1948 Scientific Pitchem & Batem P&B Baseball Arcade Machine VERY COOL STYLE

1948 Scientific Pitch em & Bat em Pitch & Bat Baseball Arcade Machine. Here is one of the very nice early animated pitch and bat baseball arcade machines that features a pitched ball that rolls towards the batter. The object is to swing your bat at just the right time to hit the ball into the bleachers, over the fence! Pitch em & Bat em machines turn up far less often than some other baseball titles from that era. Along with the limited production of machines in 1948, they are very fun to play and tend to be firmly held in collectors hands! It is a LOT of fun to play and will really test your skill and timing! The cabinet styling and graphics are also a huge plus making this machine GREAT to look at in addition to its play. It isn't as easy as it may seem to hit the ball into the bleachers! And the bleachers are divided into separate results for left field, left center, center, right center, and right field. Depending on which portion of the bleachers you hit the ball, you can get a single, double, triple, or even a home run if you hit it into the center field bleachers.

Again, easier said than done! But if you dribble it into the lowest level and miss the bleachers, you just got an out so make the most of each swing. Outs arent counted in this game, though, you are given fifteen pitched balls to hit during the game. The balls are pitched automatically by the machine, but you can control the speed of the pitch by way of three buttons on the front left side of the cabinet.

Depending on which one you press prior to the pitch, you can throw slow, medium, or fast. As you get base hits, your runners light up on the backglass at the appropriate base by way of light bulbs behind the glass! The runner continues to stay lit at that base so you know how many men are on base. When you make your next hit, hopefully it is enough to drive in the runner that had been on base. If not, he can advance to the next base based on the hit. The obvious object is to drive in as many runs as you can with your fifteen pitches.

The age of this machine is evident by the light bulb score numbers on the backglass which preceded score reels! This is a REALLY fun game to play, ESPECIALLY considering that it is 70 years old! This machine is mechanically unshopped, other than having all of the bad bulbs replaced, and has been sitting idle for some time but it is showing some good signs of life now and there isnt much to it mechanically. At this point, when you press in the coin slide, the machine does spring into action and the motor and ball lift assembly at the pitcher start to work. The lift is working correctly in bringing a ball to the pitcher (and there are two original balls with the machine,) but it seems like the solenoid plunger that serves to push the ball towards the batter is not free moving, it is stuck inside so it cant slide through the coil to hit the ball.

There is also a timing mechanism that is working well and can be heard throughout the game. Once the time runs out, the game also stops like it does after fifteen balls are pitched. The bat is working well when pushing the lever on the front of the cabinet. Notice that the bat is angled upwards to help lift the pitched balls into the bleachers when hit.

When the balls go into the bleacher sections, they do feed correctly back to the pitcher ball lift mechanism. The machine appears to be mechanically complete and untampered with, and there isnt much to the mechanics of this early EM machine!

Although you will need to spend some time cleaning and adjusting contacts in order to play a full game, it shouldnt take much time based on its current condition. Solve the stuck plunger in the pitch coil and you may have just solved all the problems! This is definitely a great machine for you to spend a little time on based on its fun play and pretty nice overall original cosmetics. The original backglass is in fair shape but does have imperfections to mention. It has chipping of the paint throughout but the majority of the missing paint is in background unlit areas in the center around the baseball diamond. There are other small spots that are missing, too, though, like in the glove of the guy on the left.

This glass is far from perfect but being seventy years old, Ill cut it some slack! With some strategic touchups, it could be made to look even better but Ill leave that for the new owner.

The backside has been sealed to prevent any further issues with the paint. The colors are still pretty nice with some slight fading, but not horrible. The graphics definitely remind you that this is a baseball themed machine with a pitcher on the left, a batter on the right, and a baseball diamond with the bases in the center, along with a few baserunners. Your batter is shown by a backlit bulb while he is waiting to hit, and as mentioned, when a hit is made, the correct base is backlit to show a runner on that base. Your runs are shown by way of backlit numbers, too, rather than score reels. Although clearly not perfect, this glass still presents itself fairly well. I believe this glass has been reproduced, though, so if you want perfection, you should be able to have it.

Below the backglass at the top of the playfield is an original instruction glass that includes the lettering of getting fifteen balls per five cent game. This glass is complete with the original graphics and lettering but the paint has faded quite a bit over the years since it is directly above a florescent light bulb. You can still read the graphics but they are faint.

Again, though, its a plus having this original glass in place. Below this top florescent bulb, even the original clear plexiglass panel is still in place that would protect the bulb from batted balls! The graphic panels in the back of the playfield that serve as the bleachers and outfield wall are new reproduction panels and they look FANTASTIC!

The bleachers are divided into five sections and depending on which section your hit ball goes into, you get a either a single, double, triple, or home run. These reproduction panels look outstanding with great details of the crowd in the bleachers, labels for the result of your batted ball, and even period correct advertising banners along the lower fence! No disappointment, they look like new and are new! The playfield paint is in pretty nice shape. Due to the age of the machine, it has painted graphics on wood, prior to the use of formica.

