Short Stop

Short Stop, manufactured by Exhibit Supply Company (ESCO) in May 1948, is a baseball-themed electro-mechanical (EM) pinball machine reflecting the sport's enduring popularity in post-war America. Players pay five cents for five balls.

Instead of flippers, Short Stop uses a single movable bumper that acts as a bat, controlled by buttons on each side of the cabinet -- an unusual control scheme for the era. The playfield also includes 10 passive bumpers, 4 captive balls, and a rollover button. A standout feature is the playfield animation: a rotating disk that moves white baseballs around the bases and back home, visually tracking the game's baseball theme.

Little is documented about the machine's designer or production run, but its distinctive bumper-as-bat control scheme and animated basepath make it a notable and unusual entry among ESCO's sports-themed pinball machines.