The old ball game

Sporting News, The, March 11, 2005 by Tom Gatto

Old Century Baseball just whispers tradition. It's a solid-wood pinball game made to look like an early-1900s ballyard--complete with outfield bleachers, a hand-operated scoreboard and a playing surface that looks as if it has been banging around the toy chest for decades.

You probably played a version of it as a kid: Launch the ball, then try to hit it with a spring-loaded bat. The ball settles into holes that represent outs and hits. In Old Century, you're swatting like the Sultan if you can get the ball to roll up a ramp and into one of two home run holes in center field.

Thanks to a licensing deal with Major League Baseball, players can customize their games with one of a dozen team logos that are affixed to the top of the scoreboard. You can get the Red Sox, Yankees, Cardinals, Cubs and Giants, among others.

The game carries a very modern retail price of $119. It's available in specialty stores nationwide and through MLB.com.