The ABA is a play-by-mail baseball league composed of teams from various parts of the country. The purpose of the league is to foster a spirit of friendship and friendly competition through the playing of the APBA Major League Baseball Game. Every ABA manager takes the obligations of fairness, promptness and friendliness very seriously as this is essential to the success and survival of the league.
The current Commissioner of the ABA is Jerry Valenti (abacommish@aol.com), who has served in that role since December 1983. The Commissioner oversees all league operations, recruits new managers and may terminate managers who violate the membership obligations of fairness, promptness and friendliness. Currently, the responsibilities of Editor and Statistician are being performed by the Commissioner but these could be delegated to others in the future if appropriate.
Currently, the ABA consists of 24 teams, each managed by one league member. The ABA is divided into an American League and a National League with 12 teams assigned to each. Each 12-team "league" is divided into three 4-team divisions. Each league member must own and play Baseball for Windows Version 5.75 of the APBA Major League Baseball Game.
League dues are currently $25 per year and are payable to the Commissioner by the close of the annual ABA Convention (see below). In addition, although a league data disk is provided by the Commissioner, it is expected that each manager will purchase a data disk from APBA for the season being played.
A gathering of ABA managers is held every year during the month of March. In recent years, the gathering has been held virtually via Zoom but it's possible that the gathering may be held in person some years. Any remaining playoff games from the season just ended are played at the Convention as well as the All-Star Game. The annual Free Agent Draft is held on the Saturday afternoon of the Convention, typically beginning at 2:00 PM Eastern Time. Aside from the regularly scheduled activities, the Convention is an important event for the league as it fosters the spirit of friendship which has made the ABA a success. All league members are encouraged to attend this gathering as often as possible.
If a manager desires to propose a change to a league rule, he must submit the proposal to the Commissioner at least two weeks prior to the ABA Convention. All proposals are discussed by the league membership attending the Convention. If a majority of the managers present feel that a proposal merits league consideration, it will be placed on a ballot for all league members to vote on. If 2/3 of the voting managers vote in favor of the change, it will be implemented. Typically, if the rule change affects player values for the coming season, the change will be implemented for the following season; otherwise it takes effect immediately (the Commissioner makes the determination).