Grand Slam

Grand Slam, designed by Ed Krynski with artwork by Gordon Morison, was released by D. Gottlieb & Company in July 1972. A single-player electro-mechanical game with a baseball theme, it continued Gottlieb's long tradition of sports-themed pinball, and its confirmed production run of 3,600 units made it a solid seller for the era.

The gameplay is built around two flippers, two pop bumpers, and two slingshots, with three kick-out holes providing extra scoring opportunities. The real stars of the playfield are its three roto-targets, a signature Gottlieb mechanism of the period, backed by two standup targets. Together they give the game a shot-making, target-focused feel appropriate to its baseball theme.

As was common Gottlieb practice at the time, an add-a-ball version of the same design was produced as 1972's 'World Series'. With Morison's colorful baseball artwork and Krynski's dependable layout, Grand Slam remains an approachable example of early-1970s electro-mechanical pinball.