"Playball" and "Home Run" are baseball-themed electro-mechanical pinball machines produced by D. Gottlieb & Co. in 1971. "Playball," the replay version released in April, features two flippers, three pop bumpers, and vari-targets, and was the first Gottlieb game to use 3-inch flipper bats, with 3,076 units made. "Home Run," released in May as the add-a-ball version, shares a similar layout but focuses on awarding extra balls.
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Quickie Version:
UTAD towards the two top corner Triples horseshoes.
Go-to Flipper:
Balanced
Risk Index:
Very High; especially watch balls exiting the side “double” lanes, balls rolling down the sides of the vari-target chutes, and how balls rebound off of the vari-targets
Full Rules:
This is the add-a-ball version of Playball. Strategy is the same but the scores are ten times higher. While the game is oriented towards scoring runs more than points, I have seen it in competition, so here it is. If you want points, go up top for the 3000-point triples. Balls falling through those should come down to the same flipper for another shot or better, a dead bounce to the other flipper for a controlled mirror shot. Any time you can get hits on the center bumper when lit or deflect the ball into the side double chutes, do so. The bumpers stay lit once on and may even start the game lit. You should probably ignore the vari-targets; they’re tighter shots than some and a missed shot can easily drain. If you can safely forehand or backhand them and push the ball back far enough to score a 5000-point home run, give it a go. Consistently draining out the sides for 5000 (and a home run) can be big in a low-scoring match. The game has an autoplunger between the flippers, so there’s no skill shot. Key feeds: balls exiting the doubles side lanes; at the wrong speed, they can center drain. If for any reason you’re playing for runs, each numbered standup target puts a runner on that base; these are only worth 100 points each, irrelevant in score play. The strategy is the same.
via Bob's Guide
