once upon a time, a man had a dream. 

 

Lauri ”Tahko” Pihkala visited America in the 1920’s and fell in love with baseball so much that he brought it back to Finland - but with a twist.

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Pesäpallo, or pesis, is everything that's good about baseball, made even better.

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Lauri made rule changes that to the untrained eye may seem a little bit odd, but in actual fact, elevate the game to a whole new level.

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Pitchers launching 150km/h balls at a batter from 20 metres away? Forget that. Pesäpallo pitchers stand within an inch of the batting plate, throw the ball up in the air, and get out of the way - fast.

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Like in the baseball you know, the batter then hits the ball as well as they can, and if their shot gets caught they're out. Right? ​​

 

Wrong. In Finnish baseball if a shot gets caught then the batter stays in, and something else happens instead. According to Wikipedia: Catching a ball in flight is not an out, but forces all runners advancing at the moment of the catch to attempt to reach the next base. If they succeed they must return to home base with no further consequences (this is called a haava, literally "a wound" or simply koppi, "a catch"). If they fail to reach the next base, they are out.

 

​There are other changes, too. Take the map of the field. Why lay out the bases in a diamond shape when you can use a zig-zag instead? It's much more exciting.

 

Pesäpallo has since gone onto become Finland's national sport. Fun, fast, and frantic, it's the perfect way to spend a day out - whether you're watching or playing.

 

The sport's recently been catapulted onto the global stage, with English-speaking content creators picking it up in the US, and blogs like Superpesis Roundup regularly reporting on it for an international audience.

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Where can I learn more?

 

Stay tuned and connect with Finnish baseball fans by subscribing to our YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook channels. We also built content on this website in English about our club, about Finnish baseball, our contact details and also added a Finnish baseball dictionary.

 

Check out Iain Alba’s popular Superpesis Roundup blog, Facebook page and podcast.

 

Follow Ron’s Bronson's TikTok and Instagram channels to get an understanding of this fast, entertaining and tactical sport.

Other great sources for Finnish baseball related content: Finnish Baseball Association website, Superpesis website and their social media channels: Superpesis Facebook page, Superpesis Instagram account, Finnish Baseball Association Facebook pages, Finnish Baseball Association Instagram account.

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