All-Star Baseball (1941)

Designed by former major league player Ethan Allen and introduced in 1941, All-Star Baseball became one of the most popular sports games of all time. The game is essentially a batting simulation of major league baseball, built around a spinner and player disks that are divided into sections in such a manner that a hitter has the probabilty of reproducing his real-life statistics in such important categories as home runs, triples, doubles, singles, walks, and strikeouts. In general, the game follows the basic rules of major league baseball. Teams are created from the player disks supplied with the game (often a mix of current players and all-time greats such as Babe Ruth) and from player disks for other seasons published separately. The team at bats places the appropriate player disk on the spinner, spins, and reads off the resulting number. The game does not attempt to realistically simulate pitching and defense. Thus a hitter's result from a time at bat is not affected by the opposing pitcher or the defensive prowess of the fielder to whom the ball may be hit, although the player in the field on some play outcomes is required to spin a second spinner to determine the advancement of base runners and other certain details. Results of each play are recorded on the field using plastic pegs for the base runners, while runs and outs are tallied on a rotating scoreboard. Cumulative runs scored are tallied on paper score sheets. Strategy discs are included that enable plays like sacrifice flies, stealing bases, bunting, hit and run, etc. The team with the most runs after nine innings (or extra innings, if needed) is the winner.