• Backyard Baseball All Characters 2017

In-Series Nickname: 'Acer.' Air Guitar: Plays air (baseball bat) guitar for his up-to-bat ritual in the first two Baseball games, and plays it during the intro of Baseball 2007 onward., Boisterous Bruiser, Dreadful. Backyard Sports/Characters.

21 years ago, the original Backyard Baseball game was released for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh. The game was wildly popular and probably delivers nostalgia for a lot of people that played it a couple decades ago—you might remember popping in the CD-ROM to play. In honor of the 21-year anniversary, these are my picks for the best ten players in the original Backyard Baseball.

Honorable Mention

Ricky Johnson, Dimitri Petrovich

10. Angela Delvecchio

Strictly a pitcher that could swing the bat, Angela “Sugar Pop” Delvecchio couldn’t run and couldn’t field. But when she was on her game with enough juice in her juice box on the mound, there might not have been a pitcher more frustrating to hit against. Delvecchio didn’t blow hitters away with gas, but she used her pitchers and hit her spots.

9. Vicki Kawaguchi

Vicki Kawaguchi couldn’t hit, but she’s good at everything else. She isn’t quite the pitcher her brother Kenny is, but she’s well above average there. In the field, Vicki could cover a ton of ground and make plays like a vacuum in the outfield or at one of the two middle infield spots. And while she wasn’t going to threaten for a home run, “Swan” could get on base with bunt attempts.

8. Ernie Steele

The baseball card for Ernie Steele (A.K.A. “Funnybones”) says “everyone loves Ernie because he is so silly.” You don’t want a bunch of jokers on your team, but a well-liked player like Ernie could help bring a group together. Steele is just adequate at hitting and running, but he’s an elite fielder that can step in and do a good job on the mound as a reliever.

7. Mikey Thomas

Mikey Thomas was extremely slow—perhaps the slowest in the game—which made him a potential liability on defense. Ideally, you would hide him at right field and hope not many balls head in that direction—he does have a great arm, so he could throw people out on the basepaths, and a good centerfielder could track down balls in the gap that Mikey can’t get to in time. As a hitter is where Thomas shines, as he could hit moon shots without needing an aluminum bat.

6. Achmed Khan

Achmed Khan wore headphones and listened to music while he played, but it didn’t matter—he arguably had the biggest power swing of any Backyard Baseball character. “Axeman” would just go to work when it was his turn to bat, and the nickname indicates he preferred a down-on-the-baseball approach instead of using a launch angle to hit his bombs.

5. Jocinda Smith

If you have the nickname “MVP”, you better be good at sports—and Jocinda Smith is certainly good at baseball. Smith is said to have the “best swing in town,” but she didn’t seem to have as much pop as some of the other maxed-out hitters in the neighborhood. Basically, Smith was a technically-sound, all-around player that’ll do her job.

4. Kiesha Phillips

Kiesha Phillips is described as “the neighborhood clown,” which probably leads to more swing-and-misses than you’d like to see from someone with so much skill. However, Phillips has a ton of power—only matched by only a few other players—and her ability to cover ground in the outfield (she’s nicknamed “Flash”) makes her one of the best players to build a lineup card around.

3. Kenny Kawaguchi

Do not overlook Kenny Kawaguchi just because he’s in a wheelchair. “K-Man” is an all-around baseball player and probably the best pitcher of anyone, as the nickname indicates. Kawaguchi might not have as much pop at the plate as others, but he is a very good option in the bottom half of batting lineups.

2. Pete Wheeler

Nicknamed “Wheelie”, the name fits for Pete Wheeler, who is a little slow in the mind but not slow in athletic ability. Wheeler’s Backyard Baseball card calls his swing “legendary” if he makes contact, as his power rivals anyone in the game. The fastest of the characters probably has the most natural ability of anyone; he’s not in love with baseball like the top player on the list, but he makes amazing things happen for his team without even realizing it.

1. Pablo Sanchez

Pablo Sanchez doesn’t speak a lick of English, but that doesn’t affect his ability on the diamond. He’s an elite five-tool player that’s arguably the best contact hitter, power hitter, fielder, and baserunner of all the kids. In a pinch, the “Secret Weapon” can get on the bump and dominate there, too. The multi-sport athlete has small shoulders, but he can legit carry his team to victory, and his legendary presence makes his squad the favorite no matter who the other eight players are. His theme song is even the best. Pablo Sanchez is the greatest sports video game character of all-time.

Bonus: The best team names in Backyard Baseball

1. Melonheads (Mighty Melonheads is the classic)

2. Bombers

3. Socks

4. Rockets

5. Giants

6. All Stars

7. Monsters

8. Hornets

9. Wombats

10. Fishes

Available Platform: Windows

Backyard Baseball is a baseball game created by Humongous Entertainment and released for Windows and Macintosh in 1997.

Game Review

Backyard Baseball All Characters 2017

Backyard Baseball is a baseball game created by Humongous Entertainment and released for Windows and Macintosh in 1997.

It's the first of a long series of successful titles, the last one of which was released in 2015.

The idea of a videogame about kids playing baseball was developed by Nick Mirkovich, illustrator and animator. He presented the concept to the legendary Ron Gilbert (not only the creator of Maniac Mansion but also the founder of Humongous), and after a while, he approved. The design team was made of Mirkovich, Richard Moe (a programmer), and Mark Peyser (a graphic designer).

The game created by the trio was brilliant and totally unique. High-quality hand-drawn cartoon graphics, fluid animations, excellent gameplay, and, most importantly, a fantastic character design. The baseball players, 30 kids, were designed with their own look&feel and personality. Vaguely inspired to the Peanuts, they are also a great example of diversity: 15 boys, 15 girls, all in different sizes, colors, and races.

Somehow the kids remind me of movies such as The Bad News Bears (an amazing 1976 movie with Walter Matthau), and 'The sandlot', except that in the game, there are many more girls :)

Anyway, the kids in Backyard Baseball are so cute it's impossible not to fall in love with them. For each one of them, composer Rhett Mathis created a specific theme song. This was probably one of the most memorable elements of this game.

As you could expect from a sports sim, there are also top players. In this case, the real star is a short kid called Pablo Sanchez. Even if he looks like the worst player, he is the greatest one, and everybody loved him. Believe it or not, Pablo Sanchez is one of the most beloved videogames characters ever created.

Curiously, Backyard Baseball was developed using the SCUMM game engine, the same used in many graphics adventure. It's a great example of the flexibility of the engine invented by Ron Gilbert. Apparently, creating a sports sim was totally possible. The basic mechanic is indeed quite simple. Still, the game supports different fields, tournaments, different stats for the players, and even a sort of Mario Kart-style power-ups.

Backyard Baseball is simply one of the most popular videogames ever created. So what are you waiting for? Download and play it!

Review by: Manu
Published: 3 November 2019, 5:13 pm