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Finnish Baseball...Vie
Minut Pesis Peliin... "Take Me Out To the Ball Game!"
If you attend a
Finnish baseball game, don’t expect to eat peanuts and Cracker
Jack. More likely, the choice will be traditional Finnish
sausage and Salmiakki (the black licorice that most Finns are
addicted to).
But you might be surprised to learn that Finns
share much of the same enthusiasm for baseball as Americans do.
Finns also call baseball their national game. In fact, they have
created their own version of the game – a slightly different
sport but a definite cousin of American baseball.
80 Years of Finnish Baseball
Finns call their game – pesäpallo, which is a
literal translation of baseball. The game combines many traits
of American baseball and those of older Finnish ball games. It
was introduced to Finland in the 1920’s by Lauri “Grindstone”
Pihkala after his visit to the U.S in the early 1900’s.
 The
game of pesäpallo can be played by everyone, and it’s enjoyed
equally by both men and women. Several teams in Finland play
under the Finnish National Baseball Association and participate
in various national league matches.
For years, children of all ages, have learned
to play the game as part of the school curriculum. Thousands of
these youngsters participate in their own national league,
similar to Little League and Pony League Baseball in the U.S.
and Canada.
In recent years, even the adult groups in
Finland have discovered the fun and health benefits of pesäpallo.
New amateur leagues, such as “Lady-Pesis”, “Couple-Pesis” and
“Mr. Pesis” (Pesis is a short name for pesäpallo) have emerged.
They have found pesäpallo a versatile sport and a refreshing way
to spend time outdoors while getting the physical exercise
and socializing with people of the same age group.
The Game
The rules of pesäpallo are quite complicated
but the idea of the game itself is simple. Two teams compete –
one is trying to score points by hitting the ball and running
through the bases, while the other team is trying to defend by
catching the ball and making outs on the other team.
Like American baseball, there are three bases
and a home plate. Each team has nine players and a game is
played in two periods of four innings each. The team equipment
includes protective headgear for the batter and base runners,
fielders’ gloves, bats, and a baseball.
Who’s on First?…Where is First?
But this is where the similarities end. The
first thing that you will notice about a pesäpallo field is that
first base is in the same direction as third base in American
baseball (see illustration). The nine fielders include: pitcher,
first baseman, catcher, second baseman, right shortstop, left
shortstop, third baseman, left fielder, right fielder.
Other interesting differences between pesäpallo
and baseball are the vertical pitching, the far boundary, and a
catch only “wounding” a player running from base to base
(provided he reaches the base before the ball).
In pesäpallo the pitcher stands face to face
with the batter, a few feet from home plate – which is round.
The pitching must be done vertically to the plate, similar to
soft-toss batting practice used in the U.S. The idea is to allow
the batter to put the ball into play. The pitcher flips the ball
upward about three feet over the batter’s head and directly over
the plate – for a good pitch – and the batter is not allowed to
swing until the ball begins its downward arc. While this form of
pitching eliminates the Roger Clemens of the world, it allows
more batter contact with the ball, fewer fouls, and allows a
faster tempo than baseball.
The far boundary (see illustration of field)
negates hitting the home run over the fence. The greatest
batting skill in pesäpallo is to hit the ball out of reach of
the fielders and within the boundaries – the baseball equivalent
of foul lines.
The put outs are somewhat more complicated in
pesäpallo than baseball. For example, a fly ball caught by a
fielder before it touches the ground is called a fly hit. A base
runner advancing on a fly hit is “wounded” if he does not manage
to return to the base he started from before the ball is caught.
A wounded runner has to advance to the next base. Got it?
Despite of similarities or differences with
baseball, the object of both games are the same…score more runs
than the other team and have a great time in the process.
PLAY BALL! PELI KAYNTIIN!
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710
Remington Road 
Volume
15 Issue 1 -
July 2005