The series is known for its diverse cast of children characters, known as the "Backyard Kids", who vary in appearance, personality, and stats, with some kids being stronger in certain sports and weaker in others. The below lists only show the original characters of the franchise, excluding the real-life athletes who appear in the games.
Backyard Kids The Original Thirty These are the original Backyard Kids introduced by Humongous in 1997's
Backyard Baseball. They all appeared in every game up until
Backyard Skateboarding (2004), which featured only a limited selection of the kids as either playable characters or non-playable characters. From that game until the 2024 reboot, some of these kids were excluded in select games, especially from 2006 to 2010 when Atari, Inc. controlled the franchise. •
Achmed Khan: A
Pakistani American boy who loves
rock music to the point of wearing headphones all the time in most games. He is the lead singer and guitarist of a rock band featuring his younger brother Amir Khan and their cousins called the Knights of Rockville. •
Amir Khan: A
Pakistani American boy who is the younger brother of Achmed Khan. He also loves rock music and serves as the drummer of the Knights of Rockville, although earlier games showed that he desired to play bass guitar. •
Angela Delvecchio: A tomboyish
Italian American girl with a
New York accent whose personality is modeled after the Pink Ladies of the 1950s-inspired musical
Grease (1971) and
its 1978 film adaptation. She is the clumsiest player among the Backyard Kids. She has a sibling rivalry with her older brother Tony Delvecchio and usually gets a stat buff when playing against the team he's on and a nerf when they're both playing on the same team. •
Annie Frazier: A Caucasian American girl who has a peaceful,
hippie personality. •
Ashley Webber and
Sidney Webber: Caucasian American identical twin sisters who come from a rich family and enjoy
tennis (despite the sport never being represented in the franchise). In most games, both sisters get a stat buff if they both play on the same team. •
Billy Jean Blackwood: A tall Caucasian American girl with a
Southern belle personality. She loves fashion and aspires to be a model in Paris. She dislikes Marky Dubois and is usually nerfed when she plays on the same team as him. •
Dante Robinson: An
African American boy with a large
afro who is obsessed with food and is frequently hungry. •
Dmitri Petrovich: A Caucasian American boy who is the most intelligent Backyard Kid and resembles a stereotypical
nerd. His middle name is "Ivan". •
Ernie Steele: A tall African American boy who likes to crack corny jokes and laugh. His backyard, Steele Stadium, is frequently featured in most games, particularly the
Backyard Baseball games with its shallow
center field with a shed and a neighbor's swimming pool outside left field. •
Gretchen Hasselhoff: A scatterbrained Caucasian American girl who talks fast. •
Jocinda Smith: An African American girl who likes playing baseball and basketball and has a passion for art. •
Jorge Garcia: A snobbish
Hispanic American boy from a rich family who hates getting dirty. His full name is
Jorge Raoul Luis Garcia III. •
Kiesha Phillips: A stocky African American girl who likes to make one-liners with pop culture references. Her middle name is "Monet". •
Kenny Kawaguchi: A
Japanese American boy who is a paraplegic and thus plays sports in his wheelchair. He is also the older brother of Vicki Kawaguchi. •
Kimmy Eckman: A Caucasian American girl who is obsessed with candy and sweet foods and usually has the poorest stats. •
Lisa Crocket: A Caucasian American girl with large glasses and a very stoic personality. •
Luanne Lui: An East Asian American girl who is the youngest Backyard Kid and the fastest girl. She is often seen holding her pink teddy bear named Teddy. •
Maria Luna: A Latina American girl who loves girly things including ponies and the color pink, to the point of wearing a pink dress regardless of the colors of the team she's on. In most games, putting her on a team wearing pink gives her a stat buff. •
Marky Dubois: A Caucasian American boy who is the
redneck of the Backyard Kids. He usually plays barefoot and carries a pet frog with him. He also has a crush on Billy Jean Blackwood and usually receives a stat buff when playing on the same team as her. •
Mikey Thomas: An African American boy who is seemingly always sick and has peculiar interests. He is usually the slowest player but is balanced out by having good batting and defensive stats. •
Pablo Sanchez: A short Hispanic American boy who is regarded as the most athletically talented player among the Backyard Kids and is regarded as the franchise's mascot. He normally
speaks Spanish in almost all his appearances, though English is his native language as originally revealed as an
Easter egg in the original
Backyard Baseball. His middle name is "Ramon". •
Pete Wheeler: A Caucasian American boy who is the fastest runner of the Backyard Kids but also the least intelligent. He speaks with a
simpleton voice in the games, although
The Animated Special removes this quality and slightly increases his intelligence to give him a sense of sarcasm. •
Reese Worthington: A Caucasian American boy who is asthmatic and acts in an annoying manner, causing him to be seen as a "nerd" by the other kids, even Dmitri who better fits the stereotype. •
Ricky Johnson: An African American boy who is very shy and apologetic. His middle name is "Alexander". •
Vicki Kawaguchi: A
Japanese American girl who loves ballet and is thus the most coordinated Backyard Kid. She is also the younger sister of Kenny Kawaguchi. Her middle name is "Fumiko".
