Finnish baseball is a sport that is very popular in
Finland . It is often considered as the national sport of this country. It is also played in other countries that have a high Finnish population such as Canada and Australia, and in countries such as Sweden, Germany, and Switzerland. This sport is more popularly known as Pesapallo. It was invented by Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala way back in the early 1920’s. Since then, it has developed into a unique spectator sport that is fun to watch and play. It requires smart thinking, athleticism, individual skills, and most of all, teamwork.
Finnish baseball is very similar to the game of regular baseball. It actually seems like it is a unique blend of regular baseball and other sports that use a bat and a ball. It is played between two teams. The offensive team has nine players plus an additional three players known as “jokers” or designated hitters. The main objective of the game is to score more points than that made by the other team. In order to score, the players must hit the ball with a bat and then run through the bases.
Hitting the ball in Finnish baseball is much easier than hitting the ball in regular baseball because of the difference in pitching. In Finnish baseball, the ball is pitched in a vertical manner. This makes the flight of the ball much slower. Thus, the hitter has much more options in terms of the strength he wants to hit the ball and the direction where he wants to hit the ball. Furthermore, the “home run” in Finnish baseball is different from regular baseball. A regular home run means hitting the ball high enough and strong enough to get it out of the field. A Finnish baseball home run on the other hand is achieved when the batter hits the ball and is able to run up to third base before the ball. Thus, the hitter must hit the ball without getting it out of bounds. If the ball does not land within the play area, it is ruled as a foul ball. This results in a much more tactical game than regular baseball where strategy is very important both on offense and on defense.
One other major difference between Finnish baseball and regular baseball is in the structure of the innings. In Finnish baseball, the game is divided into two halves called periods. A period is then made up of 4 innings each. These periods are won by the team that scores the greater number of runs. Thus, to win a game, a team must win both periods. If each team wins 1 period each, there will be an extra period that is made up of only 1 inning.
Another interesting thing about Finnish baseball is its playing field and how the bases are laid out. The field is a pentagon shape and the bases are not laid out around it. Instead, the bases are positioned in an irregular shape which results in the players needing to “zig-zag” all over the field to get from one base to the next.
