Bambino

The Bambino, produced by Bally Manufacturing Corporation in June 1938, is an early electro-mechanical pinball machine with a theme centered on America's favorite pastime: baseball. The game's name is itself a piece of baseball lore - "The Bambino" was one of the nicknames of George Herman "Babe" Ruth, Jr., the legendary American slugger.

Gameplay follows the standard formula of the era: five balls for five cents. The playfield features twelve spring bumpers along with two captive balls - balls permanently enclosed on the playfield that the game ball strikes for scoring, a feature that would appear again in many later designs. As with all games of this pre-flipper period, play relied on plunger skill and nudging rather than flipper control.

The Bambino's baseball theme is a nostalgic tribute to the golden age of the sport. The machine's designer is not documented, but the game remains a charming artifact from the late-1930s heyday of themed flipperless pinball.