United States Patent [19] [11] Patent Number: 4,519,610 Kallio ' [45] Date of Patent: May 28, 1985

United States Patent [19] [11] Patent Number: 4,519,610 Kallio ' [45] Date of Patent: May 28, 1985 [54] SIMULATED BASEBALL GAME 3,705,723 12/1972 Eissler ................................. .. 273/89 [76] Inventor: Leo W. Kallio, 71 Windsor 81., Primary Examiner—Paul E. Shapiro Worcester, Mass. 01605 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Cesari and McKenna [21] Appl. No.: 522,481 [57] ABSTRACT [22] Filed; Aug, 12, 1983 A baseball board game for two or more players includes ' _ a simulated baseball playing ?eld, a manually controlled [51] Int. Cl.3 ........................ .. A63F 7/20, 11663312723; Pitching mechanism to pitch the ban across a home [52] U 5 Cl 273/89 plate area, a catching receptacle for designating [58] Field of Search ........ .. 273/89, 90, 119 A, 120 A, Wheth‘ir *1 Pamcula‘ Pltched ban ‘5. a ban °r. a Smke’ a 273/121 A’ 122 A, 123 A, 124 A, 125 A manna y operated bat for contacting the pitched ball and directing it to one of a plurality of pockets located [56] References Cited around the perimeter of the playing surface. The vari U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS ous pockets are assigned different designations corre sponding to hits and outs to the various ?eld positions in 1,122,141 12/1914 McIlroy .............................. .. 273/89 an actual game of baseball. The pocket designations are 1,570,875 1/1926 Cartee .... .. .. 273/89 1,630,869 5/1927 Steinmetz . 273/89 assigned according to directional constraints, hit-to-out 1,642,093 9/1927 Stewart 273/89 probability and the frequency of hitting to each pocket 1,703,009 2/1929 Kiesling 273/89 in order to produce a simulated game that closely re 1,795,801 3/1931 Sechler ....... .. 273/89 sembles the actual game of baseball. The game also 1,896,684 2/1933 Cutting et al. 273/89 signals whether a player has swung through at a partic 1,942,429 1/1934 Jacobs ........ .. 273/89 ular pitched ball and the game may be operated in a 2,003,349 6/1935 Durnble 273/121 A X 2,073,132 3/1937 Williams 273/121 A base-stealing mode to further add to the interest and excitement of the contest. 2,161,129 6/1939 Brook . .. 273/89 2,749,122 6/ 1956 Barrett .. .... .. 273/89 3,358,997 12/1967 Belz ..................................... .. 273/89 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures US. Patent May28, 1985 Sheetl of4 4,519,610 US. Patent Mgyzs, 1985 Sheet3of4 4,519,610 Fig.3 US. Patent May28, 1985 Sheet4of4 4,519,610 74 92 82M 5\\\\\ \\\\’\\t\\' \ '2 d Fig. 4 4,519,610 1 2 SIMULATED BASEBALL GAME SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention This invention relates to an electromechanical board to provide an improved simulated baseball game. game. It relates more particularly to a simulated base Another object of the invention is to provide a simu ball game designed to be played by players on opposing lated baseball game which requires the superior players sides. to have more or less the same hand/eye coordination required in the actual game of baseball. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A further object of the invention is to provide a simu Numerous board games have been developed over lated baseball game which is especially easy for the the years which simulate the game of baseball. In one players to use. such game of which we are aware, a baseball playing Still another object of the invention is to provide a ?eld is depicted on the game board. The game is de baseball board game which realistically simulates an actual game of baseball. signed for two players, one of which is at bat and the Other objects will, in part, be obvious and will, in other of which is in the ?eld. The two players have part, appear hereinafter. spinners, with the indicia on the in-bat spinner indicat The invention accordingly comprises the features of ing various hit possibilities and the in-the-?eld spinner construction, combination of elements and arrangement showing various out possibilities that occur in a conven of parts which will be exempli?ed in the following tional game of baseball. The player at bat spins his spin detailed description, and the scope of the invention will ner and receives a strike, ball, foul, or hits the ball de be indicated in the claims. pending upon where the spinner pointer stops. The Brie?y, the present game includes a relatively large, player in the ?eld then spins his spinner to determine flat housing whose upper surface de?nes a baseball whether the “hit” ball is caught, dropped, etc. Various playing ?eld, including the usual baseball diamond and game pieces are