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Backyard Baseball is a series of baseballvideo games for children which was developed by Humongous Entertainment and published by Atari. It was first released in October 1997 for Macintosh and Microsoft Windows. Later games were featured on Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Wii, and iOS. It is part of the Backyard Sports series. There have been eleven different versions of the game since 1997. Some of the game titles that were created include Backyard Baseball, Backyard Baseball 2001-2010, and Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers.

The original game consisted of 30 neighborhood kids from which the gamer could choose to play.^[1] Over the years, the idea of 'Pro players as kids' became popular, and the original statistics and looks of the players changed. Some of the professional players that were available included Chipper Jones, Frank Thomas, Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano, Ichiro Suzuki, Sammy Sosa, Jim Thome, Albert Pujols, Nomar Garciaparra, Ken Griffey Jr., and Barry Bonds. As the game progresses, there are some professionals that become available or 'unlockable' including Randy Johnson, Derek Jeter, and Mike Piazza.

In Backyard Baseball, players take a managerial role by creating a team of different players to compete against opponents. In the different installments, a player could play an exhibition game or a 14, 16 or 32 game season (different versions vary) followed by the 'Backyard Baseball League' playoffs, which contains the American League and National League divisional series, the AL and NL championship series and finally the 'Backyard Baseball World Series'. Series games will vary per game.

This game has various playable modes, they include: Single Game, Batting Practice, Spectator, and Season Game.

In 2013, The Evergreen Group acquired the intellectual property from Atari.

Legacy[edit]

Pablo Sanchez, one of the playable characters in the game, has been regarded as one of the strongest characters in video game history.^[2][3][4]

The game has also been noted for its diversity (gender, race) of characters, both in ratio of white to non-white and male to female, as well as skill level and the distribution of the best characters.^[5]

Power-Ups[edit]

Sometimes accompanying the four standard batting modes (Power, Line Drive, Grounder and Bunt), some beneficial power-ups appear. In the original Backyard Baseball, these batting power-ups appeared when the player got a hit when the computer used a 'crazy pitch' (see below). Starting from Backyard Baseball 2001, the power ups were awarded after a hit off a 'crazy pitch' and when the player turned a double play or triple play on defense. In addition to these batting power-ups, pitching power-ups, or 'crazy pitches,' also progressively appear, though they are much more frequent and in number, occurring whenever the player strikes an opponent out. These pitches consume much more energy and causes the strike zone to expand, so most of the pitches given are never used consecutively. In addition to the 'crazy pitches,' a strikeout may also award the player 'More Juice,' a full energy recharge for the pitcher that can be used when the player sees fit to use it.

Backyard Baseball 2001

Batting Power-Ups

• Aluminum Power: This power-up is the most valued and can disappear after one or no tries when in use. Players use an aluminum bat to increase the chances to hit a home run.
• Screaming Line Drive: The power-up last about two uses and appears more frequently. Players hit a fast line drive to the wall and allows the batter to run more or all bases.
• Under Grounder: This move lasts at least two uses. Players hit a ground ball that goes into the ground, causing the ball to reappear in any random area of the outfield.
• Crazy Bunt: The move disappears after one or no tries when in use, but if the power-up is used sparingly, the move can last up to four uses. When the ball is hit, the ball rolls around the field erratically as fielders just barely miss catching it.

Pitching Power-Ups

• Big Freeze: The ball is thrown like normal but suddenly stops just before it enters the strike zone, often faking the hitter into swinging at the pitch.
• Elevator: The ball is thrown low along the ground and then the ball suddenly jumps into the air at the last moment.
• Crazyball: the ball 'laughs' when thrown, and it moves in random directions in the air. Easier to hit if swingspot is enabled
• Corkskrew: The ball makes a spiral motion through the air. Easier to hit if swingspot is enabled
• Zigzag: The ball makes a zig-zag motion through the air. Easier to hit if swingspot is enabled
• Slomo: The ball travels very slowly through the air, requiring precise timing to be hit.
• Spitball: The ball is covered with saliva and jerks in the air.
• Fireball: One of the most powerful pitches, the ball blazes past the batter in a ball of fire at an incredibly high speed. When used by a player, this pitch is the most draining of the pitcher's stamina.

Backyard Baseball 2005

Batting Power-Ups

• Sonic Boom: The player knocks down opposing fielders with a super-powerful shockwave.
• Rubber Bat: The batter bounce a grounder really high into the air — the player will have a chance to reach base before any fielder catches the ball.
• Butter Fingers: The player will splatter the opposing fielders with butter. They'll have a slippery time trying to field your hit.
• Jumping Bean Bunt: This tricky power-up makes the ball jump all over the place!
• Lightning Bat: Produce tremendous power when you connect with the ball.
• Geyser Hit: The batter makes the ball burrow deep underground before it suddenly surfaces somewhere in the outfield.
• Piñata Bat: The batter drives fielders crazy when the ball is hit, the ball multiplies into dozens of bouncing baseballs.
• Orbiter: Knock the stuffing out of the ball.

Pitching Power-Ups

• The Fang: The Fang looks like a normal curve-ball, but it bites hard at the last second and goes straight into the dirt.
• Freezer: The Freezer stops just before reaching the strike zone, pauses briefly, and then continues.
• Slo MO: This ball starts moving at ultra-slow speed just before reaching the strike zone.
• Juice Box: The Juice Box will refill your pitcher's Pitch Juice Box.
• Rainbow Pop-up: When it's hit, the ball goes straight into the air for an easy out.
• Crazy Pitch: The Crazy Pitch is so wild that even the pitcher doesn't know where it will go.
• Splitball: This pitch splits into two separate curve-balls, one of which is a fake, unhittable baseball.
• Fireball: The Fireball is so fast it can burn a hole in your catcher's glove.

Installments[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^https://www.theringer.com/features/2017/10/10/16451300/backyard-baseball-20-year-anniversary
2. ^http://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2017/06/23/backyard-baseball-computer-game-history
3. ^http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/03/the-25-best-virtual-athletes-in-video-games/pablo-sanchez
4. ^http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1990299-most-terrifying-video-game-athletes-to-play-against
5. ^Delayo, Mike. 'The Inclusive Legacy of Backyard Baseball'. Fangraphs.

External links[edit]

Game Boy Advance Game (GBA)

Game Rating

The neighborhood kids want to play baseball and create their own league! Play with your neighbors and prove that you're the best in Backyard Baseball!
Backyard Baseball is a baseball sports video game that was first released back in 1997, and was later ported to the Game Boy Advance (GBA) handheld gaming console back in 2002. Take on the managerial role and create a team consisting of different players! Compete against the other teams in the neighborhood and have fun! Keep your eyes out for the occasional powerups and get the edge on the game.

Emulator Controls

←→↑↓ = Directions

Z = A X = B

A = L S = R

enter ↵ = Start

← backspace = Select

Related Games

Backyard Baseball is an online GBA game that you can play at Emulator Online. This free Game Boy Advance game is the United States of America region version for the USA. Backyard Baseball is a single title from the many sports games, arcade games and baseball games offered for this console. If you enjoyed playing this, then you can find similar games in the gba games category. Backyard Baseball game is from the various retro games on the site, and there are more games like this, including Backyard Football, R.B.I. Baseball and Backyard Basketball 2007.