Baseball

The Baseball pinball machine from Stoner Manufacturing Company of Aurora, Illinois was produced in February 1940, during the pre-flipper era of electro-mechanical (EM) pinball. Baseball was already a well-established pinball theme by 1940, and Stoner's entry reflects the enduring popularity of sports-themed games during the 1930s and 1940s.

Gameplay on Baseball centers on its generous complement of bumpers: 17 spring bumpers and 9 mushroom bumpers. As a flipperless game - flippers would not appear in pinball until 1947 - play consisted of launching balls and watching them score off the bumpers as they made their way down the playfield, with nudging skill offering the player some influence over the outcome.

No designer is credited for this machine, and little additional information about it survives, making it all the more intriguing to pinball historians and collectors seeking to uncover its secrets.