Got my Williams '66 Pitch and Bat totally up and running. Started with a good base game (thanks Hoov) then put some fresh parts on the bat mechanism (pretty beefy compared to pinball flippers) and completely took apart/de-gunked and lightly lubed the pitching mechanism. There is now a significant difference between the Fast and Slow balls.

Added a new home run plastic from Steve in Texas which really brightens up the play field. Had some issues with the 2nd player but finally got that figured out.

The game really is a blast and super fun as a 2-player game. I can see this being a huge hit a parties.

One question I have is that you can see how the color in the words "Pitch and Bat" is completely washed out. If I put a piece of red colored plastic (like from a see-through plastic file folder) behind the letters, would that look OK?

Bat Driver Arm.JPG
Check out the wear on the bat driver arm!

Full Front.JPG

Head ON.JPG

This game uses a florescent tube behind the back glass.

However a guy at a hobby shop gave me a great tip. I went to an auto parts store and got a roll of red tail light tape. Then cut a thin piece of plastic the same shape as "Pitch and Bat" and put the tape over that. Finally, just attached that to the back glass with some low tack painters tape.

Really turned out great. Unfortunately, when you try to take a picture of it, it still looks pretty white. I will try again later. Great tip!

On my '66 Williams Pitch and Bat I just ran a short jumper wire on the switch blades in the credit unit that open when the credit wheel is at Zero. Takes only a few seconds to identify and jump (I put the alligator clip right were the wire is soldered onto the base of the blades) and it's super easy to take off if you ever want to play using coins.

Very cool looking game and great job on the restoration.

PinballAir -

Good luck on your tweaking of the game. I played a lot of games on Upper Deck as a teenager at Tiny Tim's Hobby Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan!

I actually have the 'opposite' situation with my '66 Williams Pitch and Bat. It has 4 pitches and when playing a 2-player game that is great. However, playing a one-player game is not as fun since you 'know' what pitch is coming! I thought it would be better if when you were in 1-player mode, there WAS a 'mixer unit' that would randomize the selection of the pitches so you did not know what was being thrown. I'm sure there is some way to wire this up, but it may be beyond my technical capabilities!

Keep us posted

Totally agree with this and even more of an issue depending on the game. On my Williams 'Pitch & Bat', 2-player mode is awesome because you have four pitches to choose from - makes it very fun. However, when playing solo, it is too tempting just to give yourself the 'slow' pitch and in any case, you know what pitch is coming. I wish they could have made it random pitch selection in 1-player mode - oh, well probably would have cost too much given EM logic limitations.

Home Run Plastic (resized).jpg

Looks nice. I played that game a lot back in the day!

Game looks great, I played Line Drive a lot back when it first came out.

I really like the crowd scenes you added, was it difficult to do? I have a 1966 Williams 'Pitch & Bat' and would really like to add some crowd scenes, I think they improve the look of the game.

I also saw a pic (below) where Vic Camp had added crowd scenes to another Line Drive that he had done awhile ago. Not sure if the dimensions of the crowd scene (paper?/vinyl?) would be the same as for my 'Pitch and Bat' (bottom picture).

Crowd Scene (resized).jpg

Home Run Plastic (resized).jpg

Good idea, thanks. Would love to find a good pic from old Tiger stadium (I grew up in Detroit).