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]

Re: Backyard Brawl: Backyard Baseball 2001

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]

Re: Backyard Brawl: Backyard Baseball 2001

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]

Re: Backyard Brawl: Backyard Baseball 2001

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]

Re: Backyard Brawl: Backyard Baseball 2001

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]

Re: Backyard Brawl: Backyard Baseball 2001

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]

Re: Backyard Brawl: Backyard Baseball 2001

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]

Re: Backyard Brawl: Backyard Baseball 2001

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

[captfalc]

Re: Backyard Brawl: Backyard Baseball 2001

Around the Diamond: Week 2
The Diamondbacks beat the Giants to move to 1-1 to set up our match-up for next week. It'll be
interesting to see how we match up, we had pretty similar outcomes against our two division opponents.
Our non-divisional opponents had a stronger week going 5-3, making them 8-8 on the season. The
Melonheads, Yankees, and Marlins all sit at 2-0, while the Pirates, Angels, and Braves are at 0-2.

[captfalc]

Re: Backyard Brawl: Backyard Baseball 2001

Monsters Continue Comeback Magic and Walk-off Against Diamondbacks

Arizona Diamondbacks (1-1) at Humongous Monsters (1-1)
Playground Commons

	1	2	3	4	5	6	R
Diamondbacks	2	0	2	0	0	0	4
Monsters	0	0	0	0	4	1	5

Monster Hitting
Pete: 1-4, R, 2 SB(7)
Derek: 3-4, RBI(1), R, 3 SB(3)
Ken: 1-3, 2 K
Pablo: 1-3, RBI(1), R, SB(1)
Mikey: 2-2, 2B, RBI(1), R, BB
Angela: 3-3, HR(1), 2 RBI(2), R
Ashley:2-3
Sidney: 3-3
Ernie: 1-3

Monster Pitching
Angela: 7 IP, 9 K, 4 R, 6 H, W (2-0)

Game Summary
The Monsters got down quick when Libby Futterman laced a signle to RF in the 1st and was able
to score two on a bad relay in. Libby added to the lead her next time up with a two-run home run
in the third. The Monsters threatened in the fourth by loading the bases with nobody out. They failed
to get the ball out of the infield on the next three batters and did not score. With the heart of the
lineup due up in the fifth the Monsters were able to strike. Derek Jeter lead off with single and stole
second. Pablo was able to single Derek home and then steal second himself. Mikey Thomas kept the
rally going by doubling to the gap in right-center and scoring Pablo. Angela Delvecchio backed up her
pitching performance of nine strikeouts by blasting a two-run home run in the fifth to cap the comeback
and tie the game. Pete Wheeler kept the hit streak alive with a single in the 6th and successfully stole
second AND third to set up Derek. Derek and Pete perfectly executed the suicide squeeze to win the game
in walk-off fashion.

Player of the Game:

Angela Delvecchio

[captfalc]

Re: Backyard Brawl: Backyard Baseball 2001

Around the Diamond: Week 3
The Padres beat the Giants making them winless through three games. Hopefully that bodes
well for us and we score first and not rely on late inning heroics to win a game. Our non-divisional
opponents struggled going 2-6, 10-14 for the season. Only the Melonheads and Marlins were able to
win and both stayed undefeated.

[captfalc]

Re: Backyard Brawl: Backyard Baseball 2001

Captfalc's Manager Report: Week 3
Every three weeks I'll reflect on the previous set of games and how we're playing. Here's our last three finals.

Monsters 4 at Giants 2 (7)
Monsters 1 vs Padres 4 (8)
Monsters 5 vs Diamondbacks 4

Next let's recap our squads stats.

Hitting
Pete: 9-13, 1 RBI, 2 R, 7 SB, 1 K
Derek: 5-11, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 R, 3 SB, 2 K
Ken: 2-10, 4 K
Pablo: 4-10, 1 RBI, 2 R, 1 SB, 2 K
Mikey: 3-9, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 K
Angela: 6-10, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
Ashley: 4-10, 2 R
Sidney:5-10
Ernie: 4-10, 2 RBI, 2 K

Pitching
Angela: 2-0, 14 IP, 6 R, 2.57 ERA, 15 H, 17 K
Ashley: 0-0, 4 IP, 1 R, 1.50 ERA, 6 H, 1 K
Sidney: 0-0, 3 IP, 0 R, 0.00 ERA, 0 H, 2 K
Ernie: 0-1, 1 IP, 3 R, 18.0 ERA, 5 H, 1 K

