Mechanically batted toy baseball game

Claim 1

IN A TOY BALL GAME OF THE TYPE HAVING A GAME BOARD THAT REPRESENTS A BASEBALL FIELD, THE COMBINATION THEREWITH OF: A BATTER MECHANISM HAVING A PORTION EXTENDING UPWARD FROM THE GAME BOARD TO SUPPORT A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL BAT SPACED ABOVE THE GAME BOARD; MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH THE BATTER MECHANISM FOR SELECTIVELY ROTATING THE BAT ABOUT A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL AXIS ABOVE SAID GAME BOARD; BALL DELIVERY MEANS CARRIED BY THE GAME BOARD TO ROLL A BALL TOWARD THE BATTER MECHANISM AT A CONTROLLED VELOCITY; AND BALL ELEVATING MEANS ADAPTED TO PROJECT A DELIVERED BALL ABOVE THE HOME PLATE AREA, SAID BALL ELEVATING MEANS COMPRISING A PROTRUSION DEFINING THE STRIKE ZONE HAVING A HEIGHT LESS THAN ONE HALF THE DIAMETER OF THE BALL, SAID PROTRUSION EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY TO THE DIRECTION OF BALL TRAVEL FROM THE BALL DELIVERY MEANS FORWARD OF SAID BATTER MECHANISM, WITH A TRANSVERSE LENGTH APPROXIMATING PROPORTIONATELY THE WIDTH OF A CONVENTIONAL HOME PLATE AND HAVING ABRUPT TERMINATING EDGES DEFINING ITS ENDS TO DEFLECT THE BALL TO ONE SIDE TO CLEARLY INDICATE WHEN THE STRIKE ZONE IS MISSED.