Play Ball

Play Ball, manufactured by Victory Games in September 1944, is a wartime conversion kit for baseball-themed pinball, built to convert Gottlieb's 1940 'The Champ' and 1941 'The New Champ' into a new game. As a flipperless machine from the World War II era, it predates the invention of the flipper (1947) and relies on the plunger, targets, and tilt-based skill mechanics typical of pre-war pinball rather than powered flippers.

Advertised in Billboard magazine as 'The Greatest Money-Making Baseball Conversion of the Year,' the kit gave operators an inexpensive way to refresh existing Champ/New Champ cabinets with a new 12-color scoreboard, redesigned playfield, and new bumper caps, rather than requiring a whole new machine purchase - a practical approach during wartime material shortages.

The machine's design and art are typical of Victory Games' output during this period, with baseball-themed illustrations of bats, balls, and players. Little is documented about the specific designer or additional notable features, but Play Ball remains an interesting example of how manufacturers adapted existing games to new themes during a period of wartime manufacturing constraints.