, each must play six (6) consecutive defensive outs. Failure of all players to do so may result in forfeiture of the game, unless the game was shortened for weather, darkness, curfew, or the 10-run rule. (The rule still applies if the home team does not need its half of the sixth inning.)
Regulation 5 - Selection of Players
Each Major League shall select its players in accordance with the Little League Draft Selection System. This system is similar to that used for the free agent draft in professional baseball. Exceptions to this rule must be approved by Williamsport.
Regulation 6 - Pitchers
Any player on a team roster may pitch. Pitchers are limited in the number of pitches they can deliver in a day, and also in the rest required after they pitch.
| League Age | Maximum Pitches per Day |
|---|
| 4-6 | May not pitch |
| 7-8 | 50 |
| 9-10 | 75 |
| 11-12 | 85 |
| 13-16 | 95 |
| 17-18 | 105 |
If the pitcher reaches the limit while facing a batter, the pitcher may continue pitching until that batter is retired or becomes a runner, or the inning ends, whichever comes first, and then must be removed.
A pitcher must observe specific rest periods between pitching appearances, based on the number of pitches thrown the last day the pitcher pitched. A day’s rest is a calendar day in which the pitcher does not pitch, rather than a 24-hour period; a pitcher who throws over 20 pitches Tuesday may not pitch at any time on Wednesday. Any time a pitcher is eligible to pitch based on the observance of the stated rest period, the pitcher may pitch to the stated limit.
Effective with the 2010 season (in both regular season and tournament play), when a pitcher throws:
| Pitches (age 7-12) | Pitches (age 13-18) | Days Rest Required |
|---|
| 1-20 | 1-30 | 0 |
| 21-35 | 31-45 | 1 |
| 36-50 | 46-60 | 2 |
| 51-65 | 61-75 | 3 |
| 66 and up | 76 and up | 4 |
Example: A 12-year-old throws 80 pitches on Tuesday. The pitcher is not eligible Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, but is eligible Sunday.
If a pitcher reaches a days’ rest threshold while facing a batter, the prior threshold applies provided if the pitcher stops pitching after facing that batter (or if the inning ends). Example: If a 12-year-old is at 19 pitches, the pitcher may pitch until the next batter completes a turn at bat or the inning ends, and the pitcher will be eligible the next day. If the same pitcher starts a batter at 20 pitches and then is relieved, that pitcher will require one day’s rest.
A pitcher once removed from the mound may not return in the same game. At Major level and below, a pitcher may not pitch in more than one game in a day.
A player who has thrown more than 40 pitches on a given day may not be utilized as a catcher for the rest of that day. A player who has been utilized as catcher in four or more innings in a day is ineligible to pitch for the rest of that day (being the catcher for one pitch in an inning constitutes catching in that inning).
If a pitcher begins warming up and is found ineligible before throwing a pitch in the game, the ineligible pitcher may be removed without penalty. Rule 3.05 (b) will not apply.
Pitches in suspended or called games count toward pitchers’ eligibility for that day. Eligibility in a suspended game is determined strictly by the most recent appearance by that pitcher, except that a pitcher removed from the suspended game may not return. All pitches, including those thrown in games called before one inning is completed (and thereby not resumed), count toward pitchers’ eligibility.
Regulation 7 - Schedules
A league must provide a minimum 12-game schedule for each team. This schedule should call for no less than two games per week per team. A team may not be scheduled for two games in a day more than once per calendar week, but a suspended game may be completed prior to a scheduled game involving the same team or teams.
Regulation 8 - Minor Leagues
A Minor League is established to provide training and instruction to those players who, by reason of age and other factors, were not selected for the Major League. There is no “farm team” link between specific Major and Minor League teams. All Minor Leaguers are free agents, subject to selection by any Major League team in that league during the season, and all Minor League teams are dissolved at the end of the season.
Regulation 9 - Special Games
Little League prohibits games other than regular-season or playoff games to determine a league champion or games as part of its annual tournaments, with the exception of special games approved, under this section, by the appropriate district and regional authorities. The rule does not prohibit pre-season scrimmages between teams in a specific league and level.
Regulation 10 - Night Games
Artificial lights may be used to play games, provided they meet Little League standards: for new installations, 50 foot-candles for the infield, 30 foot-candles for the outfield. Curfews are as follows (no inning may start after the stated time; local prevailing time where and when the game is played):
- Age 12 and under, regular season: 10 p.m.
- Age 12 and under, tournament: 12 midnight
- Age 13 and over, regular season: 11 p.m.
- Age 13 and over, tournament: 1 a.m.
Regulation 11 - Admission to Games
No admission shall be charged to any Little League regular-season game, or to any 12-, 11-, or 10-year-old tournament game. Voluntary contributions are permitted. Admission may be charged for Junior, Senior, or Big League tournament games.
Regulation 12 - Awards
The value of an award or gift to an individual player must be in accordance with state high-school rules. Awards given on the basis of comparable skills or accomplishments are not permitted in Little League.
Regulation 13 - Commercialization
Little League players are permitted to participate in one fund raising project annually under adult supervision. This rule affects only player participation in fund raisers and is not intended to restrict a league’s overall fund-raising efforts.
A participation fee may be assessed by a local league, but at no time should payment of a fee be a pre-requisite for participation in the Little League program.
Regulation 14 - Field Decorum
No one is parmitted on a Little League field during a game except uniformed players, managers, coaches, umpires, and news photographers authorized by the league or tournament director. Players must remain in their dugouts or bull pen unless they are actively in the game (at bat, on base, or in the field). In levels for 12-year-olds and younger, the on-deck batter must remain in the dugout until it is time to bat (no on-deck position permitted).
A manager or coach who is not coaching a base must remain in the dugout unless allowed by an umpire to confer with a player or an umpire.
Tobacco and alcohol in all forms, and references to them on apparel, are prohibited on the playing field, benches, and dugouts.
Regulation 15 - Television
Regular season and special games may not be televised (except for public service television). Players are forbidden from appearing on programs or in commercials in Little League uniforms without express approval from Williamsport. Television rights for tournament games must be negotiated through Williamsport.
Regulation 16 - Use of Little League Name and Emblem
The following trademarks and service marks are restricted to use by chartered leagues only: the official emblems, “LL”, “LLB”, “Little League”, “Little League Baseball”, “Little Leaguer”, “Senior League Baseball”, “Junior League Baseball”, “Big League Baseball”, “Little League Softball”, “Senior League Softball”, “Big League Softball”, “Challenger Division”.
Regulation 17 - Tournament Play
Tournament team selections may not be announced, and tournament practice may not begin, until 14 days prior to the scheduled start of the tournament. Significant tournament playing and pitching rules differences are outlined under Regulation 4, The Players, and Regulation 6, Pitching, above.
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Updated 22-Oct-2015