Pablo,Barry Bonds,Ken Griffey Jr., Kiesha, Derek Jeter,Achmed, Kenny Lofton, Nomar, and Peete (he is very fast). Fun And Easy Strikeouts! In season mode go to new coach.

Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball is a Super NESbaseball game that was released in 1994. The game has a Major League Baseball license but not a Major League Baseball Players Association license, meaning that the game has real stadiums and real teams, but not real players (except Ken Griffey Jr.). The fictitious players have the same statistics as their real-world counterparts, and the game comes with a name-changing feature that allows players to change the athletes' names. Nintendo released a portable version of the game in 1997 for the Game Boy with real players and stats from the 1996 season. The gameplay is similar to its predecessors, though it is sometimes sluggish due to hardware restrictions. The SNES version came with a promotional Griffey collector's card packed inside^[1] and was a major commercial success, with 1.2 million units sold.^[2]

Features[edit]

Fictitious players in the game are themed with their teammates. Some of the themes include:

• The Atlanta Braves are famous dance DJs, such as Sasha & Digweed who stand in for John Smoltz and closer Mike Stanton. A pitcher for the team is named G. Park, presumably in reference to Atlanta's famed Grant Park, who fills in for pitcher Steve Avery. In addition, D. Crime and D. Neon likely refer to Fred 'the Crime Dog' McGriff and 'Neon' Deion Sanders, respectively.
• The Baltimore Orioles pay tribute to Baltimore native John Waters with B. Divine filling in for second baseman Harold Reynolds, P. Flamingo standing in for pitcher Mike Mussina, M. Trasho standing in for third baseman Mike Pagliarulo, and H. Spray standing in for pitcher Jim Poole, as well as Waters himself standing in for shortstop Cal Ripken Jr.
• The Boston Red Sox contain members from the show Cheers. Cliff Claven stands in for Scott Bankhead, Norm Peterson standing in for pitcher Greg Harris, and Sam Malone standing in for closer Jeff Russell are all present. Also included are Boston landmarks B. Common standing in for Luis Rivera, M. Harvard filling in for catcher Tony Peña and figures from early American history J. Adams who fills in for outfielder Billy Hatcher, J. Hancock stands in for Rob Deer, A. Hamilton for infielder Scott Fletcher & S.Heat stands in for flamethrower Roger Clemens.
• The California Angels have famous actors on their team: F. Astaire fills in for outfielder Chad Curtis, H. Bogart stands in for Chili Davis, and J. Wayne fills in for first baseman J. T. Snow.
• The Chicago Cubs has game director Brian Ullrich standing in for Ryne Sandberg. The bullpen has some seemingly generic names, such as P. Drifter who fills in for pitcher Jose Guzman, T. Yokel who fills in for pitcher Frank Castillo, and R. Steel filling in for pitcher Dan Plesac.
• The Chicago White Sox are former basketball players from St. John's University: M. Sealy fills in for shortstop Ozzie Guillén, C. Mullin fills in for Ellis Burks, and M. Jackson stands in for centerfielder Lance Johnson.
• The Cincinnati Reds are writers: B. Stoker stands in for Tom Browning, I. Fleming stands in for ace flamethrower Jose Rijo, P. Dick stands in for Scott Service, Z.Grey stands in for closer Rob Dibble and E. Queen fills in for third baseman Chris Sabo.
• The Cleveland Indians have famous actresses and glamour girls on their team: A. Margret fills in for Paul Sorrento, A. Hepburn stands in for catcher Sandy Alomar Jr., M. Monroe fills in for outfielder Reggie Jefferson, and G. Garbo stands in for pitcher Jeff Mutis.
• The Colorado Rockies contain famous names from horror movies, including G. Romero who fills in for pitcher Kent Bottenfield, B. Lugosi who fills in for outfielder Alex Cole, S.King who fills in for utility infielder Roberto Mejia, T.Fisher who fills in for infielder Pedro Castellano and T. Savini fills in for pitcher Bruce Ruffin. L.Chaney stands in for Andres Galarraga & B. Karloff stands in for Dante Bichette.
• The Detroit Tigers are famous Motown singers: A. Franklin stands in for pitcher John Doherty, Cab Calloway stands in for first baseman Cecil Fielder, G. Knight stands in for pitcher Bill Gullickson, O.Redding stands in for second baseman Lou Whitaker, I. Hayes stands in for shortstop Alan Trammell, W. Pickett stands in for Kirk Gibson, B. King stands in for Mickey Tettleton and R. Smokey stands in for outfielder Gary Thurman.
• The Florida Marlins roster has random names with no known common bond or claim to fame. R.Harrison fills in for third baseman Gary Sheffield, H.Lo fills in for utility player Gus Polidor, R.Richards fills in for Matias Carrillo and L. Vogelman fills in for outfielder Jeff Conine. The pitching staff includes S. McDonald standing in for middle reliever Robb Nen, J. Bafus standing in for knuckleballer Charlie Hough, and G.Valkenar standing in for closer Bryan Harvey.
• The Houston Astros are cartoonists: G. Larson fills in for pitcher Todd Jones, W. Eisner fills in for second baseman Craig Biggio, J.Kirby stands in for first baseman Jeff Bagwell, F.Miller fills in for infielder Casey Candaele, B.Edlund fills in for pitcher Pete Harnisch, and S. Lee stands in for Rick Parker.
