Official Professional Baseball Rules Book


The Official Professional Baseball Rules Book govern all aspects of the game of Major League Baseball beyond what happens in the field of play. There are a number of sources for these rules but they all ultimately are sanctioned by the Commissioner's Office of Major League Baseball. Examples of these rules are the Rule 5 draft and the disabled list.
Other examples include:
The Official Professional Baseball Rules Book is organized into the following sections:
The Major League Rules begin with a note stating that whenever a provision of any of its rules conflicts with a provision in the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiated with the Major League Baseball Players Association, the provision in the Collective Bargaining Agreement supersedes the Major League Rules.
The following are the topics covered by current Major League Rules:
  1. Circuits
  2. Player Limits and Reserve Lists
  3. Eligibility to Sign Contracts, Contract Terms and Contract Tenders
  4. First Year Player Draft
  5. Annual Selection of Players
  6. Selected Players
  7. Termination of Player-Club Relation
  8. Major League Unconditional Release
  9. Assignment of Player Contracts
  10. :*9A-Temporary Assignment
  11. Major League Waivers
  12. Optional Agreements
  13. Transfer Agreements
  14. Suspended Players
  15. Retired Players
  16. Restricted, Disqualified and Ineligible Lists
  17. Reinstatement of Players
  18. Player Salaries
  19. Playing Otherwise than for a Club
  20. Umpires and Official Scorers
  21. Conflicting Interests
  22. Misconduct
  23. :*a) Misconduct in Playing Baseball
  24. :*b) Gift for Defeating Competing Club
  25. :*c) Gifts to Umpires
  26. :*d) Betting on Ball Games
  27. :*:#Betting on Other Baseball Teams
  28. :*:#Betting on Own Team
  29. :*e) Violence or Misconduct
  30. :*f) Other Misconduct
  31. :*g) Rule to be kept posted
  32. Claim Presentation
  33. Holidays
  34. Suspended Personnel
  35. Uniform Playing Rules
  36. :*a) Official Baseball Rules
  37. :*b) Playing Rules Committee
  38. :*c) Duties of Playing Rules Committee
  39. :*d) Official Scoring Rules Committee
  40. :*e) Duties of Official Scoring Rules Committee
  41. :*f) Copyright and Publication
  42. Gate Receipts
  43. reserved
  44. Voting
  45. Major League Disaster Plan
  46. Finances
  47. Bulletins
  48. Schedules
  49. Qualification for Post-Season Series
  50. :*a) Division Champions
  51. :*b) Wild Card
  52. :*c) Tie-Breaking Procedures
  53. Post-Season Series
  54. :*a) Division Series
  55. :*b) League Championship Series
  56. :*c) World Series
  57. Post-Season Supervision by the Commissioner
  58. Pennant and Memento
  59. Post-Season Schedule
  60. Post-Season Series Termination
  61. Post-Season Playing Rules
  62. Players Eligible for Post-Season
  63. :*only 25 eligible players on a team
  64. reserved
  65. Post-Season Expenses
  66. Post-Season Playing Grounds
  67. Post-Season Admissions
  68. Division of Post-Season Receipts
  69. Bonus Forbidden
  70. Exhibition Games
  71. Obligations of Participants
  72. reserved
  73. Enforcement of Major League Rules
  74. Classification of Minor Leagues
  75. Major and Minor League Territorial Rights
  76. Minor League Expansion, Contraction,Relocation and Reclassification
  77. Regulation of Minor League Franchises
  78. Minor League Free Agency
  79. Standard Player Development Contract
  80. Travel Standards for Minor League Clubs
  81. Standards for Minor League Playing Facilities
  82. Lien on Territory
  83. Definitions
  84. :*a) Major League
  85. :*b) Major League Club
  86. :*c) Major League Player
  87. :*d) Minor League Association
  88. :*e) Minor League
  89. :*f) Minor League Club
  90. :*g) Club
  91. :*h) Minor League Player
  92. :*i) First Year Player
  93. :*j) Commissioner
  94. :*k) President of a Minor League Association
  95. :*l) Major League Reserve List
  96. :*m) Minor League Reserve List
  97. :*n) Major League Active List
  98. :*o) Minor League Active List
  99. :*p) Championship Season
  100. :*q) Player Development Contract
  101. :*r) Independent Minor League Club
  102. :*s) Inactive Lists
  103. :*t) Winter League
This is followed by the Acceptance of all the Clubs.
Then there are the Attachments to the Rules :