Speed Ball

Speed Ball, manufactured by Bally in June 1941, is a rare, single-player, flipperless electro-mechanical (EM) pinball machine with a baseball theme. Sports-themed pinball and arcade games, including baseball, had already appeared earlier in the 1930s (such as Rock-Ola's All-Star Baseball in 1932), so Speed Ball follows in that established tradition rather than being a true pioneer of the sports theme.

Notable features include 17 passive bumpers, a common design element in early EM games that relied on mechanical bumper placement rather than flippers to guide the ball, since flippers would not be introduced to pinball until 1947. A Bally sales manager described the game as a "limited edition" in a July 1941 Billboard article, suggesting production was intentionally limited.

While little additional information survives about Speed Ball's designer or specific artwork, this machine remains a fascinating piece of pinball history for enthusiasts and collectors, offering a snapshot of the flipperless, bumper-driven gameplay that defined pinball just before the flipper revolution.