Introduced in Atari-published games These Backyard Kids were introduced by Atari, Inc. after they took control of the franchise from Humongous. They only appear in games released from 2006 to 2010, and do not return for the reboot. •
Ace "Acer" Patterson: A Caucasian American boy who is a
military brat and a cocky but skilled football player. He and his team The Invincibles serve as the final opponent of the Story Mode to
Backyard Sports: Rookie Rush, his only appearance in the series. •
Arthur Chen: An East Asian American boy who is quiet and reserved. He only appears in the 2006–2009 games. •
Jimmy Knuckles: A Caucasian American boy who is a
bully. He is the captain of a team called "The Bullies" in
Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers. His middle name is "Winthorpe". He only appears in
Sandlot Sluggers and
Rookie Rush. •
Joey MacAdoo: A Caucasian American boy who loves sports to the point of overcompetitiveness. His middle name is "Richard". Mentioned by Vinnie the Gooch in the original 1997
Backyard Baseball, he becomes playable in the 2006–2009 games, and is the only kid from that era in the series to also be playable in
Sandlot Sluggers and
Rookie Rush. •
Samantha Pearce: An American girl who enjoys
surfing. She only appears in the 2006–2009 games.
Introduced in the 2024 reboot •
Chase Downfield: A Caucasian American boy who is the younger brother of Backyard Football League color commentator Chuck Downfield. He was introduced as a replacement for
Brett Favre in ''Backyard Football '99
, the remaster of the original Backyard Football'', due to Playground Productions being unable to get the rights to use Favre for the remaster.
Commentators •
Sunny Day (voiced by
Jen Taylor from 1997 to 2001,
Lani Minella from 2002 to 2003, Samantha Kelly from 2002 to 2009, Lindsay Barnett in the 2024 reboot era [for social media videos and trailers for the remastered games], and
Ashleigh Crystal Hairston in
The Animated Special): An African American girl who is the play-by-play commentator of the various Backyard Sports Leagues, appearing in the role in most games in the series. •
Vinnie the Gooch (voiced by Dolores Rogers in
Backyard Baseball and
Backyard Baseball 2001, Lani Minella in
Backyard Baseball 2003, and Lindsay Barnett in
The Animated Special and
Backyard Baseball [2026]): A Caucasian American boy who serves as the original
color commentator of the
Backyard Baseball League. He has a dry wit and a snarky personality. •
Abner Dubbleplay (voiced by Adam Watson): A Caucasian American boy who serves as the second
color commentator of the Backyard Baseball League, appearing in the
Backyard Baseball GameCube and PlayStation 2 games and
Backyard Baseball 2005. He speaks with a voice resembling those of old-time baseball announcers. His name is a pun on both
Abner Doubleday (
the supposed inventor of baseball) and the term "
double play". •
Earl Grey (voiced by Dolores Rogers in
Backyard Soccer and
Backyard Soccer MLS Edition and Lani Minella in
Soccer 2004): A Caucasian English boy who serves as the color commentator of the
Backyard Soccer League. His name is a pun on
Earl Grey tea, which he normally has for Backyard Soccer matches. •
Chuck Downfield (voiced by Klem Daniels in most appearances and Dave Rivas in
Backyard Football for GameCube): A Caucasian American boy who serves as color commentator of the
Backyard Football League, which he used to play in before retiring due to a
Charley horse injury. He is a parody of real-life football commentator
John Madden. •
Barry DeJay (voiced by
Dex Manley): An African American boy who is the color commentator of the
Backyard Basketball Association. He is also a secret character in the
Backyard Basketball games, in which he has perfect stats. •
Buddy Cheque (voiced by Dex Manley): A Caucasian Canadian boy who is the color commentator of the
Backyard Hockey League. His name is a pun on the ice hockey term "
body check". He is also a secret character in the
Backyard Hockey games, in which he has perfect stats. •
Erik Stream: A Caucasian American boy who is the color commentator of the Backyard Skate Tour. His name is a pun on "air extreme". He is also an unlockable character in
Backyard Skateboarding.
Other characters •
Mr. Clanky: A robot made from various household appliances who is the "commissioner" of the Backyard Sports Leagues. He is sometimes a secret or unlockable character who can be used in pick-up games. Othertimes, he serves as a referee, umpire, or official. In the
Backyard Football games, he serves as the captain of an all-robot team called the Tackling Dummies, which serves as the player's opposing team when practicing. •
Practice Bots: Six tackling dummy robots, each numbered 1 through 6, who were built by Mr. Clanky to serve as practice opponents for the Backyard Kids. They and Clanky are part of a dedicated BFL team called the Tackling Dummies. ==Games in the series==