The Backyard Kids are fictional characters in Humongous Entertainment's Backyard Sports series of video games, ranging from 7 to 12 years of age. They live in the Junior Sports Neighborhood, as stated in the first five Backyard Sports games. Below is the list of the 19 Backyard kids that appeared in every Backyard Sports game to date (not counting the Sandlot Sluggers spinoff):

• Achmed "Axeman" Khan is portrayed as an easygoing and collected kid whose #1 hobby
  Hobby
  A hobby is a regular activity or interest that is undertaken for pleasure, typically done during one's leisure time.- Etymology :A hobby horse is a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like a real horse...
  
   is playing the heavy metal guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  . His technical skills do not stop at music
  Music
  Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
  
  , as he is also a natural athlete who appears to play sports with effortless ease. He enjoys having Arthur, Kenny, and Joey over to his house on weekends.
• Angela "Sugar Pop" Delvecchio could easily be underestimated by her diminutive size, but she is a tough, aggressive and confident team player. She’s the only girl among five siblings in her family, and does not enjoy playing alongside her older brother Tony, preferring to pave her own way. She is frequently heard poking fun of her brother’s lack of athletic ability. She has an injury on her right ankle, disallowing her to run fast, although people thought at first that she had "two left feet."
• Annie "Flipper" Frazier is a serene and content nature-lover who can be recognized by the signature green stocking JOE RULES cap she always wears. She is one of the least competitive of the Backyard Kids, and mostly enjoys playing sports for the sake of being outdoors. This doesn’t mean her athletic abilities should be underestimated, though.
• Ashley Raelynn “Little Smokey” and Sidney Marie "Little Smokey" Webber are identical twin sisters who always play better when they are put on the same team. Their father is a self-made multi-millionaire
  Millionaire
  A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
  
   and constantly spoils his daughters by buying them whatever they ask for. The twins love tennis, fashion and pampering their own twin Labrador Retrievers.†
• Dante "Stretch" Robinson is a ball of energy
  Energy
  In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
  
  . His metabolism
  Metabolism
  Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that happen in the cells of living organisms to sustain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. Metabolism is usually divided into two categories...
  
   runs high, so food
  Food
  Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
  
   is always on his mind. He loves to goof off with his best friend, Reese, who keeps him constantly entertained.
• Dmitri Ivan "Paste" Petrovich loves calculations, and enjoys sports because of their relationship to math and physics
  Physics
  Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
  
  . He spends much of his free time inventing all kinds of contraptions with his dad. A painful slide in a baseball game took him out of 13 games. He has an amazing memory, mainly due to his "simple mnemonic system."†
• Ernie "Funnybones" Steele loves to tell jokes and do imitations. He’s also quite adept at performing magic tricks. Ernie has been “growing weed
  Weed
  A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...
  
  ” and can be a little awkward and gangly at times, but if he learned to tap into his hidden athleticism more, he could dominate on the field. He's 5 and a half feet tall, but he's only 10 years old. Ernie Steele is a nod to a tavern in Seattle where some of the early Humongous crew used to have a few beers after work.
• Jorge "Bonkers" Garcia’s full name is Jorge Raoul Luis Garcia III. He comes from money
  Money
  Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...
  
   and has no problem coming across as snooty or expressing his opinion on anything, as shown in Backyard Hockey (the first thing he says to you is always "I'm Jorge Garcia, and I have more money than you.") Jorge definitely does not enjoy getting dirty, and is not happy playing positions involving more laborious work (such as catcher or lineman). However, he shines when it comes to positions involving precision
  Accuracy and precision
  In the fields of science, engineering, industry and statistics, the accuracy of a measurement system is the degree of closeness of measurements of a quantity to that quantity's actual value. The precision of a measurement system, also called reproducibility or repeatability, is the degree to which...
  
   and calculations.†
• Kiesha Monet "Flash" Phillips is taller, stronger, and bigger than most of her peers, and is a dominating presence in any game. She is full of life and positive energy, and likes to tell jokes.†
• Lisa "Mad Dog" Crocket is never one to smile, and comes off as apathetic and anti-social, with a very dry sense of humor. She tends to mumble rather than talk, but expresses admiration for people who are book-smart, like Dmitri. When it comes to athletics
  Sport
  A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
  
