Backyard Baseball is a series of children's game

Game

A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...

s for the Game Boy Advance

Game Boy Advance

The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...

, PlayStation 2

PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

, GameCube, Wii

Wii

The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...

, iOS, and the PC

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

. It is the original game in the Backyard Sports series

Backyard Sports series

Backyard Sports is a series of video games that play on both consoles and computers. The series is best known for starring kid-sized versions of popular professional sports stars, such as Albert Pujols, Paul Pierce, Barry Bonds, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Tom Brady, Alex Rodriguez, Joe Thornton and...

. Currently all the games in the series have been developed by Humongous Entertainment and published by Atari

Atari

Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...

. It is one of six Backyard Sports

Backyard Sports series

Backyard Sports is a series of video games that play on both consoles and computers. The series is best known for starring kid-sized versions of popular professional sports stars, such as Albert Pujols, Paul Pierce, Barry Bonds, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Tom Brady, Alex Rodriguez, Joe Thornton and...

games.

The original game consisted of 55 neighborhood kids. Over the years, the idea of "Pro players as kids" became popular, and the original stats and looks of the players changed. Some of the pros available include Chipper Jones

Chipper Jones

Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones, Jr. is a Major League baseball player for the National League's Atlanta Braves. Although initially a shortstop, he has spent most of his career as the starting third baseman for the Braves...

, Alex Rodriguez

Alex Rodriguez

Alexander Emmanuel "Alex" Rodriguez is an American professional baseball third baseman with the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. Known popularly by his nickname A-Rod, he previously played shortstop for the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers.Rodriguez is considered one of the best...

, Alfonso Soriano

Alfonso Soriano

Alfonso Guilleard Soriano is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Chicago Cubs....

, Éric Gagné

Éric Gagné

Éric Serge Gagné is a former Major League Baseball pitcher.Signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent in 1995, Gagné began his career as a starting pitcher...

, Ichiro Suzuki

Ichiro Suzuki

, usually known simply as is a Major League Baseball right fielder for the Seattle Mariners. Ichiro has established a number of batting records, including the sport's single-season record for hits with 262...

, Sammy Sosa

Sammy Sosa

Samuel Peralta "Sammy" Sosa is a Dominican former professional baseball right fielder. Sosa played with four Major League Baseball teams over his career which spanned from 1989-2007....

, Jim Thome

Jim Thome

James Howard "Jim" Thome is a Major League Baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies. He is the eighth player to hit 600 home runs in the major leagues. He is widely considered a future Hall of Famer.-Cleveland Indians :...

, Albert Pujols

Albert Pujols

José Alberto Pujols Alcántara , better known as Albert Pujols , is a Dominican-American professional baseball player, who is currently a free agent...

, Nomar Garciaparra

Nomar Garciaparra

Anthony Nomar Garciaparra is a former Major League Baseball player. After playing parts of 9 seasons as an All-Star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, he played third base, first base, and designated hitter for the Oakland Athletics, first base and third base for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and...

, Kenny Lofton

Kenny Lofton

Kenneth Lofton is a former Major League Baseball outfielder known for his great speed on the base paths as well as in the field, award-winning defensive play , timely hitting, and playful spirit. He batted and threw left-handed...

, Ken Griffey, Jr.

Ken Griffey, Jr.

George Kenneth "Ken" Griffey, Jr. , nicknamed "Junior" and "The Kid", is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and during his final years, designated hitter...

, Cal Ripken Jr., Curt Schilling

Curt Schilling

Curtis Montague "Curt" Schilling is a former American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He helped lead the Philadelphia Phillies to the World Series in and won World Series championships in with the Arizona Diamondbacks and in and with the Boston Red Sox. Schilling retired with a...

, and Barry Bonds

Barry Bonds

Barry Lamar Bonds is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. Bonds played from 1986 to 2007, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds...

. Some unlockable pros include Randy Johnson

Randy Johnson

Randall David Johnson , nicknamed "The Big Unit", is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. During a 22-year career, he pitched for six different teams....

, Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter

Derek Sanderson Jeter is an American baseball shortstop who has played 17 years in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. A twelve-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion, Jeter's clubhouse presence, on-field leadership, hitting ability, and baserunning have made him a central...

, Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux

Gregory Alan Maddux , nicknamed "Mad Dog" and "The Professor", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the first pitcher in major league history to win the Cy Young Award for four consecutive years , a feat matched only by Randy Johnson...

 and Mike Piazza

Mike Piazza

Michael Joseph "Mike" Piazza ; born September 4, 1968) is an American former Major League Baseball catcher. He played in his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, San Diego Padres and the Oakland Athletics....

.

Managers can create players, and choose from a roster of characters to form teams. In the latest version of the game, a player could play an exhibition game or a 16 or 32 game season (previously 14) followed by the "BBL playoffs," which contains both the AL and NL divisional series, the AL

American League Championship Series

In Major League Baseball, the American League Championship Series , played in October, is a round in the postseason that determines the winner of the American League pennant...

 and NL

National League Championship Series

In Major League Baseball, the National League Championship Series is a round in the postseason that determines who wins the National League pennant and advances to Major League Baseball's championship, the World Series, facing the winner of the American League Championship Series. The reigning...

 championship series and finally the "Backyard Baseball World Series

World Series

The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...

".
The game includes many modes, and they are Single Game, Batting Practice, Spectator, and Season Game.

Backyard Baseball attempts to recreate the experience of playing baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 as children.

Power-Ups

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.

• Aluminum Power: is the rarest and most valued of power-ups and can disappear after one or no tries when in use. Players use an aluminum bat to hit a definite home run.
• Screaming Line Drive: can last at least two uses and appears more frequently. Players hit a fast line drive
  Line drive
  In baseball, a line drive is a type of batted ball, sharply hit, and on a level trajectory. The threshold between a line drive and a fly ball can be subjective....
  
   to the wall and allows the batter to run more or all bases.
• Under Grounder: can last at least two uses. Players hit a ground ball that goes into the ground, causing the ball to appear in any random area of the field.
• Crazy Bunt: can disappear after one or no tries when in use, although sometimes it will last for up to four uses when used sparingly. The ball hit will roll around the field erratically as fielders just barely miss catching it. It is effective in securing runs, doubles or triples and in exhausting the opposing team.

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.

• 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. Very difficult to anticipate.
• Elevator: the ball is thrown low along the ground and suddenly jumps into the air at the last moment. More difficult to hit if the pitch is aimed low.
• 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. Most players miss due to its odd and very picky timing.
• Spitball: the ball is covered with saliva and jerks in the air. The timing to swing is pickier and harder to hit.
• Fireball: arguably the most powerful pitch, the ball blazes past the batter in a ball of fire at an incredibly high speed. Very difficult to hit, even with experienced players. When used by a player, this pitch is the most draining of the pitcher's stamina.

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.

Installments

Title	Year	Platforms
Backyard Baseball	1997	Macintosh Macintosh The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a... , Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
Backyard Baseball 2001 Backyard Baseball 2001 Backyard Baseball 2001 is a sports video game released by Humongous Entertainment in 2000. It is the second game in the Backyard Baseball series and the first to include pro kids, such as Alex Rodriguez, Mo Vaughn, Ken Griffey Jr., Jason Giambi, and many others. The game is targeted at young...	2000	Macintosh, Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
Backyard Baseball 2002	2001	Game Boy Advance Game Boy Advance The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
Backyard Baseball 2003	2002	Macintosh, Windows
Backyard Baseball 2004	2003	Nintendo GameCube Nintendo GameCube The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
Backyard Baseball 2005	2004	Windows
Backyard Baseball 2006	2005	Game Boy Advance
Backyard Baseball 2007 Backyard Baseball 2007 Backyard Baseball 2007 is the sixth Backyard Baseball game for PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, PC, and Nintendo GameCube. The game highlights sixteen Major League Baseball players and all 30 MLB teams are represented, as well as ten fantasy teams....	2006	Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Windows
Backyard Baseball '09	2008	Nintendo DS Nintendo DS The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP... , PlayStation 2, Wii Wii The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others... , Windows
Backyard Baseball '10	2009	Nintendo DS Nintendo DS The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP... , PlayStation 2, Wii Wii The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
Backyard Sports : Sandlot Sluggers Backyard Sports series Backyard Sports is a series of video games that play on both consoles and computers. The series is best known for starring kid-sized versions of popular professional sports stars, such as Albert Pujols, Paul Pierce, Barry Bonds, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Tom Brady, Alex Rodriguez, Joe Thornton and...	2010	Wii Wii The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others... , Nintendo DS Nintendo DS The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP... , Xbox 360 Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles... , PC Personal computer A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...