• The Kansas City Royals are based on U.S. presidentsD. Ike, whose real-life counterpart is DH Hall of Famer George Brett, L. Johnson stands in for infielder Rico Rossy, The pitching staff includes Bill Clinton standing in for Kevin Appier, George H. W. Bush standing in for David Cone, and Ronald Reagan standing in for Hipólito Pichardo.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers are based on punk rock pioneers from Los Angeles and other areas around California including Exene Cervenka who fills in for infielder José Offerman, John Doe stands in for catcher Mike Piazza, DJ Bonebrake of X fills in for outfielder Brett Butler, Poison Ivy stands in for outfielder Mitch Webster and Lux Interior of The Cramps fills in for first baseman Eric Karros, Jello Biafra fills in for middle reliever Ricky Trlicek, Klaus Flouride of the Dead Kennedys stands in for Pedro Astacio, and Lee Ving of Fear fills in for ace pitcher Orel Hershiser.
• The Milwaukee Brewers have a pitching staff consisting of superhero 'secret identities': P. Parker fills in for pitcher Cal Eldred, C. Kent fills in for pitcher Jaime Navarro, and B. Wayne fills in for Ricky Bones, while their position players are fictional secret agents and detectives: J. Rockford fills in for infielder Pat Listach, J. Bond is catcher Dave Nilsson, and P. Columbo is infielder Dickie Thon.
• The Minnesota Twins are not named for famous sets of twins. The players' names are based on celebrities of various backgrounds, from actor Adam West fills in for first baseman Kent Hrbek, guitarist Jimi Hendrix fills in for DH Dave Winfield and filmmaker W. Herzog is closer Rick Aguilera.
• The Montreal Expos are people from the 1980s music scene in Manchester, England, including B. Summer filling in for outfielder Moisés Alou, and J.Marr for slugger Larry Walker.
• The New York Mets are based on punk rock pioneers from New York City including Johnny Thunders filling in for first baseman Eddie Murray, Joey Ramone standing in for second baseman Jeff Kent, Tom Verlaine for outfielder Bobby Bonilla, and Jerry Nolan for pitcher Anthony Young.
• The New York Yankees have the nicknames of famous Yankee greats, such as Bambino standing for slugger Danny Tartabull, Whitey Ford in for pitcher Jimmy Key, M.Thurman standing in for catcher Mike Stanley and New York boroughs such as S.Island for infielder Spike Owen.
• The Oakland Athletics apparently hired more authors: H. Ernest standing in for first baseman Mark McGwire, L. Byron in for outfielder Mike Aldrete, H. Thompson in for Scott Hemond, M. Twain in for Brent Gates, L. Tolstoy in for outfielder Dave Henderson, J.Milton stands in for Marcos Armas, and C.Bukowski fills in for ace closer Dennis Eckersley.
• The Philadelphia Phillies feature a Rocky homage in R. Balboa fills in for catcher Darren Daulton and A. Creed stands in for third baseman Dave Hollins. They also have a Philadelphia landmark – L. Bell filling in for first baseman Ricky Jordan – and some of the musicians produced by Phil Spector: D. Love who stands in for centerfielder Lenny Dykstra, B. Medley standing in for outfielder Wes Chamberlain, as well as Spector himself standing in for first baseman John Kruk. F.Albert stands in for closer Mitch Williams.
• The Pittsburgh Pirates are named after characters from the soap opera Coronation Street such example E.Bishop who fills in for pitcher Steve Cooke, K.Barlow is infielder Tom Foley and P.Pearce is outfielder Lonnie Smith.
• The San Francisco Giants are members of Software Creations, the team that developed the game with such example Michael Webb and Richard Kay stand in for Willie McGee and Kirt Manwaring respectively. Ste Pickford stands in for slugger Barry Bonds.
• The San Diego Padres are based on punk rock pioneers from England including B.Idol who stands in for infielder Ricky Gutiérrez, D.Vanian who fills in for outfielder Derek Bell, Johnny Rotten fills in for infielder Jeff Gardner, F.Fife fills in for utility hitter Luis Lopez (infielder), and Sid Vicious fills in for infielder Archi Cianfrocco.
• The Seattle Mariners include Ken Griffey Jr. himself, the only active MLB player from the era to be included; his name cannot be changed. The other player names are of Nintendo of America employees such as J. Tingdale who stands in for ace pitcher Randy Johnson, D.Owsen who stands in for shortstop Omar Vizquel, and J.Hutt filling in for oufielder Jay Buhner. K. Tofte who is a relative of Los Angeles realtor *Tracy Tofte's ex-husband. *(formerly Tracy Wells of Mr. Belvedere ) fills in for pitcher Erik Hanson.
• The St. Louis Cardinals are based on famous comedians: H. Moe fills in for ace pitcher Bob Tewksbury, M.Berle stands in for Todd Burns, O. Hardy stands in for shortstop Ozzie Smith, Groucho Marx fills in for first baseman Gregg Jefferies, George Burns fills in for infielder Gerónimo Peña, Bill Cosby stands in for outfielder Gerald Perry, Charlie Chaplin stands in for middle reliever Les Lancaster and Buster Keaton fills in for slugger Mark Whiten.
• The Texas Rangers, appropriately, have a Western theme. T. Mix, fills in for pitcher Kevin Brown, S.Jackson stands in for Nolan Ryan. W.Earp stands in for slugger Jose Canseco, and R.Lee stands in for catcher Iván Rodríguez.
• The Toronto Blue Jays are players from the Wigan WarriorsRugby league team: E. Hanley fills in for Darnell Coles, M. Offiah fills in for middle reliever Danny Cox, and D. Betts fills in for Paul Molitor.