Because of that, there are some nicks and chips in the paint throughout, but nothing horrible. The worst is an arch from the bat swing where at some point in the past, the bat must have been dragging and when swung scratched into the playfield paint.

The result is a noticeable scratch. The bat angle has since been corrected and no longer sags. Notice the period correct guys in each lower corner calling to the other to pitch and bat the ball.

Each has a top hat, reminiscent of 1948 when this machine was made! If you fail to launch the ball into the bleachers, there are small wooden fielders on the playfield, too, that can catch your balls for outs! They are rounded wooden fielders with round heads! All fielders are in place but two are missing their round heads (I found one round head loose in the cabinet after I took the photos so only two are missing) but would be very easy to replace.

Hanging on each side of the playfield are cloth banners that would bounce the ball back into play without the ball slamming into the solid wood sides of the cabinet. These both appear to be original and are in great shape. Hanging just below the playfield glass is the ORIGINAL plastic instruction panel. To me, it is unbelievable that this has survived after all these years.

The plastic was broken at each side, but I taped it back together on each end and it is now secure in place with its original graphics! You could certainly make a new reproduction based on this original but in the meantime, you have the ORIGINAL instruction panel in place.

During the game, you are pitched fifteen balls to score as many runs as you can. The balls are pitched automatically by the machine but you can control the speed by pressing the fast, medium, or slow button on the panel on the front left side of the machine. The object is to score as many runs as you can by getting base hits by hitting the balls airborne into the bleacher levels. If you get a single, a runner is shown on first base.

If, for example, you then hit a triple, it will drive in one run, counted on the scoreboard, and then a runner will be on third base rather than on first. This sounds very simple, but in actuality, it is much more difficult! The more you play, the better you can get at timing when to swing the bat, but that still doesnt mean you are going to always get a great hit!

An interesting note, on the plastic instruction panel, it says Easy does it! A smooth easy swing of the bat will drive the ball just as far as a heavy swing and will give you better accuracy and a better score.

So dont swing the bat super hard! And its worth mentioning, you completely control the swing of the bat, it is purely mechanical and swings as hard as you push the bat lever! Playing this machine is ADDICTING! This is a FUN game to play! The original cabinet paint is also in pretty nice shape.

All of the original graphics are on both sides and on the front cabinet panel. And boy do they scream BASEBALL! It definitely keeps with the baseball theme with a runner sliding into home plate while the catcher tries to tag him and the umpire watches for the result!

All the while, fans are screaming at the players while the grandstands are shown behind them and a city skyline is seen beyond the outfield fences. The ones on front have faded quite a bit but you can still see them! All graphics are painted on clear finish wood veneer.

The veneer shows its share of small chips and nicks but doesnt have any horrible imperfections. On the front panel, the original Scientific Machine Corp sticker is still in place!

In addition, on the coin door, there is an original cardboard five cent label attached that includes Mike Munves Corp, Arcade Equip, 10. Although it still looks pretty nice in its current condition, with the original design and graphics in place, you could certainly repaint it to the factory specs to have it look like new.

As mentioned, on the front panel are the original three pitch buttons, the original bat lever with bakelite handle, and original nickel coin slide. At this time, the slide can be pushed in without a nickel to activate the machine so if you want it on coin play, you will need to adjust the slide. There are locks/keys for the original wood coin door and original wood back door for access behind the bleachers. Even the backbox has its original wooden door that slides down into place from the top but has no place for a lock.

It does have three small holes in it to access different mechanical features. Again, the fact that this wood door is still with the machine is pretty remarkable. The two original wooden leg platforms are also in place to support the cabinet in the front and rear. Assembled, the machine stands 6-5.75 in the back, 26.5 wide, and 4-10.75 deep. For transport, the top backbox can be removed and the two leg platforms can also be unbolted and removed.

My preference is to work with a company that provides door to door service which handles all of the wrapping, loading, and hauling. This is one of the great animated baseball pitch and bat machines, especially considering that it is 70 years old! You will need to spend a little time on the mechanics prior to playing a game, but it doesnt seem like that should be a major undertaking based on its current condition. It also offers ORIGINAL cosmetics that are also in pretty nice shape with just about EVERYTHING ORIGINAL on this machine! That doesnt happen very often with a seventy year old machine. This machine will be getting a lot of attention when you set it up in your gameroom due to its GREAT period look and OUTSTANDING baseball graphics everywhere! It just may become the "star" of your gameroom or collection when youre done. But beyond all of that, it is a BLAST to play and will really test your hand-eye coordination in trying to swing for the fences! With NEW reproduction scenery panels at the back of the playfield and nice original cabinet paint, this will be a great addition to any arcade collection or sports themed room.

It really has a nice "look" to it besides its fun play. The item "1948 Scientific Pitchem & Batem P&B Baseball Arcade Machine VERY COOL STYLE" is in sale since Sunday, September 9, 2018.

This item is in the category "Collectibles\Arcade, Jukeboxes & Pinball\Arcade Gaming\Non-Video Arcade Machines". The seller is "59redvette" and is located in Woodstock, Illinois. This item can be shipped to United States.

Game Title: Pitch'em & Bat'em
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Brand: Scientific
Original/Reproduction: Original