  , she has power that comes from near perfect technique. However, she is not at all agile or nimble.
• Maria "Pinky" Luna is a cheery, tireless social butterfly who must be a part of everything. Her family owns an authentic Mexican restaurant called “La Luna Lleno,” to which she loves to invite her friends. Her strengths on the field are speed and energy. Until Baseball 2007, she loved pink dresses and ponies. She always played better whenever the colors of her team were pink. Now, she still loves pink, but is willing to play in other colors.
• Marky "Cootie" Dubois is a bit of a “country bumpkin” who can be a little naïve and gullible at times. He was home schooled and isn’t too street-smart, but is a good natured kid who reaches out to the other kids. He can be somewhat gawky on the field but plays hard and knows how to hustle. Before Billy Jean Blackwood was discontinued (see below list), he had a crush on her. Before Backyard Baseball 2007, he never wore shoes or socks, and loved to play with pigs in the mud. He loves bringing his pet frog to games, and his new shoes and socks are quite rugged.
• Pablo Ramon "Secret Weapon" Sanchez is not only the best player of the backyard kids, but he is the best person. On top of regularly leading the league in home runs, OPS, walks he always led the league in pep talk. Pablo never shied away from taking the leadership role and offering words of encouragement when necessary.†
• Pete "Wheelie" Wheeler may not seem like the brightest bulb, and is always passing out due to lack of sleep. However he is widely regarded as the fastest kid around, making him pretty popular to any team. He just tends to space out every once in a while.
• Reese "Big Toe" Worthington is the class clown and energetic prankster who loves to be in the spotlight. Although he might get on some of the other kids’ nerves, his best friend Dante loves his jokes. Reese may not be the most impressive in terms of athletic ability, but he does tend to pull off some very impressive lucky plays every now and then. He used to have a huge collection of action figures and video games. He also has asthma and is seen using an inhaler in early games. Reese is based on original designer Richard Moe, who has asthma and was nicknamed "Big Toe" in grade school.
• Ricky Alexander "Fella" Johnson is one of the tallest backyard kids, and tends to be a bit quiet and shy. He has very low self-esteem, as especially shown in Backyard Baseball 2001
  Backyard Baseball 2001
  Backyard Baseball 2001 is a sports video game released by Humongous Entertainment in 2000. It is the second game in the Backyard Baseball series and the first to include pro kids, such as Alex Rodriguez, Mo Vaughn, Ken Griffey Jr., Jason Giambi, and many others. The game is targeted at young...
  
  , where he often breaks through the fourth wall
  Fourth wall
  The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
  
   by, after saying things, adding, "If that's okay if you." His favorite hobby is drawing, and his favorite sport by far is American football
  American football
  American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
  
   (though it used to be soccer). His dad is a part time football coach, so Ricky grew up learning the game. Had the Backyard's greatest left hook.
• Tony Gianni "Vec" Delvecchio is described as the “motivational speaker without an audience,” who likes to think he’s in charge when he really isn’t. He frequently boasts about his abilities, which are in reality quite average. His tough New York Bronx accent still sounds quite intimidating to the other teams, though.†
• Vicki Fumiko "Swan" Kawaguchi is aggressive and highly intelligent, and is probably the craftiest of the backyard kids. When playing on a team she tends to magnify her opponents’ weaknesses while improving her own teammates’ strengths. She loves discussing tactics of how to outsmart the other team. She also takes ballet
  Ballet
  Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
  
   lessons. Until Backyard Baseball 2007, she wore a pink tutu
  Tutu
  Tutu may refer to:* Ballet tutu, a type of costume for ballet performances* Tutu , poisonous New Zealand plants of the genus Coriaria* Tutu , a 1986 album by Miles Davis* Tūtū, a composition by Liliuokalani of Hawaii...
  
   and was not as aggressive.†

Below is a list of Backyard Kids that are, as of 2009, discontinued:

• Amir "Sticks" Khan is Achmed's younger brother. He plays drums in Achmed's imaginary band. He always looks up to Achmed and tries to play as good as him. He makes a cameo appearance in Baseball 2007 as a custom character in the season story mode. In Backyard Soccer
  Backyard Soccer
  Backyard Soccer, known in Europe as Junior Sports Football, is a video game in the Backyard Sports franchise, developed by Humongous Entertainment and published by Infogrames. It was first released in 1998 for the Mac and PC, was released for the PlayStation in 2001, and the iOS in...
  
   he said that he was going to play bass guitar in Achmed's band.
• Billy Jean "Crazy Legs" Blackwood is a tall red-headed Southern girl who adores fashion. She dreams of going to Paris, France someday, though she never does. Marky Dubois, who she despises, had a crush on her.
• Gretchen "Jabberjaw" Hasselhoff is a girl who is not popular with the other kids because she talks way too fast and is very hyperactive. She is regarded as being one of the worst in many games. In Backyard Baseball 2005, she had a cellphone she carried around with her. She makes a cameo appearance in Baseball 2007 as a custom character in the season story mode.
• Jocinda "MVP" Smith is said to be one of the best players in the league (that's why she is called "MVP"). She has four brothers and they have their own basketball court, as seen in the Backyard Basketball games.
• Kenny "K-Man" Kawaguchi is Vicki’s older brother. His main attraction is that he is in a wheelchair. He has his own radio station, KNNY, which he programs with Barry DeJay. He is the only handicapped
  Disability
  A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
  
