Back Pitch'Em & Bat'Em

Edit History

  1. By IPDB
    ipdb.corporate_entity_name
    Scientific Machine Corporation
    ipdb_id
    4700
    ipdb.image_urls
    ["https://www.ipdb.org/images/4700/image-1.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/4700/image-2.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/4700/image-3.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/4700/image-4.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/4700/image-5.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/4700/image-6.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/4700/image-7.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/4700/image-8.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/4700/image-9.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/4700/image-10.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/4700/image-11.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/4700/image-12.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/4700/image-13.jpg","https://www.ipdb.org/images/4700/image-14.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/4700/image-15.png","https://www.ipdb.org/images/4700/image-16.png"]
    ipdb.notable_features
    Instruction decal on playfield glass.
    ipdb.notes
    The bat is angled to give the ball elevation, making this a game that is played vertically instead of horizontally like other pitch & bats. Each player get 15 pitches. The object is to score as many runs as possible by hitting the balls in the air and over the fence. Games can be played in one- or two-player mode. In one-player mode the machine pitches automatically. In two-player mode, one player selects from one of three styles of pitches (fastball, curveball, and knuckleball) while the other player bats. Reportedly, the ball is pitched at a high speed. The bat lever is entirely mechanical thus there is no delay in operation as there is with electromechanical bats where after pressing the bat button one must wait a second for a switch to tell a coil to fire. The speed of the bat depends only on how fast and how hard the player depresses the bat handle. According to a Billboard article dated Feb-28-1948 page 97, this game was introduced to the trade at the Coin Machine Industries show in Chicago, in January 1948. The article discusses the manufacturer's move to their Brooklyn factory location, a building built in 1939 and which serves as an apartment building today. Pictured here is a Cash Box article from 1977 showing a different version of the backglass, one that we have not seen elsewhere. If anyone has seen or owns this "alternate" backglass, please contact us.
    player_count
    1
    technology_generation
    electromechanical
    theme
    Sports
    theme
    Baseball
    year
    1948