Alright let's digest some data. First our hitting. Pete is great at getting on base and getting to
second with nine hits and seven stolen bases. Basically he's doubling every time up. Ken is
really struggling only getting two hits and striking out 40% of the time. The bottom of the
lineup is showing promise with high averages but not much run production. Overall as a team
were batting 0.452, pretty good but I'd like to see more than 8 RBIs in 21 innings of baseball.
Now to pitching. Angela is got stamina and doesn't get shaken after giving up runs. A 2.57 ERA
is a little high, ERA is calculated per 6 innings instead of 9, but 17 K's through 14 innings is impressive.
Ashley and Sidney both performed well. Sidney looked slightly sharper with three no hit innings. She'll
get the next start and Ashley will move to the relief role. Hopefully Ernie won't have to pitch again.
I may even look elsewhere if we get into a pickle again.

Here's our next three opponents
vs Giants (0-3)
at Padres (3-0)
at Diamondbacks (1-2)

We'll finish our division schedule after these three and still control our fate for the division
title. The game against the Padres is huge as that could decide the division.

Overall, I'd say I'm pleased with the start to the season. I just hope we can get a little more run production.

[captfalc]

Re: Backyard Brawl: Backyard Baseball 2001

Sidney Webber Continues Pitching Dominance as Monsters Blank Giants

San Francisco Giants (0-3) at Humongous Monsters (2-1)
Playground Commons

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

Monster Hitting
Pete: 3-3, HR(1), 3 RBI(4), 2 R, 2 SB(9)
Derek: 0-3, 3 K
Ken: 2-3, HR(1), RBI(1), R
Pablo: 2-3, RBI(2), R, K
Mikey: 2-3, RBI(2)
Angela: 1-3
Ashley: 2-3, RBI(1), R
Sidney: 1-3, R, K
Ernie: 0-3

Monster Pitching
Sidney: 6 IP, 7 K, 0 R, 2 H, W (1-0)

Game Summary
Sidney Webber continued her pitching excellence against the Giants as she only allowed two
hits through her six innings, striking out seven along the way. On the offensive side the Monsters
woke up the bats for the first time this season. It started in the 1st with an RBI single from Pablo
Sanchez. The run onslaught came in the the 2nd. It started with back-to-back singles from the Webber
twins and then a sac bunt from Ernie Steele to put them both into scoring position. Pete then blasted
an inside the park home run to right field. Mikey Thomas and Ashley Webber finished the inning
with RBI singles. Ken Griffey Jr was able to find his power stroke with a solo home run in the 4th to
cap off the Monsters' seven runs.

Players of the Game:

Pete Wheeler and Sidney Webber

[captfalc]

Re: Backyard Brawl: Backyard Baseball 2001

Around the Diamond: Week 4
The Padres squeaked past the Diamondbacks to improve to 4-0. This sets up a huge match-up next week.
Our non-divisional opponents struggled again going 3-5 to make them 13-19 for the season. Both the Melonheads
and Marlins lost ending their undefeated seasons.

[captfalc]

Re: Backyard Brawl: Backyard Baseball 2001

Monsters Strike Out Nine Times as They Fall Against Padres and Lose Season Series

Humongous Monsters (3-1) at San Diego Padres (4-0)
Eckman Acres

	1	2	3	4	5	6	R
Monsters	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Padres	1	1	0	0	0	-	2

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

Monster Pitching
Angela: 5 IP, 6 K, 2 R, 4 H, L (2-1)

Game Summary
The Monsters really struggled at the plate batting 0.190 for the game. The Padres jumped to
an early lead with a leadoff home run from Sheila Basanti in the bottom of the 1st. Mikey Thomas
provided the one bright spot offensively with a solo home run down the right field line to tie
the game in the 2nd. Achmed Khan was able to lace an RBI single in the bottom half of the 2nd
to score the go-ahead, and ultimately winning run. Jessica Wassersas pitched a complete game
for the Padres striking out nine and scattering four hits. Angela Delvecchio matched Jessica but failed
to get any run support. She also scattered four hits in five innings and struck out six. But her two
earned runs were too much for the Monster bats to support.

Player of the Game:

Angela Delvecchio