   player on the series. He is one of the best pitchers at striking out opponents, that is why he got the nickname "K-Man". He is mentioned by Vicki in Backyard Football 2008.
• Kimmy Rae "Twinkie Toes" Eckman is a girl who is obsessed with candy. Her mom spoils her by buying her all the candy she wants. She has her own baseball/soccer field, Eckman Acres, and after a game there, everyone gets dessert. She is best friends with Jocinda Smith, who lives two blocks away from her. Maria Luna despises her because she breaks her pink pony piñatas.
• Luanne "Lulu" Lui was said to be the fastest kid in the league. She used to always have her teddy bear with her, but now it is turned into a backpack, though she still loves it. She is the youngest player in the league.
• Mikey Rhett "Nugget" Thomas has a really bad cold, and is hampered by this, as he is one of the slowest in the league. He likes to play with rocks and has other bizarre habits. His middle name is a reference to Rhett Mathis, the music composer for the series and original programmer on the first game. He lives with his grandparents because both his parents died in a fire.
• Ronny Henry "Spud" Dobbs is a young kid who is always trying to be better than he is. He thinks he is not playing well because his older sister Sally is bossing him around.
• Sally "The Boss" Dobbs is Ronny's older sister who is four years older than he is. She is always bossing people around, and always says that she is older than all the other kids in the league (in reality, Tony is older than she is, as Rich Gannon said in Backyard Football 2002 that Tony is one of the oldest in the league, and Tony's birthday comes before Sally's). Quite all-around.
• Stephanie "Bubbles" Morgan is obsessed with baseball and chewing bubble gum. She has her baseball mitt on in every game, and wears a baseball cap when she plays soccer and basketball. She likes to criticize the other players for their lack of skill. In some games, she claims her father is a minor league baseball player (although she admits he only played one game). She makes a cameo appearance in Baseball 2007 as a custom character in the season story mode.

Below is a list of Backyard Kids that debuted in 2006:

• Arthur “A.C.” Chen a thoughtful, intelligent and relaxed character who frequently hints of a martial arts background as well as some previous “zen training.” Arthur is the type of kid who gets along with just about anyone, but particularly enjoys the company of Achmed Khan.
• Joey Richard “Joey Mac, Broadway Joey” MacAdoo is a popular and confident kid who is 100% focused on sports. He’s always ready for a pickup game and is a natural leader
  Leader
  A leader is one who influences or leads others.Leader may also refer to:- Newspapers :* Leading article, a piece of writing intended to promote an opinion, also called an editorial* The Leader , published 1909–1967...
  
  , although sometimes he wants to win a little too badly. His dream
  Dream
  Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
  
   is to someday become a professional athlete.†
• Samantha “Sam, Ripgirl” Pearce is the “tomboy surfer” who is always relaxed and confident. She’s a natural athlete who’s always willing to try anything new.

It has been noted by parents of players of the Backyard games that many of the characters fit stereotypes; for example, Dmitri is the classic "geek

Geek

The word geek is a slang term, with different meanings ranging from "a computer expert or enthusiast" to "a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts", with a general pejorative meaning of "a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to...

," Samantha is the "surfer chick," Pete is a "birdbrain", Pablo Sanchez is the amazing player of Hispanic descent and Lisa Crocket is the stereotypical antisocial type. These stereotypes have caused a little bit of controversy among parents, but many find the stereotypes humorous despite the fact that chances are their children do not understand them.

Also, there is good and bad chemistry with some players. Ronny and Sally Dobbs will not have good stats if together, while vice-versa with Ashley and Sidney Webber.

†= These veteran kids have appeared in Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers

Backyard Sports series

Backyard Sports is a series of video games that play on both consoles and computers. The series is best known for starring kid-sized versions of popular professional sports stars, such as Albert Pujols, Paul Pierce, Barry Bonds, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Tom Brady, Alex Rodriguez, Joe Thornton and...

 and Backyard Sports: Rookie Rush

Backyard Sports series

Backyard Sports is a series of video games that play on both consoles and computers. The series is best known for starring kid-sized versions of popular professional sports stars, such as Albert Pujols, Paul Pierce, Barry Bonds, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Tom Brady, Alex Rodriguez, Joe Thornton and...

.

Additional Characters

In addition to the Backyard Kids themselves, there are other kids who appear in the Backyard games' season mode in order to fill spots on opposing teams. However, these additional kids are neither Backyard Kids nor the various pro stars that have appeared in the games from Backyard Football

Backyard Football

Backyard Football is a series of video games for various systems. Currently all the games in the series have been developed by Humongous Entertainment and published by Atari...

