Franklin Sports Home Plate - Baseball + Softball Rubber Home Plate - Portable Throw Down Plate for Backyard Baseball, Softball, Tee Ball 4.8 out of 5 stars 281 $22.99 $ 22. 99 $27.99 $27.99. Backyard Baseball takes you back to when you were a kid, when baseball was a game, and the team was hastily put together among the kids in the neighborhood. Playing for Real. Humongous Entertainment reached back into the past and captured all those childhood memories of baseball and digitally assembled. LOCK HAVEN, PA – The Keystone Babe Ruth baseball team is hosting the organization’s state tournament for 15-year-olds at Taggart Park in Lock Haven. The tourney was to begin on Friday, but rain has forced a revision in the schedule. The tournament is for players ages 13-15. Babe Ruth Apt 2: This stylish apartment is in great condition and carpeted throughout, spacious bedrooms, large fenced in backyard with grill and table with chairs. 'BABE RUTH APT 2' is a second level (fully air- conditioned) 3 Bedroom apartment with Kitchen, Dining Area, Living Room with a 50' Flat Screen TV and one full bath.

Backyard Baseball is a software released in 1997 by Humongous Entertainment.

Commentators[edit]

Sunny Day[edit]

• I think we're all ready to play some baseball!
• It's time to get down with your favorite baseball players!
• (custom player) steps up to bat.
• (when the computer player's turn to bat ends) Alright, it's our turn now!
• (player hits a home run) Goodbye, baseball!

Vinnie the Gooch[edit]

• Waaaaiiit a minute. The Gooch does not under any circumstances say 'Hi ho'. Sunny Day may be saying 'Hi ho', but The Gooch just says YO!
• Vinny da Gooch is lovin' that!
• (describing Pablo) Even though the Secret Weapon doesn't speak any English, we all know he's a rad dude!
• (describing Achmed) Achmed is one of the best hitters on the team!
• (describing Dmitri during pitch) If Dmitri's arm lasts long enough, we might be able to see an amazing right hook, or maybe even a superfying slo-mo.
• This young batter means business.
• (when a homerun happens) I don't know what kind of pitch that was, but it tasted just like chicken!
• (when a player gets out) He/She was robbed!
• (when a player makes it home) Sweet as candy i tell ya! I like candy, everybody likes candy. That's why Halloween is such a popular holiday!
• (describing Sunny Day) What she means is she's never gonna stop yapping.
• (when a homerun happens) Aloha means goodbye, baby.
• (when a strike happens) He/She was in there like swimwear.

Backyard Kids[edit]

Achmed Khan[edit]

• (getting picked) Let's rock 'n roll! (Amir Khan also says this)
• I wanna rock! Rock! (scats) I wanna rock!
• (after getting struck out) Aw man, I blew it!
• (stepping up to bat) I'm gonna smack this one! (Amir Khan also says this)
• (stepping up to bat) This one's outta here! (Amir Khan also says this)

Amir Khan[edit]

• (getting picked) Groovy!
• (after getting struck out) I hope Achmed didn't see that!
• (after getting struck out) Major bummer! (Achmed Khan also says this)

Angela Delvecchio[edit]

• (during the chatter) Hey, we wanna batter, not the broken ladder, y'know!
• (striking out a batter) Hey, what'd I tell ya?
• (striking out a batter) Ba-da-bing-ba-da-boom! Bye-Bye, batter!
• (stepping up to bat) I'm gonna smack this one for sure.
• (after getting struck out) No way that's gonna happen again!
• (stepping up to bat) You guys in the outfield better move back.
• (after getting struck out) Don't say a word.
• (getting tired) Okay, I know I'm good, but my arm needs a rest before it turns into a big noodle.

Annie Frazier[edit]

• (getting picked) Sweet!
• (stepping up to bat) I'm looking for a kind hit here, pitcher!
• (stepping up to bat) Come on, pitcher, hook me up!
• (after getting struck out) Bummer!
• (getting tired) Hey, I'm pooped. I need a sub.
• (getting tired) Can I get a sub out here? My arm is toast.

Ashley/Sidney Webber[edit]

• (one of the twins getting picked) Goody! Now pick my sister Ashley/Sidney too!
• (the other twin getting picked) Oh, goody! Ashley/Sidney and I are on the same team!
• (only one twin getting picked) Goody!
• (during the chatter) We've got spirit, yes we do. We've got spirit, how 'bout you?
• (stepping up to bat) I'm gonna crush this one!
• (stepping up to bat) I'm gonna smash the ball outta here!
• (after getting struck out) Tennis is my sport anyway.
• (getting tired) Say, my tennis elbow is acting up.
• (batter chatter) We want a batter, not a broken ladder ya know!

