Pablo Sanchez, Stephanie Morgan, Pete Wheeler, Ernie Steele, and the entire Backyard Sports crew are finally making a return—and not a moment too soon.
I’m going to try to remain professional while writing this, however difficult it may be, because I have so many positive memories tied to the original Backyard Baseball game, and I can’t wait to see the franchise back and hopefully better than ever.
The kids’ sports franchise, featuring the same neighborhood crew of athletic children facing off in a variety of competitions, will also be expanding to film, TV, merchandise, and more. A short trailer showing off several of the memorable characters getting back together to play some ball revealed the news this morning.
“Backyard Sports is more than just a game; it’s a cherished part of childhood for millions of people,” Backyard Sports creator and Playground Productions founder and CEO Lindsay Barnett told Variety. “I look at media as the largest classroom in the world. As such, our goal is to produce meaningful content that not only entertains but also educates and inspires. The return of Backyard Sports is the perfect embodiment of that goal.”
The fear of the franchise losing its charm is a legitimate one all these years later, but the publisher says it will be “bigger and better than ever while staying true to what made the franchise so special.” The last releases in the series were in 2015.
The neighborhood kids were often joined by kid versions of professional athletes at the time, including baseball stars like Derek Jeter, Ken Griffey Jr., and Barry Bonds, basketball players such as Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, and even football players like Tom Brady.
Previous entries in the franchise, which began in 1997, also included Backyard Basketball, Backyard Soccer, Backyard Football, Backyard Skateboarding, and Backyard Hockey.
