Baseball

The 1931 Baseball pinball machine, manufactured by Atlas Indicator Works Incorporated of Chicago, Illinois, is a rare example of very early electro-mechanical (EM) pinball design, dating from the earliest years of the coin-op pinball industry. A bat game with a baseball theme, it captures a moment when manufacturers were experimenting widely with sports-themed novelty games.

Gameplay on the Baseball machine is characterized by its 5-cent play and an airborne ball when batted by the player - notable features considering the mechanical limitations of the time. Players navigate a simple yet challenging single-player game typical of the era's bagatelle-style mechanics.

A similar game is A.M. Walzer's 1932 'Dingbat'. Surviving period advertisements from 1931 show slight cabinet variations - one version places the game's name on a marquee atop the cabinet rather than stenciled on the front glass, and has a smaller coin entrance plate. Unfortunately, little else is documented about this specific machine, but it remains an important artifact from the earliest days of pinball history.