BILL ORDINE New slot machine based on Mantle

Few baseball players are more closely identified with the World Series -- or with the game itself -- than the late star of the New York Yankees, Mickey Mantle.
The leading man for a Yankees team that dominated the Fall Classic in the 1950s and early '60s, Mantle has become the personification of that baseball golden era -- one that's often sentimentally viewed as pristine.
So, it will be startling to some should a new slot machine that bears Mickey's likeness and plays heavily on his illustrious career eventually reach casino floors.
The Mantle slot machine was rolled out last month at the Global Gaming Expo, the gambling industry's annual conference and trade show in Las Vegas.
International Game Technology, a heavyweight in the slot machine business, showed off the Mantle game, along with a fleet of others that are designed to appeal to casino patrons using the lure of celebrity and nostalgia.
In addition to the baseball-themed slot game, the trade show featured machines based on old TV shows, movies and film stars, such as Laverne and Shirley, Star Wars and Steve McQueen.
The Mantle machine, though, deserves attention because of an interesting bonus round and the uneasiness that's raised by even the most remote association between baseball and gambling.
Easy to spot
If the Mantle game is marketed -- IGT officials said it wouldn't be in casinos until late next year at the earliest -- slot players won't have any trouble spotting it.
Atop the decorative glass, sporting a baseball diamond, is the beaming visage of Mickey himself, with a pair of crossed bats behind him, a pose worthy of a sports magazine cover.
The symbols on the video slot reels, rather than cherries or gold coins, feature icons of America's pastime: hot dogs, soft drinks, and baseball jerseys bearing Mantle's famous No. 7.
The game manufacturer has been careful to use logos that, while evocative of Mantle's career, are not directly associated with the Yankees or Major League Baseball. For instance, although Mantle's cap is reminiscent of one he wore playing for New York, the logo is an overlaid "MM" instead of "NY." It's plenty schmaltzy, too.
'I Love Mickey'
At one point, players are serenaded with a tune called "I Love Mickey" as they choose from baseball card images to accumulate credits, meaning money.
The game gets particularly interesting when the "Pick the Pitch" bonus round is triggered. The player chooses from a collection of baseballs, and the slot screen shows actual black-and-white vintage footage of Mantle at the plate to the accompaniment of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."
As long as Mickey gets on base safely, the player continues playing and racking up credits. The bonus round ends when Mantle makes three outs.
For some baseball fans, this can be fun stuff. Some, though, might wince.
Former star Pete Rose remains barred from baseball's Hall of Fame because of gambling. And even Mantle himself was banned from participating in Major League activities for a while because he had a job as a greeter for the Claridge Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City in the mid-1980s.
Mantle, who died in 1995, frequently said that his casino duties were mainly limited to attending charity events and playing golf with hotel guests. Ultimately, his status with baseball was restored.
There are few Mantle fans more ardent than Lew Rothgeb, a San Francisco film producer who runs a Web site dedicated to the Yankees star, www.themick.com, and who knew Mantle personally.
Rothgeb said that he thinks the slot machine will be popular and that he doesn't have a problem with it.
"But I am quite certain there will be fans who will be quite unhappy. ... They'll see this as undignified and unseemly," Rothgeb said. "Mantle himself said that all he ever did [as a casino greeter] was play golf; he never induced anyone to gamble. How he would view this, I don't know. We never will."
More thrill rides
The Stratosphere Tower, the centerpiece of a hotel and casino on the north end of the Strip, is adding to its array of thrill rides. Already atop the 1,149-foot tower are the Big Shot that launches riders straight up 160 feet and allows them to free-fall downward, and the High Roller, a mini-roller coaster.
The most recent adrenaline-pumper is the X-Scream ride, expected to be ready for customers in a few days. The X-Scream is a giant teeter-totter that will slide riders from one end to the other until they are dangling over the edge of the tower, more than 860 feet above the Las Vegas Strip.
The ride is expected to cost $8. Currently, a tower admission that includes all three rides is $24.95.
XContact Bill Ordine at ordinebaol.com.