Last night the Radday family packed a bag of snacks and headed over to Hippoksen Pesapallonstadion to watch the Jyvaskylan Kiri take on the Alajarven Ankurrit in a game of pesapallo, or Finnish baseball. We were joined by the Walsh family, a fellow Fulbright family, and it was a good thing we had their children, Eammon and Teresa, along since they have both been playing Finnish baseball in school and had some idea of the rules. Finnish baseball is very different from American baseball but between asking the kids, observing the scoreboard, and checking Wikipedia we are pretty sure we understood what was going on by the end of the game.
We arrived at the stadium for the professional league game just about fifteen minutes before it was scheduled to start and hung around in front of the entrance to wait to meet the Walshes. As we waited the visiting team also arrived and hung out right at the entrance and we all walked in together. Once everyone was inside the stadium the two teams met in the center of the field and the captains were brought to a podium to decide who would play on the defense and offense sides first. To decide they actually did that thing where someone grabs the bat then they put their hands on top of each other up the bat until someone's hand lands on the top.
The Jyvaskylan Kiri took to the field first and the Ankurrit were up at bat. Right from the beginning we could tell this game was going to be very different from American baseball. First we learned that the pitcher actually throws the ball from right next to the batter. At home plate the entire team surrounds the batter and stays there throughout the inning.
In the picture above you can see all the guys in yellow (the Ankarrit) standing in a white semicircle. This is the home plate area and all the batters wait their turn in that semicircle. The men kept raising their bats and cheering on their teammates throughout the inning.
Below is a better picture of the entire field.
First base is the quarter circle to the left of home plate (where American baseball puts third base). Second base is to the right side of the field (where Americans have first base) and third base is even further to the left and behind first base. Runners, therefore, run a zig-zag pattern across the field when running bases. The bases are huge and are not raised bags, just painted areas on the field.
There is a lot more action in Finnish baseball than in American baseball. There is not much strategy behind the pitching and instead there is a lot of strategy in the hitting and base running. Since every pitch is good and is thrown from the side, batters can strategically hit a pop fly, a line drive or even a bunt. The ball is hit almost every time it is pitched. Interestingly, when a player hits the ball, he doesn't have to run! He can choose if the hit is a good one that he likes or he can try to hit the ball again, as long as he has pitches left. The rules for outs, running, and scoring become much more complicated than American baseball (although I probably only say that because I know those rules). For example, a pop fly that is caught does not constitute an "out," but the player is "wounded." A wound means that the player cannot stay on the field and run the bases and score, but the wound does not contribute to the three outs the team is allowed in each inning. We noticed some players purposely sending up fly balls on their last pitch so that they would be wounded but would not strike out and give their team an out. Outs were achieved in ways similar to American baseball by getting the ball to the base player before the runner. Another very big difference between American and Finnish baseball is that in American baseball batters are cheered for hitting the ball as far as they can. A hit out of the stadium is a home run and cause for celebration. In Finnish baseball if the ball goes farther than the red fair playing field the ball is considered foul! Strength and power are not nearly as important in Finnish baseball as are speed and strategy. Home runs, or even hits that are more than singles, are rare. Throughout the inning there was also a lot of throwing the ball between the pitcher, catcher, first and second basemen. It seemed like the purpose of this was to catch the runner off guard and off the base and tag him out, but I don't think that was very successful during the game we saw.
Finnish baseball is played as two four-inning matches and the whole game only took two hours. After the first four innings one team is declared the winner of that match and a break happens. People get up, grab a beer or sausage, and even walk right onto the field to meet the mascot! Last night the Ankarrini won the first match with a score of 4-0. The second four-inning match ended in a tie of 1-1. Since the Ankarrini had one win and a tie they were declared the winners of the entire game. There is some sort of tie-breaking procedure, but we didn't get to see that last night.
The game was a lot of fun to watch. The girls did get a little bored, but the weather was perfect, there was candy to eat and the stands were not very crowded so they could walk around and get up and down. If they thought Finnish baseball was boring, it will be quite a while before we take them to see an American baseball game!
While watching the game, Eammon informed us that Finnish baseball, created in the 1920's, was actually used as a military training exercise. Throwing the ball was akin to throwing grenades and perfecting aim. Running and sliding were skills that would be needed in battle. The terms "wounded" and "dead" also came from its history as a military game. It has slowly gained popularity in Finland and it seems like this spring most gym classes in schools have been playing Finnish baseball. Finnish kids that come to America and then try to play baseball are often teased for running the wrong way towards third instead of first when they first play the American version of the game! It was great to enjoy one more cultural event as our time in Jyvaskyla is quickly coming to an end!
As I sit and write we are watching Finland play Russia in the Hockey World Championship. They are undefeated in this series so far and it has been fun to be a part of this excitement. On Tuesday night I was in a Finnish sports pub with some Finnish and American friends in Helsinki to watch the Finland/Canada game. After the first goal my friend Patrick claimed that the cheers we had just heard may have been the most noise he had heard in Finland since we arrived in January. Hopefully Finland will continue this winning streak! Go Suomi!