Backyard Brawl: Backyard Baseball 2001

[captfalc]

Game: Backyard Baseball 2001 on PC
Difficulty: Hard with Swing Spot
Settings: 6 Innings with Errors and Batting/Pitching Power-ups

My first franchise if you would. I've tried with pro games before but could never execute them to the level I've wanted. Hopefully with a little simpler game and it being on my PC I'll be able to pull it off to my liking. Plus, I loved the Backyard Sports series as a kid and pumped numerous hours into the football and soccer games.

I went with 6 innings over 9 since it's a kid's league and that's what my little league games were and I feel the power-ups add a little more excitement to an already acarde-y game.

[captfalc]

Humongous Monsters: Summer 2015 Backyard Baseball League
Back row - Ashley Webber, Ken Griffey Jr, Sidney Webber, Derek Jeter, Ernie Steele
Front row - Pete Wheeler, Mikey Thomas, Pablo Sanchez, Angela Delvecchio
Not pictured - Captfalc

[captfalc]

Captfalc checking in to give a rundown of the Monster squad for the upcoming season.



Ashley "Little Smokey" Webber
Batting 5/Running 7/Pitching 6/Fielding 3
Ashley is one half of the famous Webber tennis duo.
A good ballplayer in her own right, she seems to
excel when playing with Sidney. A smart hitter with
a crafty pitching repertoire.


Ken "Junior" Griffey Jr
Batting 9/Running 8/Pitching 5/Fielding 10
Ballplayers aren't packaged quite like Jr. He's an
exciting player who can dazzle in the outfield and
with a bat. A surefire fan favorite.


Sidney "Little Smokey" Webber
Batting 5/Running 7/Pitching 6/Fielding 3
Sidney is one half of the famous Webber tennis duo.
She has great vision at the plate and on the mound, as
long as she doesn't throw the right hook. It's hard
to get her to play without her sister, Ashley.


Derek "DJ" Jeter
Batting 8/Running 9/Pitching 3/Fielding 10
His nickname really should be "Clutch" since he always
seems to pull through. DJ dreams to play shortstop for the
New York Yankees and just might get there, as long as he
finishes his homework before gametime.


Ernie "Funnybones" Steele
Batting 5/Running 6/Pitching 7/Fielding 10
A well-rounder player who can hit, pitch, and run. Ernie just
might be the best first baseman in the league. A self-proclaimed
funny man, he's always thinking of the next punchline.


Pete "Wheelie" Wheeler
Batting 8/Running 10/ Pitching 2/Fielding 7
Pete swings at just about everything throw, but when he gets a
good pitch to hit he can spray it all over the field. His speed makes
him a threat to reach on anything, even hits right at the first baseman.


Mikey "Nugget" Thomas
Batting 10/Running 4/Pitching 4/ Fielding 7
Plagued with a chronic cold, Mikey always has a runny nose. His legs
might be a little short and he might have a pet rock but he can sure play
baseball. He has one of the best power bats in the league. Just make sure
he plays in the outfield so he can wipe his nose between pitches.


Pablo "Secret Weapon" Sanchez
Batting 10/Running 9/Pitching 5/Fielding 10
Not such a secret anymore, Pablo is a pint-sized superstar.
A combination of Ricky Henderson, Willie Mays, and Reggie Jackson
rolled into one. Maybe the only thing he can't do is speak English.


Angela "Sugar Pop" Delvecchio
Batting 8/Running 4/Pitching 10/Fielding 1
Angela just may be the worst fielder of all-time. She'd probably benefit
from using two gloves. However, she swings a mighty bat. And to
top it off she's a dominant pitcher with a killer slowball.
She just might be all that and a bag of chips.

[captfalc]

Here's what the normal lineup will look like with the defensive alignment below





The batting order should stay pretty consistent throughout the season. Angela, Sidney, and Ashley will do the majority of the pitching with Angela starting every other game. Since Angela really struggles in the field, she'll shift to right field when off the mound and Pete will cover third. Sidney will be the everyday catcher unless she's pitching, in which case her sister Ashley will catch. As shown in our defensive alignment our home park will be playground commons. Ernie was pretty upset when we decided not to play half of our games in his backyard. Ken was the big reason for this because he hates how center field is at Ernie's with his shed shortening the wall a good amount. Ernie ultimately agreed since the playground is right down the street from his house anyway.

