Big League
About This Machine
Big League, manufactured by Genco in February 1940, is a fine example of pre-flipper electro-mechanical (EM) pinball design. This flipperless, single-player baseball game showcases surprisingly sophisticated rule-making for its era, built around 16 spring bumpers and a backglass with light animation showing men running the bases.
The game's cleverest mechanism is hidden inside the cabinet: a captive-ball device on the left side that acts like a score motor. Every time one of the five flag rollovers on the playfield is hit, a kicker sends this internal captive ball rolling over five rollovers along its path. The device, together with relays that energize for each flag scored, implements the game's Flags/Pennants scoring rule: the player earns 1,000 points for every consecutive flag lit starting from Flag 1. Lighting Flags 1, 2, and 3 scores 3,000 points, but lighting Flags 1, 3, and 4 scores only 1,000, since the missing Flag 2 breaks the sequence.
The underlying game apparatus was covered by Patent #2,134,185, filed in January 1936 and granted in October 1938 to inventor Leslie M. Hansen, assignor to Genco. As an example of how far designers could push EM technology before the flipper arrived, Big League offers a fascinating glimpse into the ingenuity of pinball's early years.
Images (16)
Technical Details
- Theme:
- Sports - Baseball
- Notable Features:
- Spring bumpers (16). Backglass light animation (men run bases). A captive ball device is inside the cabinet on the left side. It acts like a score motor: every time one of the five flag rollovers on the playfield is hit, this activates the kicker on this captive ball device, making the ball roll over five rollovers in the path that the ball follows. This device is linked to the scoring system of the Flags/Pennants: for every consecutive Flag that is lit starting from Flag 1, the player scores 1,000 points. So, for instance, if Flags 1, 3 and 4 are lit, the player only gets 1,000 points (as not having Flag 2 breaks the consecutiveness). But if for instance Flags 1, 2 and 3 are lit, the player gets 3,000 points for having three consecutive Flags lit. This captive ball device under the playfield and its rollovers, together with relays that energize for every Flag rollover scored, give the machine the possibility to carry out this sophisticated rule. Patent #2,134,185 [GAME APPARATUS] filed January 2, 1936. Granted October 25, 1938 to Leslie M. Hansen, Inventor, assignor to Genco.