Finnish baseball ("pesäpallo") is a fast-moving ball sport greatly similar to baseball. It is the national sport of Finland and has some presence in other countries, such as Germany and Australia.

Finnish Baseball was developed and refined by Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala, who based it on baseball and a local game, around 1910-1920. The rules have remained the same since, aside from some fine-tuning in the 1990s by the Finnish Baseball Federation . The basic structure of the game is identical to baseball's. Finnish baseball has 3 out-bases and a homebase. Players use a bat to hit the ball out to catchers, then move from base to base trying to arrive before the ball.

Differences

The more significant differences between baseball and pesäpallo include:

• The layout of the bases is different, and the playfield is more rectangular.
• A batter's box is removed and the home plate serves as a pitching plate; there is no catcher. Pitches are thrown straight upwards.
• The strike zone is rather different, and walking requires fewer invalid pitches.
• Catching a ball in flight is not an out, but forces all runners not on a base to return to home base.
• The batter is not required to run after hitting the ball on his first or second strike.
• Hitting the ball over the back line on the fly counts as a foul ball.

External links

Finnish Baseball Federation (Pesäpalloliitto)