[captfalc]

Here's our schedule for the season. I'm not too pleased that we get all of our division games out of the way first. That could take winning the division out of our hands down the stretch if we have a shaky start to the season. At least we'll get to end the season at home, so that's a plus. Also we don't have any extended "road trips" with just back-to-back road games twice and every other road game followed by a home game. Those three home games in a row during our division stretch hopefully will allow us to build some momentum. The Melonheads are in the NL Central, all the other teams are in their normal divisions. Each division contains four teams to make 12 in the AL and 12 in the NL for 24 all together.

[captfalc]

Monsters Come Back and Beat Division Foe Giants in Extras

Humongous Monsters (0-0) at San Francisco Giants (0-0)
Eckman Acres

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R
Monsters	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	4
Giants	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2

Monster Hitting
Pete: 4-5, RBI(1), K
Derek: 2-3, BB
Ken: 1-4, 2 K
Pablo: 1-4, R, K
Mikey: 1-4
Angela: 2-4, R
Ashley: 2-4, 2 R
Sidney: 2-4, RBI(1)
Ernie: 3-4, 2 RBI(1,2)

Monster Pitching
Angela: 7 IP, 8 K, 2 R, 9 H, W(1-0)

Game Summary
The Giants were able to strike first in the 4th with two runs sparked by Francis Blewer's triple.
The Monster's struggled to get to runners on the base the whole game. They were final able to
bust through in the 6th when the loaded the bases with 1 out. Ken Griffey Jr had a chance to give the
Monsters the lead but struck out with the bases still loaded. The Monsters attacked quick in the 7th
with two runs on four singles with Sidney Webber getting the go-ahead RBI scoring Pable Sanchez from
2B. Angela Delvecchio was able to go the distance from the mound and closed the door in the 7th by
striking out the side.

Player of the Game:

Sidney Webber

[captfalc]

Around the Diamond: Week 1
In the other NL West division game the Padres squeaked past the Diamondbacks. We face the
Padres next week and it looks like we might be able to get our bats going against their pitching.
Our non-divisional opponents went 3-5 in Week 1 but its far too early to speculate on their skill level.

[captfalc]

Monsters Fall Short in Extras as Padres Pitching Dominates

San Diego Padres (1-0) at Humongous Monsters (1-0)
Playground Commons

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	R
Padres	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	4
Monsters	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1

Monster Hitting
Pete: 4-4, R, 5 SB(5)
Derek: 0-4, 2 K
Ken: 0-3
Pablo: 2-3, 1 K
Mikey: 0-3, 1 K
Angela: 1-3
Ashley: 0-3
Sidney: 0-3
Ernie: 0-3, 2 K

Monster Pitching
Ashley: 4 IP, 1 K, 1 R, 6 H
Sidney: 3 IP, 2 K, 0 R, 0 H
Ernie: 1 IP, 1 K, 3 R, 5 H, L (0-1)


Game Summary
The Monsters struggled to get aboard the whole game. They only managed seven hits in eight innings,
with FOUR coming from Pete Wheeler! The Padre pitching also kept the Monster batters guessing and bettered
them for six strike outs. The Padres were able to break the tie in the 4th with a nasty undergrounder
triple from Jessica Basanti. Pete was the only offensive bright spot for the Monsters with four
hits and FIVE stolen bases. The Padres were scrambling every time he got on base but the Monsters just
couldn't make them pay. Sidney Webber impressed in her pitching debut with a no hitter in her three innings
of relief work. Her tennis elbow started to act up in the 7th and forced her to come out. Ernie Steele was
next up on the depth chart and struggled heavily in his inning on the mound. The Padres pounded another
undergrounder off the bat of Sheila Basanti to score the go ahead run, and Sheila was able to make it all the
way home on some bad throws. Achmed Khan was also able to extend the Padre lead with a solo home run.

Player of the Game:

Pete Wheeler