Baseball

The 1932 Baseball, produced by Great States Manufacturing Company of Kansas City, Missouri, is a notable example of pinball's earliest years, appearing just as the modern pin game was taking shape. Advertised in May 1932, it was sold as a conversion kit — a playfield sized for operators to trim and fit into existing cabinets — and was also available as a complete pin table measuring 15.5 by 32 by 35 inches, playable for a nickel or a penny.

As a Pure Mechanical (PM) machine, Baseball predates flippers entirely (which would not be invented until 1947); players instead relied on tilt and the mechanical layout of the playfield to influence scoring. The game was marketed as offering three games in one — Baseball, a Red and Blue roulette feature, and a High and Low Score game — and by July 1932 was advertised as four games in one, with the playfield cut to fit free of charge.

The design and art on the Baseball machine reflect the simplicity characteristic of pinball's earliest machines, with a baseball theme that was still an uncommon choice for the young medium at the time. Little additional documentation survives about this game, but its early date and sports theme make it a noteworthy artifact of pinball's formative period.