At the end of every game, the game provides box scores and scoring summaries in newspaper format, providing a humorous newspaper headline on other goings-on in the world of Major League Baseball.

The game has several other features, including a home run derby in which players practice their power hitting against either Ken Griffey Jr. or against one of five fictitious power batters - Warren Track, Barny Tater, Sammy Scrap, Can O' Corn & Nick Noheart.

The game features the voices of former MLB umpire Steve Palermo for called strikes, balls and outs.

The game's other vocal soundbite, that of a batter turning to the umpire and screaming 'Oh come on!' after a called strike three was sampled from a Jim Belushi line in the 1985 movie The Man With One Red Shoe.^[3][4]

Gameplay[edit]

The game was groundbreaking and had a long list of features for its time. Nearly every team has its own venue, sometimes complete with unique features, including Dodger Stadium's 'slants' by the outfield crowd (the outfield 'roof'), Shea Stadium's minuscule center field crowd, and the large scoreboard in the right field of Guaranteed Rate Field. Due to cartridge space limitations, some stadiums could not be added, and in those cases a generic stadium with green or blue walls is used (this layout was mostly used for the concrete donuts such as Riverfront Stadium and Three Rivers Stadium, themselves noted for being generic). Some of the stadiums are particularly realistic; Fenway Park's trademark Green Monster is in the game, as is Joe Robbie Stadium's teal wall and Oriole Park at Camden Yards' trademark Warehouse in right field. The Cincinnati Reds have a blue outfield wall as opposed to their signature green wall at Riverfront Stadium. The Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox are the only two teams to play night games at their respective ball parks. Kauffman Stadium features its signature water falls in the outfield and signature scoreboard in Center Field. Both old Yankee Stadium and Tigers Stadium are almost identical except that Yankees Stadium has shorter right field bleachers and you can hit the ball out of the park while Tiger Stadium has an upper deck all away around. Toronto's Skydome hotel/restaurant are visible in play if a Homerun heads to center field. Wrigley Field has its signature Ivy on the outfield wall but is missing the apartment houses in Left and Right Field respectively and the manual operated scoreboard in Center Field. The Kingdome has its signature large right field wall as does The Metrodome.