Billy Jean Blackwood[edit]

• (stepping up to bat) I'm gonna park this one in the bleachers, ya hear?
• (stepping up to bat) Y'all better step back a few!
• (after getting struck out) That's okay. I didn't wanna run anyway.
• (getting tired) Yoo-hoo! My arm's getting tired out here!
• (striking out a batter) Sorry, I'm just doin' my job.

Dante Robinson[edit]

• (during the chatter) I see London, I see France, I see your underpants!
• Just gimme a minute! I'm still hungry!
• (stepping up to bat) I'm turning that ball into creamed corn!
• (stepping up to bat) Bring on the meat!
• (after getting struck out) Next time!
• You should pick me. I've got a pretty good arm!
• (getting picked) Let's dig in!
• My name is Dante, but the kids call me 'Stretch'. I guess that's supposed to be a joke!
• One time, I ate a whole turkey! Bet you didn't know that!
• (striking out a batter) Smooth like butter!
• (striking out a batter) Chew on that, tough guy!
• (getting tired) Whew! I'm running out of juice!
• (getting tired) I'm getting noodle arm!
• (on the mound) Eat this!

Dmitri Petrovich[edit]

• (striking out a batter) Indeed, I achieved the proper ball spin.
• (after getting struck out) It appears as if I need to rethink my strategy.
• (during the chatter) May I remind you that the primary objective is to hit the ball?
• (not getting picked) I must admit I am a bit disappointed.
• (bored on the field) Please, cease this foolishness and just FORFEIT THE GAME!!!!

Gretchen Hasselhoff[edit]

Backyard Baseball Babe Ruth

• (getting picked) Goodygoodygoodygoodygoody! (Goody goody goody goody goody!)
• MymomnamedmeGretchenafterhergrandmanamedGretchen. (My mom named me Gretchen after her great grandmother named Gretchen.)
• (stepping up to bat) I'mgonnasmackthisoneouttasight. (I'm gonna smack this one outta sight.)
• (after getting struck out) Ohshoot! (Oh shoot!)
• (striking out a batter) Ohyeah. Thatwasastrikeout. (Oh yeah. That was a strikeout.)
• (getting tired, talks more slowly than usual) Um... I'm tired.

Jocinda Smith[edit]

• (stepping up to bat) Watch this homerun!
• (getting picked) Hey, alright! (Kimmy Eckman also says this)
• (stepping up to bat) It's time for a homerun!
• (getting tired) My arm is toast!
• (getting tired) My arm is spent! How 'bout a sub?

Jorge Garcia[edit]

• I don't like to swim and I don't like to get dirty.
• (getting picked) I suppose I'll play, but I don't want to get dirty, OK?
• (unprovoked) Did you guys see the map of Hawaii that Justin Verlander painted on Kate Upton’s lower back?

Kenny Kawaguchi[edit]

• (getting picked) Alright! Thanks, buddy!
• (stepping up to bat) Here I go!
• (stepping up to bat) Okay, pitcher, give me one right over the center!
• (after getting struck out) Boy, I messed up.
• (after getting struck out) I'll do better next time.
• (striking out a batter) I'm good.
• (on the mound) I'm gonna get you, batter!
• (getting tired) Man, I don't wanna complain, but my arm is tired.
• (getting tired) I could use a sub right about now.

Kiesha Phillips[edit]

• (stepping up to bat) Heeeeerree's... Kiesha!
• (during the chatter) Watch out, Batman! Here comes the Joker!
• (during the chatter) Say, what's up, Doc?
• (stepping up to bat) Baseball been very very good to me.
• (after getting struck out) You are Despicable!
• (after getting struck out) Coises! Foiled again!
• (getting tired) I need a sub and I'm not talking lunch here!
• (getting tired) I can't take much more of this, captain!

Kimmy Eckman[edit]

• My name's Kimmy and I like candy.
• (stepping up to bat) This one's going to miles!
• (after getting struck out) Darn, darn, darn it!
• (getting tired) Come on, coach! I'm dying out here!
• (on the mound) I'm gonna blow this one right by!
• (getting tired) Hey, kid! My arm's getting tired!

