Intellivision · 1980
Baseball
A two-player baseball game that lets you direct every position on a simplified nine-inning diamond.
- Publisher
- Mattel Electronics
- Format
- Cartridge
- Genre
- sports video game
- Released
- 1980
01
Overview
Players control all nine fielders and batters, choosing pitch types, base-stealing, and bunts across a full nine-inning game. A tie sends the match into extra innings, and difficulty settings adjust pace and whether stealing is allowed. The cartridge shipped under several names over its life, including Major League Baseball and later reissues, so box art and labeling vary by edition.
02
Why it matters
As one of the earliest sports titles for the Intellivision, it helped establish what a home baseball game could look like in 1980. Its long shelf life across re-releases makes it a recurring reference point in Mattel's early catalog history.
03
The physical edition
A typical complete copy includes the cartridge in a Mattel Electronics box with the game manual and a screen overlay. The original 1980 packaging carries the Major League Baseball name and the MLB logo on the box front, though no team or player names appear in the game itself.
04
Playing it today
Runs on original Intellivision hardware or on emulators; two controllers are needed for full two-player mode. The game is straightforward to pick up, though the difficulty settings and base-stealing rules vary by edition.