Uploaded October 2020 | Updated September 2026, 20 minutes ago
Here we have something a little different. This is a 1964 Midway Top Hit pitch 'n' bat machine.
Pitch 'n' bat games are very basic in concept but they are hella fun to play. This one, as with nearly all P&B games, has a typical large pitch button and bat button on the control panel at the front of the game. This is unlike pinball, obviously, which has the buttons mounted on the sides.
This game has two ramps that go up and down occasionally to allow access to the upper target level. Hitting the four targets on the lower left or lower right will reset the bank. Hitting the last target while the insert is lit will also cancel an out, which is pretty neat. The main feature of the game is the BIG HIT targets that score the lit amount on the backglass. This number continuously alternates between 10, 20 and 30 points, which is achieved with a rotating motor in the backbox that runs while the game is in play. This motor stops running when the ball is pitched and hitting TOP HIT awards that amount. The numbers are illuminated with standard #44 bulbs made to look like a primitive dot matrix display. There is only one chime in the game and it sounds while awarding the BIG HIT amount only.
Also, I don't normally get into the nitty gritty of what it takes to bring a game back to life because I just feel like that information is pretty dull. But I think it's worth noting that when this game came to me, it was a flippin' mess. It had been stored in a shed for 40 years and had been lived in by mice for much of that time. It took no small amount of effort to resurrect this machine.
For more information about this machine, see here:
ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2585
Does anyone read these descriptions? Let me know.
Here we have something a little different. This is a 1964 Midway Top Hit pitch 'n' bat machine.
Pitch 'n' bat games are very basic in concept but they are hella fun to play. This one, as with nearly all P&B games, has a typical large pitch button and bat button on the control panel at the front of the game. This is unlike pinball, obviously, which has the buttons mounted on the sides.
This game has two ramps that go up and down occasionally to allow access to the upper target level. Hitting the four targets on the lower left or lower right will reset the bank. Hitting the last target while the insert is lit will also cancel an out, which is pretty neat. The main feature of the game is the BIG HIT targets that score the lit amount on the backglass. This number continuously alternates between 10, 20 and 30 points, which is achieved with a rotating motor in the backbox that runs while the game is in play. This motor stops running when the ball is pitched and hitting TOP HIT awards that amount. The numbers are illuminated with standard #44 bulbs made to look like a primitive dot matrix display. There is only one chime in the game and it sounds while awarding the BIG HIT amount only.
Also, I don't normally get into the nitty gritty of what it takes to bring a game back to life because I just feel like that information is pretty dull. But I think it's worth noting that when this game came to me, it was a flippin' mess. It had been stored in a shed for 40 years and had been lived in by mice for much of that time. It took no small amount of effort to resurrect this machine.
For more information about this machine, see here:
ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2585
Does anyone read these descriptions? Let me know.