Lisa Crocket[edit]

• (not getting picked) Whatever.
• (stepping up to bat and on the mound) Here goes nothing.
• Leave me alone.
• (getting tired) How about a sub, ace?
• (getting picked) Neat.
• (getting tired) I'm tired. Give me a sub.

Luanne Lui[edit]

• Aww, I wuv you!
• (striking out a batter) I got you! Neenoo Neenoo!
• (on the mound) Neenoo Neenoo! Baddo Waddo!
• (after getting stuck out) Me gonna cwy...
• (getting picked) Did you heew that, Teddy? We got picked!
• (stepping up to the plate) This one's fo you, Teddy!
• (getting tired) Teddy says it's time fo his nap. So we need a sub.
• (on the mound) Oh, I wuv pwaying basebaw!

Maria Luna[edit]

• (stepping up to bat) Okay. I'm gonna knock the stuffing outta this one!
• (stepping up to bat) Okay. This time, I'm gonna hit like a pinata!
• (after getting struck out) Ay-yi-yi!
• (striking out a batter) I... Got... You.
• (getting tired) Hey there, I'm tired.
• (after getting struck out) That's no good!

Mikey Thomas[edit]

• The kids call me Nugget, but my real name is Michael Rhett Thomas.
• (getting picked) You're my friend!
• (not getting picked) I'm telling my mom!
• (stepping up to bat) I've gotta get on base!
• (stepping up to bat) I want right down the middle for me!
• (after getting struck out) No fair! I'm telling my mom!
• (after getting struck out) That's okay.
• (getting tired) I'm tired of pitching now.
• (striking out a batter) I'm pretty good, huh?

Pablo Sanchez[edit]

Backyard Baseball Babe Ruth Tournament

• (stepping up to bat) ¡Adiós, béisbol! (Goodbye, baseball!)
• (getting picked) ¡Excelente! (Excellent!)
• Soy Pablo. ¿Quieres jugar? (I'm Pablo. You wanna play?)
• (striking out a batter) ¡Adios!
• (when the player clicks him on the player cards section while holding shift) Okay, don't tell the other kids, but uh... I speak English. I learn Spanish in school.
• (taunting from the field) creo que no qieres jugar (I don't think you wanna play)
• (after getting struck out) Este bate no sirve para nada! (This bat is useless!)
• (getting picked) Vamos a ganar! (We are going to win!)

Pete Wheeler[edit]

• (getting picked) Uh... huh?
• (getting picked) So whose team am I on?
• (stepping up to bat) I'm gonna hit a touchdown!
• (during the chatter) Bet ya can't hit a touchdown!
• (during the chatter) Ra ra ra! Go, team!
• (stepping up to bat) Uh, what am I supposed to do again?
• (after getting struck out) Now what?
• (striking out a batter) Uhh... Whoops.
• (getting tired) Uhh... I don't wanna throw the ball no more.
• (during the chatter) Can't score a goal!

Ronny Dobbs[edit]

• Know what's neat? Aw, nothing.
• (during the chatter) Miss it! Miss it! Now you gotta kiss it!
• (after getting picked) Neat. I get to play.
• (stepping up to bat) I'm going to hit this one two hundred gazillion miles!
• (stepping up to bat) Neener-Neener! You can't strike me out!
• (after getting struck out) No fair!
• (getting tired) I'm getting sleepy.
• (striking out a batter) I'm pretty good for a little guy.
• (after getting struck out) I don't wanna play anymore!
• (getting tired) I don't wanna pitch anymore.

Sally Dobbs[edit]

• (after getting struck out) I could've hit a home run if I wanted to.
• (after getting struck out) I meant to do that, you know.
• (getting tired) I need a sub. I don't have the same energy as some of the younger kids, you know?
• (getting tired) I'm getting kinda tired of pitching.

Stephanie Morgan[edit]

• I don't know why...
• (during the chatter) Hey, batter!
• (during the chatter) My, oh my!
• (stepping up to bat) As you can tell, I modeled my stance after the great Babe Ruth.
• (after getting struck out) How Humiliating!
• (after getting struck out) Oh well. I'm sure Cal had his bad days, I suppose.
• (getting tired) My daddy says I shouldn't pitch for too long.

