Pitching
The pitcher in pesäpallo, pitches from either side of home plate
depending on the batter’s hitting side preference. He not only
pitches but also attempts to keep any runner near the base they
occupy by throwing the ball to fielders. If the pitcher fakes a pitch
to the batter he must throw the ball to a fielder before attempting
another pitch. On occasion the pitcher will intentionally pitch off
the plate to attempt to lure runners far from their base in order to
catch them off their base.
A legal pitch is defined as a ball that drops to home plate that has
been tossed into the air at least one meter above the pitcher’s
head using a legal pitching motion. With the bases unoccupied, if
the batter is pitched a ball on any pitch, he may freely advance to
first base, i.e. a walk. In situations with runners on base, a walk is
awarded to the lead runner after two balls pitched and each ball
thereafter in the same at bat.
Råpylä eli Ihil maximus apideni moluptaest, quatem ipidis quuntotate dero ventoremperi omnim quia parum quatusam.
Batting and Running the Bases
Top Level Pesäpallo
For men Superpesis is Finland’s third most popular ball sport and
for women it is the clearly the top in attendance. At its best, women’s teams can draw well over 1,000 spectators.
Finland’s most popular all-star game is the summer Itä-Länsi (lit.
East-West), which got its start in 1932.
This 3-day festival shows off the top girls and boys, and women
and men from all over the country and is well attended every year.
The batter has three attempts to hit the ball legally into the field
and attempt to advance to first base. If the batter chooses not to
run on either of the first two attempts s/he must advance on the
third attempt. Should the third attempt be hit foul, the batter is out
and any runners attempting to advance must return to their bases. If the batter misses the ball on the third attempt, s/he must
run to first base to avoid being thrown out.
For a ball to be batted fair, the first point of contact of the ball
must be within the marked field of play. A ball that is hit in the air
that lands outside the lines, even over the back line, is considered
a foul ball. No base advance may be made on a foul ball. A ball
touched by a fielder in the air before landing and a ball that strikes
any defensive player is also a fair ball.
Anywhere, for anyone
If a batter hits a ball and advances on his/her own accord to third
base, this is considered a homerun in pesäpallo (kunnari) and not
only does s/he score a run for the team, the runner stays at third
base to attempt to score an additional run.
Pesäpallo is a game for all ages that can be adapted for every
skill level. 500 teams participate annually in regional or national
camps. Recreational pesäpallo games and tournaments for companies and organizations give both women and men a common,
sporty, way to enjoy this traditional Finnish pastime.
A runner becomes “wounded” or “caught” when s/he attempts
to advance on a fly ball that is caught in flight by a fielder. The
runner must still run to a base and beat the ball to avoid being
thrown out. When “wounded” the runner must leave the field and
return to the home base area to await another batting attempt.
The number of “wounded” players is unlimited.
For more information, check out the English pages at:
www.pesis.fi or www.italansi.fi
History
The Field
Pesäpallo is a Finnish brand of bat-and-ball sport developed in
the early 1900s. The Finnish national sport is a fast-tempo game
with plenty of action. Lauri ”Tahko” Pihkala, the developer of
pesäpallo, became familiar with baseball while studying in the
Boston region. He was drawn to the popularity and influence of
baseball. Tahko wanted however to create his own, Finnish version of the game to be used for military training, keeping people
fit, educating children and maintaining national integration. The
first official pesäpallo game with home base and three bases in
their current locations, was played in Kaisaniemi, in the center of
Helsinki, on November 14, 1920. Officially pesäpallo started league
operations in 1922, when the first men’s Finnish championship
was won by Helsingin Pallonlyöjät (lit. Helsinki Ball Hitters)
A pesäpallo field is sized and laid out to fit on a soccer field, but
most of the larger pesäpallo clubs have their own designated
field. The field surface is an artificial turf that has a specified
amount of sand to help with the bouncing of the ball and to allow
runners to slide into the base areas without injuring themselves.
The pitching / batting area is at the near end of the field and home
base is a 60 cm wide circular plate 3-5 cm thick. The field bases
are semi or quarter-circular areas that are 2.5-3.0 meters in diameter and are laid out in a zigzag arrangement. The first base area
is to the left at a 30 degree angle at a distance of 20 m (17.5 m
women). Second base is to the right of first base at a 30 degree
angle and a distance of 32 m (28 m women) away. The third base
area is straight back across the field to the left and is 36 meters
(31 m women) away. The distance back to home is 41 meters
(38 m women) and to reach home the runner must round a flag
placed near first base and then cross the home base line to the
left of the home base pitching / batting area.
The Team and Lineup
As derroriatum, volum cones ut hillatem rerum volupta turitibusam facepero
voluptaturi blant quid es ducidendi duci a il ma es eat remquias maio diae.
Itaturem hil ipsae.
Viuhka eli Ihil maximus apideni moluptaest, quatem ipidis quuntotate dero ventoremperi omnim quia parum quatusam.
The team batting order of 9 batters and their defensive positions
is registered for the scorebook. In addition, the team has the
possibility to use three joker batters (jokeri) in each turn at bat.
The joker can be used at any time during the team’s at bat. In
the men’s Superpesis one batter’s turn can be skipped if all the
bases are unoccupied. Players, not at bat, nor running the bases,
participate actively along the semi-circle behind home plate by
helping the runners and indicating the location of pitches.
Players are substituted mainly from joker into the batting order
and to a defensive position and vice versa. Substitutions are possible after the first inning in between innings or when a player is
injured. A player substituted from the batting order must play at
least the next offensive or defensive half inning.
A multi-colored signal fan (merkkiviuhka) is used to communicate
to their team. The fan indicates what play is on and the task of the
batter and each of the runners on the bases; e.g. whether to run
or stay at their base.
The Game
Pesäpallo is for all ages and abilities and can be played anywhere.
A long-time favorite in schools, the sport captivates both country
family back yards as easily as modern city stadiums filled with
thousands of cheering spectators. Many of the current players
in the top league of Pesäpallo, Superpesis, are some of the best
skilled athletes in the country.
In Pesäpallo two teams compete by taking turns on offence at bat
and in the field on defense. Prior to the start of the game, the captains have a choose-up to see which team will start on offence and
which on defense.
The offensive team’s task is to score runs by putting the ball legally
in play and travel the three bases in order and return home safely.
The defensive team attempts to prevent the opponent from getting
players on base to potentially score runs. The player is out when
the ball reaches the base prior to his/her safely coming in contact
with the base area. All outs in pesäpallo are force outs.
An inning change happens when three offensive players are put
out or during 12 players’ turns at bat two runs or more have not
been scored.
A Pesäpallo game is played in two sets of four innings. If the number of sets won is equal, the game continues into a special extra
inning that decides the winner of the game. In a system called the
scoring competition (kotiutuskilpailu), this “pesäpallo shootout” is
played by having five runners, one at a time, placed at third base
attempting to score on the hitting attempts of five different batters.
Game officiating is done by five umpires: a game umpire, a pitching
umpire, a second and third base umpire and a back line umpire.
Maila eli Ihil maximus apideni moluptaest, quatem ipidis
quuntotate dero ventoremperi omnim quia parum quatusam.