Silver Slugger

The Silver Slugger is a baseball-themed pinball machine designed by John Trudeau, released by Premier Technology (trading as Gottlieb) in February 1990, with artwork by David Moore, Constantino Mitchell, and Jeanine Mitchell. It holds a specific place in company history as the first of Gottlieb's so-called "Street Level" games -- a deliberately simplified, single-level design without ramps, made smaller and cheaper for operators who felt pinball machines had become too expensive. Only six Street Level games were ultimately produced (including 'Vegas', 'Deadly Weapon', 'Title Fight', 'Car Hop', and 'Hoops') before Premier returned to more elaborate, multi-level playfield designs.

Gameplay features two flippers navigating a layout packed with three pop bumpers, two slingshots, six standup targets, three spinning targets, two kick-out holes, and a 4-bank drop target, along with a vari-target and a left outlane kickback to help save otherwise-drained balls. The game supports both 2-ball and 3-ball multiball, adding bursts of chaos to an otherwise streamlined, single-level layout.

Scoring is displayed on two 20-digit alphanumeric Futaba displays, supplemented by four two-segment LED displays that track runs scored, and the backbox features light animation depicting runners moving around the bases. With 2,100 confirmed units produced, Silver Slugger stands as a notable, if commercially modest, experiment in stripped-down pinball design at the start of the 1990s.