The Philadelphia Phillies are the only team to play in the generic stadium with astroturf and the green outfield wall.

The Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants, and the Oakland Athletics are the only teams to play in the generic stadium with natural grass and the green outfield wall.

The Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros, Montreal Expos, and Cincinnati Reds are the only teams to play in the generic stadium with astroturf and have a blue outfield wall.

The Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, and California Angels are the only teams to play in a generic stadium with natural grass and a blue outfield wall.

The Chicago White Sox wear their black alternate top as their Home uniform in the game.

The game featured statistics from the real-life 1993 season, and also kept statistics for the team controlled by the user throughout a season, though all of the statistics of CPU-controlled teams remained unchanged.

Pitching is one of the simplest elements in this game. There is also a battery-backed season mode, where players can select a team to play for 26, 78, or all 162 games. Players who finish first in their division earn a playoff berth and a chance to be in the 1993 World Series. Unique to the game was the ability to choose playing a season using a system of either 4 or 6 divisions, as the game was released after the 6 division system was proposed, but before an actual season was played using six divisions.

The team rosters are based on the 1993 Baseball season with stats included. The game also features the 5 new logos and uniforms designs of the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, and the Detroit Tigers compared to what they looked like in 1993. The game also features the new ballparks Globe Life Park - the home ballpark to the Texas Rangers, and Progressive Field - the home ballpark to the Cleveland Indians which replaces Arlington Stadium and Cleveland Stadium respectively.

Bugs[edit]

Due to a bug, during a full season some home run totals for players reset to zero after the All-Star game. A Nintendo Customer Service representative acknowledged this bug, further claimed that sometimes during the World Series players are prevented from using their best pitchers, and bluntly summarized, 'Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball sports some pretty serious bugs.'^[5]

Saved information, such as edited player names or seasons, are known to erase unexpectedly.

Game Boy version[edit]

The game was released in 1997 for the Game Boy, with Super Game Boy capabilities. Due to cartridge space, there is only one stadium. Unlike its predecessor, the Game Boy port's players have stats from the 1996 season, but they play in the 1997 season. It also has both a Major League Baseball and a Major League Baseball Players Association license- a first for a Ken Griffey Jr. game on a Nintendo console. The home run derby in this version is also free of the six player limit, so gamers can select any non-pitcher MLB player. 1997 Rookies of the Year Scott Rolen and Nomar Garciaparra debut in this game, along with Deivi Cruz.

Unlike its home console counterpart, which was developed by Software Creations, Nintendo developed the Game Boy version.

Reception[edit]

Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball received generally mixed reviews. GamePro heavily criticized the game's lack of realism, citing the fictitious players, inaccurate ballparks, inability to adjust defense, 'stylized' player sprites, and the ability to control the ball even after it leaves the pitcher's hand. However, they acknowledged the game has good music, 'one of the best manuals for a baseball game', and gameplay that is very accessible to beginners.^[6]Electronic Gaming Monthly criticized that the computer is too difficult to beat in one-player mode, but praised the digitized voice of Steve Palermo and the general playability. They scored the game a 6.6 out of 10.^[7]

Legacy[edit]

Nintendo later published three more games featuring Ken Griffey Jr., one developed by Rare and two developed by Angel Studios.

References[edit]

1. ^'Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball (SNES) FAQ,' GameFAQs.
2. ^Bevan, Mike (December 2013). 'Bubbles, Baseball and Buzz Saws...'. Retro Gamer (122). Imagine Publishing. p. 78.
3. ^The Man With One Red Shoe (1985) Orig. Theatrical Trailer
4. ^Ken Griffey Jr Major League Baseball gameplay
5. ^'Buyers Beware'. GamePro. IDG (84): 119. September 1995.
6. ^'Griffey Sent to Minors'. GamePro. No. 70. IDG. July 1994. p. 116.
7. ^'Review Crew: Ken Griffey Baseball'. Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 60. Sendai Publishing. July 1994. p. 33.

Backyard Baseball is a series of baseballvideo games for children which was developed by Humongous Entertainment and published by Atari. 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. There have been eleven different versions of the game since 1997. Some of the game titles that were created include Backyard Baseball, Backyard Baseball 2001-2010, and Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers.