moved around the simulated baseball 25 out?elds. Various electrical and mechanical compo diamond to represent players on base. A similar prior nents of the game to be described are positioned on the simulated baseball game utilizes dice instead of spinners playing surface and within the housing. to designate the various play possibilities during the The game includes a mechanical pitching mechanism game. on the playing surface by which the player in the ?eld The main drawback of those types of simulated base pitches a small ball along the playing surface and across ball games lies in the failure of the games to represent or a home plate area of the baseball diamond inscribed on truly simulate the actual playing conditions of the game the playing surface. The player at bat tries to hit the of baseball. That is, the spinning of spinners and the pitched ball by manipulating a miniature bat pivotally throwing of dice bear no relation skillwise to the pitch mounted to the playing surface adjacent the home plate area. If the player at bat does not make contact with the ing or batting of a ball. Furthermore, those prior games pitched ball either because he fails to swing the bat or do not reproduce all of the playing situations and possi does swing the bat, but misses the ball, the pitched ball bilities commonly found in a typical baseball game. is trapped in one of a plurality of ball-receiving pockets There are some prior simulated baseball games in located behind home plate which determines whether which a miniature ball is actually pitched to the batter. 40 that pitch was a strike, a ball or a wild pitch. In other words, the player in the ?eld operates a pitch If, on the other hand, the player swinging the bat in g mechanism which projects a small ball toward home does make contact with the pitched ball, the ball is plate. The player at bat manipulates a batting device at batted across the playing ?eld and is trapped in one of a home plate and tries to hit the pitched ball. The game plurality of ball-receiving pockets located around the board has various holes or pockets over its playing area 45 periphery of the out?eld. These pockets have various into which a hit ball can drop to represent various out designations corresponding to the various possibilities and hit possibilities. Balls and strikes are determined by that exist in the usual game of baseball for a ball that is the pitched ball missing a designated strike zone and by hit by the batter, including a foul ball, a single—, double the batter missing the pitched ball. or triple-hit to the in?eld or out?eld, a home run, as That type of game has de?nite advantages over the well as the usual out possibilities including double- and games using spinners and dice because the outcome of triple-play outs to the in?eld or out?eld. Thus, the out the game is determined somewhat by the skills of the ?eld pocket to which the ball is hit determines the fate two players, rather than simply by the laws of chance. of the player at bat. Even so, however, they do not even approach the real One of the features of the present game concerns the ism of an actual baseball game because they do not offer arrangement of these designated pockets so that they result in a game scenario which closely resembles the all of the game options and possibilities that contribute play during an actual baseball game. That is, the fre to an exciting contest. Moreover, the various hit, out, quencies of occurrence of the balls, strikes, outs, fouls double play, foul, etc. plays that are presented by these and hits to the various locations on the playing ?eld of prior games do not re?ect the actual statistical occur this game follow closely the frequencies of occurrence rence of those events or plays in a typical baseball game. of those situations in a typical baseball game. Therefore, Thus, while those prior games are denominated simu the present game captures much of the excitement of lated base ball games, they do not, in practice, realisti the real game. cally reproduce a typical baseball game. The present game includes signal lamps at the various Moreover, the prior games of that type of which we 65 bases and player locations on the playing ?eld. Also the are aware are not particularly convenient to use by the various pockets behind home plate and around the out players and it is often dif?cult for the players to keep ?eld contain switches connected in circuit with those track of the status of the game. signal lamps. Resultantly, when a ball is received in a 4,519,610 3 4 particular pocket, the switch associated with that well as adults.

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