It’s a beautiful day at Playground Commons. Sunny Day and Vinny the Gooch are on the call, and the Backyard Baseball League title is on the line. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Stephanie Morgan toes the rubber and faces down the last kid standing between her team and a league title — the fearsome perennial MVP candidate Pablo Sanchez.

Many of you might be scratching your head right now, but if you’re a baseball fan of a certain age, that visual probably brought back some fond memories.

Originally released in 1997, “Backyard Baseball” was a beloved computer game featuring a group of neighborhood children playing baseball in local playgrounds, back alleys and, yes, each other’s backyards. The series’ popularity exploded in 2000 when the game introduced kid versions of real-life MLB stars like Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson, and later editions expanded into other sports like football, basketball, hockey and soccer.

It was also a foundational part of many future big leaguers’ childhoods, numerous Red Sox players included.

“I remember I had a two-year phase where it was all I was doing,” said shortstop Trevor Story.

“It was a blast, it was like the first baseball video game I played,” said outfielder Rob Refsnyder.

“It was really the only computer game I ever played,” said right-hander Zack Kelly.

Though the series declined in popularity in the late 2000s and has sat dormant since 2015, it has retained a powerful nostalgic appeal, particularly among millennials who grew up playing it. Now it’s set to return, as earlier this week new developer Playground Productions announced it is relaunching the series with “Backyard Sports.”

#backyardsports pic.twitter.com/XQyF5fjPfc

— Backyard Sports (@_BackyardSports) August 20, 2024

According to the announcement, the new game will be released in the coming months and feature the original games’ look and feel. The news was well received within the Red Sox clubhouse, with players expressing excitement about the game’s potential to expose baseball to a whole new generation of younger fans.

“I think it’s a great way to introduce the game to a super young audience with an accessible title, whereas MLB The Show is a baseball sim, so it’s probably harder for a six-year-old to play,” said right-hander Lucas Giolito. “Backyard Sports, you have interesting, funny characters and it’s the cartoon style, so that’s what resonated with me when I was younger.”

“I’m going to get it for my son,” left-hander Brennan Bernardino said.

While it’s unclear if this or future versions of the game will feature current professionals, Giolito said he thinks that would be a “no brainer” and believes the idea would draw support from players. As the son of a video game developer — Giolito’s dad worked for Electronic Arts and was an executive producer on the “Medal of Honor” series — he also expressed hope that the game will maintain its original sense of purity.

“The way the industry is going, you have a lot of interesting trends that I hope don’t make their way into a children’s title like that. Microtransactions, loot boxes, (stuff) like that,” Giolito said. “I hope that they stay clear away from that and make a fun title, maybe add some new elements but keep the spirit alive. That would be wonderful.”

Whether current big leaguers are in the game or not, the original cast of kids more than carry their own weight. Old favorites like Stephanie Morgan, Achmed Khan, Pete Wheeler and Kiesha Phillips are among those confirmed to be back, as is the game’s most indelible character, Pablo Sanchez.

Even though he’s one of the shortest players in the game, Sanchez stands above all the rest in the eyes of current players.

“Definitely had to have Pablo, for sure, that was my guy,” Story said.

“He’s the GOAT,” Bernardino said. “He and Barry Bonds are like the two best baseball players ever.”

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Jordan Montgomery made a stir Friday by ripping his former agent, Scott Boras. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Montgomery fallout

Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Jordan Montgomery made waves on Friday when he ripped Scott Boras, telling the Herald his former agent “kind of butchered” his free agency.

Ex-Red Sox target Jordan Montgomery says ‘Boras kind of butchered’ his free agency

Boras, one of the sport’s most influential and high-profile figures, issued a response later that night.

“I saw what Jordan said. I know what it is to be frustrated with this game. As a former player I feel for him. But I’m also a lawyer with obligations to my clients, including former ones. So I cannot discuss what happened or the decisions Jordan made unless he gives me permission,” Boras said. “If he gives me the green light I’ll be happy to talk about it. I’ve been doing this for over 35 years. I relay all offers and relevant information to all my clients and act at their direction. They make all decisions. We wish Jordan well.”

Asked if Montgomery would be willing to grant such permission, a Diamondbacks spokesperson said: “Jordan said he will not be waiving rights and will not be discussing this subject any further.”

Montgomery had already signaled his displeasure with Boras by switching representation shortly after agreeing to his current one-year, $25 million deal with Arizona, but his decision to address his feelings publicly is notable given how disagreements between players, agents and clubs are generally kept in-house.

The comments came at a particularly difficult moment for the 31-year-old. This season he has posted a 6.44 ERA in 95 innings, and minutes after Montgomery spoke in the visitor’s clubhouse Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo announced he was being moved from the starting rotation to the bullpen.

While there is no doubt Montgomery’s free agent market failed to materialize as expected, most of the focus locally throughout the offseason was on whether or not the Red Sox would bring him in. Montgomery said Friday he would have been interested in coming to Boston, but those comments were at odds with reports from earlier in the spring, particularly a New York Post piece by Jon Heyman in March which reported that Montgomery “preferred not to go there” and “didn’t love the Red Sox because he wants to win.”

At the time the Red Sox were widely projected to be a last-place team, but the club has since exceeded expectations to emerge as a legitimate playoff contender.

The Red Sox and Montgomery held a Zoom meeting in February, but no formal offer materialized. Asked about Boston’s pursuit of Montgomery and how the club perceived his level of interest in the Red Sox, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow declined to comment.

The Red Sox are going to have their hands full trying to chase down the Kansas City Royals in the playoff standings. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Playoff chase heating up

With a little more than a month remaining in the regular season, the Red Sox have a challenging but straightforward path to the playoffs. They have to chase down either the Kansas City Royals or Minnesota Twins.

As of this writing the Red Sox sit 3.5 games below the playoff cutline in the American League Wild Card standings. The good news is the Red Sox have survived their most difficult stretch and will have the easiest remaining schedule of the three teams over the last five weeks.

Starting Monday the Red Sox will play only 10 of their last 33 games against teams that are currently in playoff position, compared to 20 out of 32 for the Royals and 13 of 32 for the Twins. Boston is also about to play 14 straight games against non-playoff teams, while the Royals are entering a stretch of 17 straight against playoff clubs.

This will be a golden opportunity for the Red Sox to make up ground, and perhaps their best chance will come on the weekend of Sept. 6-8.

That weekend the Red Sox are set to host the last-place Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park, and meanwhile the Royals and Twins will face off against each other in Kansas City. The White Sox are wretched and at their current pace they’d only finish 39-123, which would be among the worst records in baseball history. If the Red Sox sweep them, as they should, they would then be guaranteed to pick up two games on one of their rivals if the series ends 2-1, or three games if one sweeps the other.

After that Boston’s schedule over the last three weeks becomes more challenging, but there will be one more opportunity to take matters into their own hands. The Red Sox and Twins will play at Fenway Park the weekend of Sept. 20-22, a series that could play a pivotal role in who ultimately makes the postseason.

Beyond jockeying for playoff positioning, each team will also have a chance to clinch the tiebreaker. Right now the Twins own a 1-2 record against the Red Sox, so if Boston sweeps they could take the tiebreaker for themselves, or a 2-1 series win would leave them knotted at 3-3, at which point the tiebreaker would be determined by which club finishes with a better record within their own division.

Ultimately the Red Sox have to take care of their own business and every game will matter, but this next two-week stretch represents Boston’s best chance to gain ground. If they can capitalize, they’ll be well positioned for the home stretch, but if not, it’ll become that much harder for the Red Sox to make it over the finish line.