5th Inning

5th Inning, produced by United Manufacturing Company of Chicago in June 1955, is not actually a pinball machine -- United's own flyers described it as a "Skee-Skill Targette Game." It's included in pinball reference collections because its backbox closely resembles those found on true bat/baseball games of the era, even though the play itself is quite different. Its production coincided with baseball's peak as an American pastime, making it an intriguing artifact of mid-century pop culture; a Billboard item from July 2, 1955 noted that this, United's first baseball game of the year, had shipped to distributors in mid-June.

Gameplay involves sliding a puck across the playfield so that it lands in an inclined scoring area -- there is no ball, no flippers, and no traditional pinball ruleset. This is the standard model without a match feature; a companion "Deluxe 5th Inning" added that feature.

While specific details about the designer or additional notable features aren't documented, 5th Inning's baseball theme and backbox styling make it a fascinating example of how manufacturers packaged sports themes into novelty amusement games during the mid-1950s.