Backyard Baseball
Video game series
title: "Backyard Baseball" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["backyard-sports", "video-game-franchises-introduced-in-1997", "baseball-video-games"] description: "Video game series" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backyard_Baseball" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Video game series ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox video game series"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| title | Backyard Baseball |
| image | File:Backyard Baseball logo.png |
| caption | The logo for the upcoming Backyard Baseball game, a recreation of the logo for the original Backyard Baseball (1997) |
| genre | Sports |
| developer | Humongous Entertainment Mega Cat Studios |
| publisher | Humongous Entertainment Infogrames/Atari |
| The Evergreen Group | |
| Playground Productions | |
| platforms | Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Wii, Windows, iOS, Xbox 360, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Macintosh, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 |
| first release version | Backyard Baseball |
| first release date | October 10, 1997 |
| latest release version | Backyard Baseball '01 |
| latest release date | July 8, 2025 |
| :: |
| title = Backyard Baseball | image = File:Backyard Baseball logo.png | caption = The logo for the upcoming Backyard Baseball game, a recreation of the logo for the original Backyard Baseball (1997) | genre = Sports | developer = Humongous Entertainment Mega Cat Studios | publisher = Humongous Entertainment Infogrames/Atari The Evergreen Group Playground Productions | platforms = Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Wii, Windows, iOS, Xbox 360, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Macintosh, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 | first release version = Backyard Baseball | first release date = October 10, 1997 | latest release version = Backyard Baseball '01 | latest release date = July 8, 2025
Backyard Baseball is a series of baseball video games for children which was originally developed by Humongous Entertainment. 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, of which this series serves as its first sub-series.
The original game consisted of 30 neighborhood kids from which the player must build a team. Beginning from Backyard Baseball 2001 (2000), however, the games have additionally featured Major League Baseball players reimagined as kids, with the exception of Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers (2010).
In Backyard Baseball, players take a managerial role by creating a team of different players to compete against opponents. In the different installments, one could choose to play a one-off exhibition game or a seasonal league, followed by the "Backyard Baseball League" playoffs, which contains the American League and National League division 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, and they include: Single Game, Batting Practice, Spectator, and Season Game.
A remastered version of the first Backyard Baseball title was released for Windows (via Steam) on October 10, 2024, followed by ports for iOS and Android on March 27, 2025, and for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 on June 12, 2025. A remastered version of Backyard Baseball 2001 was released for Windows, iOS, and Android on July 8, 2025. A new Backyard Baseball game—the first original game since Backyard Sports: Baseball 2015—was announced for a 2026 release via an ad shown at the end of Backyard Sports: The Animated Special.
Legacy
Pablo Sanchez, one of the fictional playable characters in the game, has been regarded as one of the strongest athletes in video game history.
The game has also been noted for its diversity (gender, race, disability, etc.) 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.
Players
In Backyard Baseball 2001, in addition to the 30 fictional kids, each team was represented by at least one MLB pro player, many of which were all-stars during the 1999 Major League Baseball All Star Game. Eventual Hall of Fame players featured include Barry Larkin, Vladimir Guerrero, Jeff Bagwell, Larry Walker, Chipper Jones, Derek Jeter, Mike Piazza, Tony Gwynn, Ken Griffey Jr., Cal Ripken Jr., Ivan Rodriguez, and Randy Johnson, who are all playable characters to choose from.
Other professional players from the later games 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.
Several of these players would be featured in multiple releases including Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Jeter, and Alex Rodriguez.
Installments
| 1997 = Backyard Baseball | 2000 = Backyard Baseball 2001 | 2002a = Backyard Baseball (GBA) | 2002b = Backyard Baseball 2003 | 2003 = Backyard Baseball (GCN) | 2004a= Backyard Baseball (PS2) | 2004b = Backyard Baseball 2005 (PC) | 2005 = Backyard Baseball 2006 (GBA) | 2006 = Backyard Sports: Baseball 2007 | 2008 = Backyard Baseball 09 | 2009 = Backyard Baseball 10 | 2010 = Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers | 2015 = Backyard Sports: Baseball 2015 (Mobile) | 2016–2023 = | 2024 = Backyard Baseball '97 (PC) | 2025 = Backyard Baseball '97 (Mobile) | 2025b = Backyard Baseball '97 (NS) | 2025c = Backyard Baseball '97 (PS5) | 2025d = Backyard Baseball '01 | 2026 = Backyard Baseball | compressempty = yes ::data[format=table]
| Title | Year | Platforms | Cover athlete |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backyard Baseball | October 10, 1997 | Macintosh, Windows | Original characters |
| Backyard Baseball 2001 | June 6, 2000 | Cal Ripken Jr. | |
| Backyard Baseball | 2002 | Game Boy Advance | Mike Piazza |
| Backyard Baseball 2003 | Macintosh, Windows | ||
| Backyard Baseball | 2003 | GameCube | Alex Rodriguez |
| Backyard Baseball | 2004 | PlayStation 2 | |
| Backyard Baseball 2005 | Windows | ||
| Backyard Baseball 2006 | 2005 | Game Boy Advance | |
| Backyard Sports: Baseball 2007 | 2006 | Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Windows | Albert Pujols |
| Backyard Baseball 09 | 2008 | Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 2, Windows | David Ortiz |
| *Backyard Baseball 10 * | 2009 | Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 2 | |
| Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers | 2010 | Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, Windows | Original characters |
| Backyard Sports: Baseball 2015 | 2015 | iOS, Android | |
| Backyard Baseball '97 | October 10, 2024 | Windows, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 | |
| Backyard Baseball '01 | July 8, 2025 | Windows, iOS, Android | Cal Ripken Jr. |
| Backyard Baseball | 2026 | TBA | TBA |
| :: |
References
Notes
References
- Kram, Zach. (2017-10-10). "How 'Backyard Baseball' Became a Cult Classic".
- Silberling, Amanda. (2024-09-25). "Backyard Baseball '97 is back, with a re-release coming soon on Steam".
- Straw, Mike. (2025-03-27). "Original Backyard Baseball Released On Mobile For First Time".
- Frech, Ricky. (2025-06-12). "Backyard Baseball '97 Reveals Console Launch Date".
- (2025-06-12). "Grab your bat! Backyard Baseball '97 heads to consoles".
- Moore, Logan. (2024-10-10). "Backyard Football, Basketball, and Soccer Remasters "Coming Soon" to PC".
- Maas, Jennifer. (2025-06-30). "‘Backyard Baseball ’01’ to Re-Release in July From Playground Productions".
- Feldman, Jacob. (2025-06-30). "Backyard Baseball 2001 Game Returns With 28 Original MLB Stars".
- (2026-01-29). "New Backyard Baseball Game Coming This Summer".
- (23 June 2017). "Pablo Sanchez: The Origin Of A Video Game Legend".
- "The 25 Best Virtual Athletes In Video Games".
- Carson, Dan. "The 15 Most Unfair and Terrifying Video Game Athletes to Play Against".
- (10 May 2019). "The Inclusive Legacy of Backyard Baseball".
- "Contact: Mike Salvadore, Communications Manager".
- "Baseball 2001 Availability".
- Silberling, Amanda. (2024-09-25). "Backyard Baseball '97 is back, with a re-release coming soon on Steam".
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