 (1999) onwards. They are just "generic" kids who share similar physical attributes such as face shape, hair color and hair style (much like the options available when creating a custom player).
The generics made their first appearance in season mode of Super Pablo Sanchez (1992) with only a small number of kids. However, additional generics have been added in later games and as a result, over 200 generic kids have appeared from Super Pablo Sanchez (1992) through Backyard Basketball (2001), with some names continuing into later games. Since Backyard Baseball (1997) onward, even more new names have appeared. However, most (but not all) of these names tend to be very silly and/or childish, and appear in only one of the games. There are two Backyard Kids added in Sandlot Sluggers/Rookie Rush:

• Jimmy Winthrope “The Bully” Knuckles is the captain of the Bullies. He and the other bullies can only be beaten if the other nine captains come together to form an All-Star team. He later appears in Rookie Rush as the captain of the Meadowbrook Monsters.

• Ace "Acer" Patterson is a top-notch football player with a football-loyal family. He is captain of the team "The Invincibles" He was introduced in Rookie Rush and can be played the first time when the player teams up with the other Backyard Kids to defeat Ace and The Invincibles.

The commentator who through the console/PC Backyard Sports games has been Sunny Day (voiced by Jen Taylor

Jen Taylor

Jennifer Lee "Jen" Taylor is an American voice actress best known for her role as Cortana in various Halo games and the Xbox 360 game "1 vs. 100".-Voice work:...

, Lani Minella and Samantha Kelly) (discontinued from Backyard Baseball 2007

Backyard Baseball 2007

Backyard Baseball 2007 is the sixth Backyard Baseball game for PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, PC, and Nintendo GameCube. The game highlights sixteen Major League Baseball players and all 30 MLB teams are represented, as well as ten fantasy teams....

 and Backyard Basketball 2007

Backyard Basketball 2007

Backyard Basketball 2007 is a sports game released late 2006. This is the fifth iteration of the Backyard Basketball game from the Backyard Sports series. The cover athlete of the game is Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics.-Soundtrack:...

), the over-enthusiastic play-by-play announcer. She has had various partners for all the different games, who include:

• Baseball: Vinnie the Gooch (voiced by Dolores Rogers and Lani Minella
  Lani Minella
  Lani Minella is a voice actress who has voiced in over 500 computer and video games as well as several TV and anime series. She is best known for voicing Nancy Drew, Millie Strathorn, Loulou the Parrot and Freddie in the Nancy Drew computer games, Ivy Valentine in the Soulcalibur video game...
  
  ) (originally), Abner Dubbleplay (voiced by Adam Watson
  Adam Watson
  John Hugh "Adam" Watson was a British International Relations theorist and researcher. Alongside Hedley Bull, Martin Wight, Herbert Butterfield, and others, he was one of the founding members of the English school of international relations theory.He was educated at Rugby and King's College,...
  
  ) (a joke on Abner Doubleday
  Abner Doubleday
  Abner Doubleday was a career United States Army officer and Union general in the American Civil War. He fired the first shot in defense of Fort Sumter, the opening battle of the war, and had a pivotal role in the early fighting at the Battle of Gettysburg. Gettysburg was his finest hour, but his...
  
   and double play
  Double play
  In baseball, a double play for a team or a fielder is the act of making two outs during the same continuous playing action. In baseball slang, making a double play is referred to as "turning two"....
  
  ), and Jack Fouler (voiced by Jim Curtis and Rhonda Soikowski).
• Football: Chuck Downfield (voiced by Klem Daniels and Dave Rivas) (his name comes from a play on words, such as someone throwing the ball down the field in football)
• Basketball: Barry DeJay (voiced by Dex Manley
  Dex Manley
  Dexter "Dex" Manley is an American commercial and video game voice actor. He has worked under 300 commercials and 25 video games. He worked for Microsoft, Boeing Company, Alaska Airlines, and others. Dexter extensively worked for Nintendo, providing voice for many Mario and Donkey Kong games...
  
  ) (a play on "bury the J," as seen in Backyard Basketball)
• Soccer: Earl Grey (voiced by Dolores Rogers and Lani Minella) (a reference to a kind of tea).
• Hockey: Buddy Cheque (voiced by Dex Manley) (a play on body check in hockey)
• Skateboarding: Erik Stream (voiced by Michelle Thorson) (a play on air extreme)

In Backyard Baseball 2007 and Backyard Basketball 2007, there is an unidentified male commentator (voiced by Adam Watson). Sunny Day has returned as the commentator as of Backyard Football 2008 and Backyard Baseball 2009 and Backyard And the Mass of Clouds. In Sandlot Sluggers, There are two new commentators named Ron and Wally.

Clanky is a robot and the founder of the league.