Wednesday, November 22, 2017

2017 Rules Summit - Results

The following are results of the 2017 UEFL Rules Summit. Notable changes for 2018 include elimination of the Triple-A ejection bonus point, renaming of the Declining Umpire Award to Most Disappointing Season, elimination of the Worst Umpire of the Year Award, and 30+ day absence replacement eligibility. Appeals Board re-election results are also posted.

Items which have gained passage (indicated in green highlight) will become rules for the 2018 UEFL season. Text of items which did not pass are indicated in red highlight.

Rule 1 - Selection of Umpires
Prop 1-2: Addition of Drafted Crew Chief - 27.0% YES.
> Would have added one crew chief (2 cc). Count remains one (cc).

Prop 1-3: Restructuring of Drafted Crew - 25.8% YES.
> Would have modified crew structure to (cc + 1 PRM + 1 SEC + 1 Fill-In); structure remains as (cc + 2 PRM + 2 SEC).

Prop 1-5-b: Mid-Season Replacement - 68.9% YES.
> Any consecutive 30+ day absence during the season qualifies as a circumstance for replacement.

Prop 1-5-c: Trade and Switch - 34.9% YES.
> Would have authorized one mid-season trade or replacement at the All-Star Break.

Rule 3 - Crew Division
Prop 3-3: Penalty for Incorrect Ejection - 41.9% YES.
> Would have deducted one point (-1) from crew chief's score for an incorrect crew ejection.

Rule 4 - League Scoring
Prop 4-2-a: Elimination of AAA Bonus Point - 55.6% YES.
> Eliminates the Triple-A ejection bonus point; all ejections are now allocated two base points.

Prop 4-2-b-3: Full Game Performance Points - 41.9% YES.
> Would have allowed full-game accuracy to mitigate QOCN ball/strike ejection loss of points.

Prop 4-3-c: Post-Season Appearance Points - 35.5% YES.
> Would have added one point to each round of the postseason.

Prop 4-4-h: Modification of Declining Umpire Award - 60.6% YES (Renaming), 30% Elimination.
> "Most Declining Umpire the Year" shall be renamed to "Most Disappointing Season."

Prop 4-4-i: Elimination of Worst Umpire Award - 51.5% YES.
> The "Worst Umpire of the Year" Award is removed from the postseason awards slate.

Rule 6 - Challenges and Appeals
Prop 6-1: Challenger Eligibility - 24.6% YES.
> Would have allowed any person logged into DISQUS to file a challenge.

Prop 6-2-b-1: Pitch f/x and Statcast - 75.9% YES.
> Statcast language shall be adopted while allowing Pitch f/x terms to still be used interchangeably.

Prop 6-2-b-5: Consistency and Meals Rule - 20.3% YES.
> Would have allowed consistent intra-at-bat ball/strike calls to be QOCU instead of QOCN.

Prop 6-2-b-5-c: Check Swings - 35.5% YES.
> Would have removed automatic Appeals Board referral for Check Swings.

Prop 6-4-a-3: Appeals Board Terms of Office - 45.2% YES.
> Would have extended at-large Appeals Board members' terms of office from one to two years.

Prop 6-4-a-4: Early Re-Election Elimination - 23.7% YES.
> Would have eliminated at-large Appeals Board members' re-election votes in the Rules Summit.

Prop 6-5-a -b: Appeal Language - 81.4% YES.
> UEFL Rules language for appeals shall be changed to match Appeals Board internal terminology.

Prop 6-5-c-5: Realistic Result - 32.8% YES.
> Would have removed the 3-0 count from list of "different outcome" counts.

Rule 8 - Umpire Odds & Ends and Community Issues
Prop 8-1: Restrict Commenters - 49.2% YES.
> Would have restricted commenting to only members registered and signed into DISQUS.

Prop 8-1-h: Comment Penalty - 27.0% YES.
> Would have instituted a mandatory seven-day penalty for violative/removed comments.

Prop 8-5: League Fee and Prizes - 11.7% YES.
> Would have instituted a fee for the league and allowed for a year-end prize.

UEFL Appeals Board (The Following At-Large Members sought re-election to the Board)
Arik G - 87.5% YES.
cyclone14 - 87.0% YES.
jvick2017 - 73.6% YES.
MarkCanada - 86.5% YES.
MLBUmpireObserver - 89.1% YES.