Pesäpallo
Pesäpallo is a fast-moving bat-and-ball sport that is often referred to as the national sport of Finland and has some presence in other places including Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, and Canada's northern Ontario. It is similar to brännboll, rounders, lapta, and baseball.
The basic idea of pesäpallo is similar to that of baseball: the offense tries to score by hitting the ball successfully and running through the bases, while the defense tries to put the batter and runners out. One of the most important differences between pesäpallo and baseball is that the ball is pitched vertically, which makes hitting the ball, as well as controlling the power and direction of the hit, much easier. This gives the offensive game more variety, speed, and tactical aspects compared to baseball. The fielding team is forced to counter the batter's choices with defensive schemes and anticipation.
The manager has an important role in pesäpallo, leading the offense by giving signals to the players using a multicoloured fan. The defensive team play is directed by the manager's orders and hand signals by the fielders.
History
Pesäpallo, a combination of traditional ball-batting team games and North American baseball, was invented by Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala in the 1920s. It has changed with the times and grown in popularity. On 14 November 1920, it was played the first time at Kaisaniemi Park in Helsinki. Pesäpallo was a demonstration sport at the 1952 Summer Olympics, held in Helsinki, Finland.The main leagues began to be called Superpesis in 1990, and they were also heavily marketed. Veikkaus introduced pesäpallo's sports betting to Finland in 1993. However, in connection with this, pesäpallo was plunged into the biggest crisis in its history due to the 1998 match-fixing scandal.
World Federation
The first Pesäpallo World Cup was held in 1992, but the World Pesäpallo Federation was not formed at that time, according to Guinness World Records. The tournament featured seven nations: Finland, Sweden, Australia, Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, and Japan. The World Pesäpallo Federation was established later.Rules
Match format
A regular pesäpallo game is played in two periods of four innings each. A period is won by the team which scores the most runs in its offensive half-innings. If a period ends in a tie, there is no tie-breaker and neither team receives a point for that period.If the periods are tied, there will be an extra inning; if needed, there is a round where the teams start with a runner on third base and try to get a score from that runner.
During an inning, both teams take turns playing offense and defense.
The offensive team can continue batting until three players have been put out or one round of the batting order has been completed without at least two runs scored. The batter and the pitcher face each other at the home base, on opposite sides of the circular plate; so that if a batter is right-handed, the pitcher stands on the right, and vice versa. The pitch is delivered by throwing the ball directly upwards above the plate, at least 1 meter over the head of the pitcher.
Both teams have a pelinjohtaja, lit. a game leader or more simply, a team's manager. The captain of the team – one of the players – tries to beat the other team's captain in the hutunkeitto, where the captains take turns holding the bat increasingly higher up, with the umpire constantly checking if the hand positions are valid. The one who first gets contact on the top of the bat in a valid position wins, and gets to choose whether to start on offence or defence.
Offence
The team playing the offensive half has nine batters, and three additional batters known as jokers. Whereas ordinary batters must bat in a pre-designated batting order, the joker batters are allowed to enter the order at any point.Today, players strategy-wise usually have a specialised role in the batting order depending on their abilities. Fast runners are usually positioned first in the batting order, after which come players who specialize in advancing runners between bases. Next comes a player specializing in scoring runners home. Players from 6 to 9 often form another attacking combination. The jokers are usually a selection of either batting jokers or runner jokers.
The batter has three strikes available during their turn at bat. A fair hit does not require the batter to reach base; all three strikes can be used before the batter must reach first base. A pitch counts as a strike if the batter takes a swing at the ball and the umpire rules the pitch legal. When a batter makes a fair hit, unless it is the third strike, the batter does not have to try to advance safely to the first base. However, if the batter hits a foul ball on the third strike and does not try to advance, only that player is out and the runners continue with the next batter.
The batter can also try to steal first base on a foul pitch.
If the pitcher delivers two bad pitches, the batter is granted a walk to the first base if there are no runners on base. If there are runners on any base, the point runner is granted a walk to the next base for the second and all consecutive bad pitches pitched for the same hitter. A pitch can be ruled as foul for various reasons, most common ones being that the ball does not fall on the plate or that the pitch is not thrown high enough.
A hit is a foul ball if the ball first touches the field outside of the main area; the batter or the runners cannot advance on a foul ball.
Players generally have little difficulty hitting the ball, so the main target is not just hitting the ball but selecting a suitable type of hit and directing it correctly. There are many different types of hits used, here are a few examples:
- Snap hit : Normally used for advancing fast runners between bases, aimed to avoid defensive players. Usually hit in such way that the ball takes a hard spin.
- Fly hit : An intentional high hit to be caught, often used to give way for faster runners.
- High drive : Aimed to drop to the field between midfield and outfield, with a top spin. Excellent for scoring.
- Bouncer : Used for advancing fast runners, hit downwards very hard to be bounced right next to the front arc, somewhat similar to a bunt. Aimed towards the base that a runner is leaving, or to the centre. Technically very hard to perform, used only by advanced players.
- Standard bunt, though this is risky if the pitcher expects this to happen and catches the bunt before it hits the ground.
The offensive team scores a run when a runner returns safely to the home base after advancing through all three field bases. If a batter advances to the third base on their batted ball, it is a "home run". The player can then stay on the third base and try to score again as a regular runner by reaching the home base on a later play.
Defence
The defensive team has nine players on the field at a time.The pitcher is positioned at the home base. A catcher plays in the infield by the second base. Each of the three bases has its baseman and an additional two shortstops playing close to the second and third bases. Two outfielders cover the outfield. Players can switch their places and position themselves to the field wherever they want. Different positioning is used in different situations, when the defensive team can expect a certain type of hit. This is usually determined by the location of the offensive team's point runner. Special tactics could even be made against a certain batter.
As in baseball, pitchers can throw directly to first base to try to tag out a runner.
If a pitcher and an offence player in the batting order agree to do so, they can initiate a second offence runner from home plate while the previous batter is still a runner.
If a fielder catches the ball before it reaches the ground, the hit is a "catch", and all runners who tried to advance on that play are caught. Players who have been caught are removed from the field, but they do not count as outs.
Playing field
The infield is pentagonal, long and wide at its widest, and the ball must bounce at least once in the infield to be a valid fair hit. When it has bounced once, it may then go over a line and still be in play.The back line on the fly counts as a laiton. The foul lines are also on the sides and the front of the field. So if a player aims high and hits a very hard hit that would be a certain home run in baseball, it is counted as a foul in pesäpallo. This increases the tactical approach. All home runs, therefore, are the "inside-the-park" variety even if they end up leaving the field.
The outfield consists of everything that is fenced in on the playing field's lot, including bodies of water at Vimpelin Veto, and balls going underneath the fences at Sotkamon Jymy. The fields' dimensions vary dramatically: The distance to centre field fencing in the men's Superpesis vary from at Kiteen Pallo -90, to at Seinäjoen JymyJussit.
The playing fields are most commonly various mixtures of thin dirt comparable to tennis clay courts, sand, and sometimes artificial turf, for instance at Pesäkarhut. Normal grass is typically only seen near the outer fences.
Due to the unusual field surfaces and dimensions, there are no dedicated multi-purpose stadiums among the highest levels' home fields, neither with association football, international baseball, or otherwise. Guest destination matches in the Superpesis are usually played on dedicated association football pitches with all-artificial turf, but are not the main home fields of any significant teams.