Small cast iron game pieces? Baseball

been looking for about a week now with no luck or information. Obviously baseball fielder

 

Tagging @BaseballGames

 

Thanks for the referral, AnyJ! An easy one for us -- mdlock, your player-figures belong to the Pennant Winner game, made from 1929 to 1950 by Wolverine Supply & Mfg. of Pittsburgh Twelve figures were originally included with the game, nine of either blue or red as field players, three of the other colour as baserunners (all of the same shape and design). We've always assumed the figures were lead, not cast iron, but we've never done any metallurgical testing.

There's also a remote chance the figures you have are actually from an earlier version of the game, All-Fair Indoor Base Ball Game, made in the mid-1920s by Alderman-Fairchild. The two games are essentially identical but for some subtle differences in the playing board graphics, but Pennant Winner had long-running popularity and is not hard to find today, while the All-Fair game had a short run and is not seen very often now.

Even incomplete sets (or solitary figures) sell reliably on eBay, typically for around two to three bucks per player but sometimes as high as $10.-12., depending on condition. Yours look a bit gummed up and in need of a cleaning, but be careful, because the paint can flake off easily. There's more information at our Baseball Games website, including two New York Times essays about the game.