Tony Delvecchio[edit]

• (during the chatter) Be-au-ti-ful!
• (getting tired) What're ya tryin' to do, kill me? I need a sub here!
• (during the chatter) Hey, Slick, swing, why don't ya?
• (during the chatter) Growin' a beard out here, waitin' for some action!
• (stepping up to bat) Watch this one, Slick!
• (getting picked) Listen here, Slick, you made the right decision!

Vicki Kawaguchi[edit]

• I'm going to be a ballerina when I grow up.
• My name is Vicki Kawaguchi. My brother's name is Kenny. He's in a wheelchair. Can I go now?
• One time, I was practicing my pirouette and I got so dizzy, I barfed. But don't tell anyone, okay? But it was really gross and stuff, because I just ate a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. Promise you won't tell?
• (getting picked) Hooray!
• (stepping up to bat) Don't throw the ball fast, okay?
• (stepping up to bat) Here comes the graceful ballerina to the plate.
• (after getting struck out) Stupid baseball is for babies!
• (after getting struck out) That's okay.
• (getting tired) I'm tired of pitching. Can I stop now?
• (getting tired) I don't wanna pitch anymore, please?
• My mommy says I'm her little butterfly and daddy calls me his baseball swan. Kenny calls me pipsqueak.

External links[edit]

The Orange County community was a tiny oil town in 1924 when favorite son Walter Johnson and Babe Ruth played an exhibition game there on a postseason barnstorming tour.
By Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 2, 2008

Careful examination of an old photograph and a street map determined this had to be the spot -- or at least near the spot.
It's all tract homes now, the memories buried beneath cul-de-sacs just downslope from the intersection of Brea Boulevard and Lambert Road, but something special happened here a long time ago.
Did anyone know?
A man, on a Saturday, was washing his car on St. Crispen Avenue when a reporter approached and posed the question, half expecting a 'what-the-?' response.
Barry Ghrist, instead, set aside his wash rags and smiled.
He looked down at his driveway.
'I'm guessing we're standing close to second base, right on the edge of the infield,' Ghrist said.
Ghrist knew.

On Oct. 31, 1924, in Brea, an oil town in north Orange County, on ground now beneath Ghrist's feet, Babe Ruth swatted two home runs against Walter Johnson in a baseball game.
What?
One of Ruth's blasts was estimated to have traveled 550 feet -- one of his longest ever.
Come again?
Not only did Ruth sock two homers, he pitched a complete-game victory.
Seriously?
Johnson, a 23-game winner and the American League most valuable player in 1924, gave up eight runs in five innings and took the loss. Johnson could have blamed arm fatigue, having recently pitched the Washington Senators to the World Series championship.
This is no Hollywood yarn -- Shoeless Joe Jackson walking out of a cornfield.
It honest-to-Honus (Wagner) happened.
Two of the five players in baseball's first Hall of Fame class once laced up cleats where Ghrist was now washing his car.
'Somewhere in my backyard is third base,' he said.
Back then his parcel patch was the infield skin of the Brea Bowl, a natural amphitheater owned by Union Oil.¹ The 1924 exhibition game, organized by the Anaheim Elks, was part of a postseason barnstorming tour.
No one who attended the game is believed to be still living, so the memories now are secondhand. The physical proof -- Ruth's signature on a baseball, pictures -- is on exhibit at the Brea Museum and Heritage Center.

