By Elizabeth Ladzinski
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — On any given Monday night you might spot them, huddled in the corner of a bar, beers in hand, with the illumination of dozens of twinkling lights on their faces.
They are members of the Pinball New York City League — and they're rolling across New York City, one pinball-filled bar at a time.
Founder of the co-ed league, Kristopher Medina, 41, said that he became enamored with pinball only within the past few years. After months of preparation, he started the league in mid-January, and now five teams of about 40 members participate.
"If you don't play pinball, you think it's that geeky game that the guys play in the corner," Medina said. "But that's just not the whole story."
Medina's league isn't the first or only one in Manhattan. But it is the first to require that members play in a team, rather than one-on-one. And Medina, a West Village resident, strongly encourages women to join the teams.
The league is free to join and most games are on Monday nights. The first season's tournaments start in the next two weeks, and immediately following the championships, the Spring season will begin. Medina said he's already got nine or 10 teams signed up for the Spring.
Once teams sign up and get approved, they must pick a team name ("Bumper? Hardly Knew Her!" is already taken) and a "home" bar. Medina's home bar is Kettle of Fish, at 59 Christopher Street, which houses a Family Guy-themed pinball machine.
The teams play games at "home" and travel "away" to other team's home bars throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. The league's website lists the running scores, as well as keeps track of working pinball machines throughout the city.
With little prior notice, a group of league members gathered at McKenna's pub in Chelsea on Thursday night to play a pinball machine based off the TV show "C.S.I."
"We have a saying in the league: it only takes one good ball," Medina said, before easing his head back over the machine.
For more information about the league, visit the website.