The original game consisted of 30 neighborhood kids from which the gamer could choose to play.^[1] Over the years, the idea of 'Pro players as kids' became popular, and the original statistics and looks of the players changed. Some of the professional players that were available 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. As the game progresses, there are some professionals that become available or 'unlockable' including Randy Johnson, Derek Jeter, and Mike Piazza.

In Backyard Baseball, players take a managerial role by creating a team of different players to compete against opponents. In the different installments, a player could play an exhibition game or a 14, 16 or 32 game season (different versions vary) followed by the 'Backyard Baseball League' playoffs, which contains the American League and National League divisional 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, they include: Single Game, Batting Practice, Spectator, and Season Game.

In 2013, The Evergreen Group acquired the intellectual property from Atari.

Legacy[edit]

Pablo Sanchez, one of the playable characters in the game, has been regarded as one of the strongest characters in video game history.^[2][3][4]

The game has also been noted for its diversity (gender, race) 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.^[5]

Power-Ups[edit]

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. 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. 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.

Backyard Baseball 2001

Batting Power-Ups

• Aluminum Power: This power-up is the most valued and can disappear after one or no tries when in use. Players use an aluminum bat to increase the chances to hit a home run.
• Screaming Line Drive: The power-up last about two uses and appears more frequently. Players hit a fast line drive to the wall and allows the batter to run more or all bases.
• Under Grounder: This move lasts at least two uses. Players hit a ground ball that goes into the ground, causing the ball to reappear in any random area of the outfield.
• Crazy Bunt: The move disappears after one or no tries when in use, but if the power-up is used sparingly, the move can last up to four uses. When the ball is hit, the ball rolls around the field erratically as fielders just barely miss catching it.

Pitching Power-Ups

• 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.
• Elevator: The ball is thrown low along the ground and then the ball suddenly jumps into the air at the last moment.
• 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.
• Spitball: The ball is covered with saliva and jerks in the air.
• Fireball: One of the most powerful pitches, the ball blazes past the batter in a ball of fire at an incredibly high speed. When used by a player, this pitch is the most draining of the pitcher's stamina.

Backyard Baseball 2005

Batting Power-Ups

• Sonic Boom: The player knocks down opposing fielders with a super-powerful shockwave.
• Rubber Bat: The batter bounce a grounder really high into the air — the player will have a chance to reach base before any fielder catches the ball.
• Butter Fingers: The player will splatter the opposing fielders with butter. They'll have a slippery time trying to field your hit.
• Jumping Bean Bunt: This tricky power-up makes the ball jump all over the place!
• Lightning Bat: Produce tremendous power when you connect with the ball.
• Geyser Hit: The batter makes the ball burrow deep underground before it suddenly surfaces somewhere in the outfield.
• Piñata Bat: The batter drives fielders crazy when the ball is hit, the ball multiplies into dozens of bouncing baseballs.
• Orbiter: Knock the stuffing out of the ball.

Backyard Baseball Ken Griffey Jr Shoes

Pitching Power-Ups

• The Fang: The Fang looks like a normal curve-ball, but it bites hard at the last second and goes straight into the dirt.
• Freezer: The Freezer stops just before reaching the strike zone, pauses briefly, and then continues.
• Slo MO: This ball starts moving at ultra-slow speed just before reaching the strike zone.
• Juice Box: The Juice Box will refill your pitcher's Pitch Juice Box.
• Rainbow Pop-up: When it's hit, the ball goes straight into the air for an easy out.
• Crazy Pitch: The Crazy Pitch is so wild that even the pitcher doesn't know where it will go.
• Splitball: This pitch splits into two separate curve-balls, one of which is a fake, unhittable baseball.
• Fireball: The Fireball is so fast it can burn a hole in your catcher's glove.

Installments[edit]

Backyard Baseball Ken Griffey Jr Stats

References[edit]

1. ^https://www.theringer.com/features/2017/10/10/16451300/backyard-baseball-20-year-anniversary
2. ^http://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2017/06/23/backyard-baseball-computer-game-history
3. ^http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/03/the-25-best-virtual-athletes-in-video-games/pablo-sanchez
4. ^http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1990299-most-terrifying-video-game-athletes-to-play-against
5. ^Delayo, Mike. 'The Inclusive Legacy of Backyard Baseball'. Fangraphs.

Backyard Baseball Ken Griffey Jr Jersey

External links[edit]

Ken Griffey Jr Stats