Backyard Baseball (1997 video game)

Backyard Baseball, a baseball video game for children, was both developed and published by Humongous Entertainment. It launched on October 2, 1997, as the debut title in the Backyard Sports franchise—originally called the Junior Sports series—and kicked off the long-running Backyard Baseball line of games. The software came on a hybrid CD-ROM that worked with both Windows and Macintosh systems.

The game features three main modes: Pick-Up Game, League Play, and Batting Practice, plus a spectator mode where two randomly selected computer-controlled teams face off. Players can also check their trophies, records, and character baseball cards. Before starting a pick-up game or season, users adjust difficulty, toggle tee-ball (only in Pick-Up Play), choose between 6 or 9 innings, and decide whether to enable errors. In both modes, players build a custom team by picking a name and color, then drafting nine players from a pool of 30 characters. During matches, cartoonish power-ups become available: pitchers earn one by striking out a batter, while batters get one by hitting a power-up pitch. Pick-Up Play lets players choose from seven fields with different sizes, layouts, and surfaces—Tin Can Alley, for example, has pavement and tricky outfield boundaries. After creating a team, players draft against the computer. League Play, however, restricts play to Parks Department Field No. 2. Here, players sign a coach in the Backyard Baseball League, guide their team through a 14-game season against seven other league teams, and, if they finish first or second, compete in the best-of-3 All-City BBL Playoffs for the league pennant. Winning that leads to the best-of-3 Super Entire Nation Tournament, then the Ultra Grand Championship of the Universe (similar to the real World Series).

The game includes 30 fictional children, with 16 boys and 14 girls, each rated 1 to 4 in batting, running, pitching, and fielding. A standout is Pablo Sanchez, a small Spanish-speaking boy whose batting and running skills made him an iconic series character. The cast is noted for its broad diversity.

Backyard Baseball was conceived by Nick Mirkovich, who drew inspiration from children’s baseball movies like *The Sandlot* (1993). The project moved forward during the 1995 American League Division Series.

The game received moderate review