If you got a grand or two, here’s a fun one to add to a baseball card man cave: Lou Gehrig’s Official “Plaball” Baseball Game.
Sotheby’s offered this example in their March 1993 Important Baseball Cards and Sports Memorabilia catalog. They described the piece as follows:
Lou Gehrig “Playball” Baseball Game, table top game pictures Gehrig in black and white batting pose in centerfield, the only thing missing is the original marble, minor aging, slight water stains at the very edges and a few wooden pegs missing but for this particular game the condition is exceptional, overall at least excellent to mint condition. 18in. by 18in.
Leland’s has sold a pair of them; the first went for $417 in December 2003 and included the following description:
A beautiful all-original rendition of this classic baseball board game made valuable by a patent tying it to Lou Gehrig. Vintage to the 1930’s, the green surface is uncommonly crisp with bold colors and almost no fading or damage. Printed with facsimile signature and inscription from Lou Gehrig, “Yours Truly Lou Gehrig” with a photo of the Yankee legend adding style and prominence. All pegs protruding from the board’s face are original and show the expected signs of tarnishing. 90% of all the pegs are still attached. The game is operated by a small mechanism in the top corner through which a marble was dropped and “rolled” onto the board, encountering the many pegs which altered its path to any one of the 21 “traps” denoting a “strike”, “foul out”, “double play”, etc. or a “1 base hit”, “home run”, etc. The title of the board game, as printed behind home plate is “Lou Gehrig’s Official Plaball – by arrangement with Christy Walsh.” Still attached to the bottom of the board, which is constructed completely of wood is the rules of the game, printed on an 8.5×11” piece of paper and the wooden “leg” which elevates one side of the game 1.5”, allowing for the marbles to roll down.
The second Leland’s sale was more recent when they sold a copy in April 2023 for $1,250. The hobby must have learned a bit more about it since they added a few manufacturing details to the description:
Scarce baseball board game, titled “Lou Gehrig’s Official PLABALL,” produced by the Johnson Store Equipment Company of Elgin, Illinois, in 1932. (PLAGAMES was the name given to the company’s series of board games, “PLABALL” is not a misspelling.) This is just the second example of this attractive baseball game we have offered in the past twenty years and we have seen few others at auction during that time. The large game board, constructed of wood, features a colorful depiction of a baseball diamond, with an illustration of Gehrig and his facsimile signature pictured in the centerfield area. The game’s title appears in print behind home plate. This was a bagatelle game, with the “game action” determined by a ball that was released onto the game board. The ball would descend onto the “field” (the game board rests on wooden risers that tilt the board) , where it would be continuously deflected by the dozens of metal rods and wooden dowels until it finally came to rest in one of the compartments that determine the result of the “at bat.” The game board displays moderate use and wear, including several minor stains. Three of the wooden dowels surrounding the “Home Run” compartment have broken off and the original game ball is no longer present. In Very Good condition overall. 18x18x1″.
There’s a copy on eBay (Sept 2024) with an asking price of $1,675.