Bob Bickel, who turns 81 in June and his lived his entire life in Brea, was born three years after the game.
'There's not too many of us old ones anymore,' said Bickel, who worked at Union Oil for 35 years and was also a local mail carrier.
There's not much left of old Brea, either, its once 'old-town' main street having been mostly modernized.
Bickel studied a large panoramic photograph of the game, shot from right field looking toward home base, the left-field foul line running parallel to Brea Boulevard.
'This building is still here,' Bickel said as he pointed to the structure that today stands as Ron and Wayne's Automotive.
The Babe Ruth/Walter Johnson story was recounted many times in Bickel's youth and remains a part of the city's lore.
How, though, and why?
Many know Walter Johnson as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, amassing 417 wins and 110 shutouts in a career that spanned 21 years, all with the Washington Senators (also known as the Nationals). Johnson was the hardest thrower of his era, nicknamed 'The Big Train' by sportswriter Grantland Rice, and his strikeout record of 3,509 stood for more than five decades before Nolan Ryan broke it.
Not as many know that, though Johnson was born in Kansas and died in Washington, D.C., he spent formative years in Southern California.
Walter's father, Frank, brought his family west at the turn of the century in search of oil and found it in Olinda, a burgeoning boomtown east of Brea. It was here that Johnson frolicked as a teenager, rode a black mare, worked the rough-and-tumble oil fields, began playing baseball for the Union Oil Wells² and forged his future.
Johnson attended Fullerton Union High long enough to have, in 1905, struck out 27 batters in a 15-inning game against Santa Ana High.
No oil town could hold this kind of talent, though, and two years later Johnson was pitching for big league paychecks.
Johnson was 36 and nearing the end of a great career when he triumphantly returned to Brea in 1924 only days after winning Game 7 of the World Series against the New York Giants. It was the only championship ever won by the mostly sad-sack Senators and a crowning, about-time moment for the beloved Johnson. Think, in modern terms, of John Elway finally winning a Super Bowl.
Johnson's Orange County friends crowded around newspaper offices to get updates from the 1924 World Series. Some, according to his biographer, crowded around primitive radio 'crystal sets.'
Johnson returned west for a little business and barnstorming and brought with him a pretty good ringer . . . Babe Ruth.
The Yankees failed to win the pennant in 1924, but it wasn't Ruth's fault. He won his only batting crown that year, hitting .378, led the league with 46 home runs and drove in 121 runs.
The Anaheim Elks even coerced Ruth into riding with Johnson in a pregame Halloween parade.
An Anaheim Bulletin headline -- 'All roads lead to Brea for Monster Athletic Contest' -- summed up the pregame sentiment.
The Los Angeles Times dubbed it 'the greatest de luxe sandlot game Southern California has ever seen.'
Two thousand seats were erected at the Brea Bowl to accommodate the fans. Some estimated a crowd of 15,000 had descended on a town of 1,500 citizens.

School that Friday was canceled. The Boy Scouts directed parking, the American Legion policed the grounds, the local churches supplied refreshments and Babe Ruth provided the punch.

Both squads were sprinkled with local and big league talent. Johnson's squad included a few chums from his Olinda days along with Bob Meusel, Ruth's Yankees teammate. Ruth had on his side future Hall of Famer Sam Crawford, who had retired in 1917.

Ruth's team won, 12-1 or 11-1, depending on what story you read. The game lasted 90 minutes.
Johnson admitted he may have grooved a couple of balls to Ruth, certainly the one that traveled 550 feet to center field.
'It probably landed in the barranca,' Bickel guessed.
Johnson also struck out Ruth once.
Ruth didn't hit a home run for any kid in the hospital that day but he did, according to accounts, conk a boy on the head with a ball.
Brea resident W.E. Griffith, who attended the game, years later recounted to The Times that Ruth 'hit a foul ball that bounced off a car and hit a boy in the head. He started bawlin' and Ruth walked over to him, handed him a silver dollar and said: 'Don't cry kid -- here.' '
After the game, Johnson and Ruth visited Hollywood, with Douglas Fairbanks giving the two a set tour of his latest movie, 'The Thief of Bagdad.'
The Brea exhibition was the last game of the barnstorming season, beating the Nov. 1 deadline set by baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis.
Ruth operated at full throttle on his swing west, playing to an estimated 125,000 fans in 15 cities.
'He made 22 scheduled speeches, headed four parades, refereed a boxing match, drove a golf ball 353 yards, visited eighteen hospitals and orphan asylums,' Marshall Smelser wrote in his 1975 biography, 'The Life That Ruth Built.'
Smelser also added that Ruth 'ate four bison steaks at a sitting, and played a turn in a Los Angeles theatre. He was back in New York on Dec. 5, much richer and ten pounds fatter.'
Ruth was 29, in his prime, his 3-4 batting-order partnership with Lou Gehrig still a year away. Ruth's 60-home run season was still three seasons away.
Johnson never pitched again in California. He played three more years before retiring as one of baseball's cornerstones. He died in 1946 of a brain tumor.
Brea, obviously, has changed. It's more than an oil town now.
The opening of the 57 (Orange) Freeway and the Brea Mall in the 1970s made the town a magnet for shoppers and home buyers. The population has swelled to 40,000.
The Brea Bowl is long gone -- overtaken above by single-story homes and mortgages.
Barry Ghrist has lived on St. Crispen Avenue for 20 years. In his house hangs a photo of the ghosts who played that game, beneath his driveway, all those decades ago.
'It's cool, just to know it was right here,' Ghrist said. '. . . I had a lot of sliding into third base in my backyard . . . in little ol' Brea.'