1937 World Series

The 1937 World Series pinball machine is a notable example of 1930s pinball design, manufactured by Rock-ola Manufacturing Corporation of Chicago, a company that produced games and machines from 1932 to 1938. Produced during a formative decade for the pinball industry, the machine reflects an era when the medium was still rapidly evolving from simple bagatelle-style games into the electro-mechanical format that would dominate for decades.

Gameplay on the 1937 World Series is built as a "bat game" around a baseball theme, using electro-mechanical (EM) components - electrical contacts and relays - to control scoring, a design common to games of this period as manufacturers moved away from purely mechanical mechanisms. As a game from a decade before the flipper's invention in 1947, it relied on plunging and skillful table play rather than flipper control.

The 1937 World Series features artwork evoking the sport as it was played in the 1930s. No notable designer or specific art credits have been documented for this machine. Nevertheless, its simple, single-player design speaks to the era's aesthetic sensibilities, and as a period piece from Rock-ola's pinball-era catalog, it offers a glimpse into the game's early development.