Baseball in Finland - Differences From Baseball

Differences From Baseball

The most significant differences from baseball are:

• The first bounce of the ball is decisive: It must bounce within the play area, and may then roll over a line and still be in play. The back line on the fly counts as a foul ball. 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 strike/foul in pesäpallo. This increases the tactical approach.
• Catching a ball in flight is not an out, but forces all runners advancing at the moment of the catch to return to home base (this is called a "haava", literally "a wound" or simply "koppi", "a catch"). They still have to reach the next base safely, as normal.
• A batter's box is removed and the home plate serves as a pitching plate, which is round with a diameter of 0.6 metres (24 in). All other batting team players stand in a semicircle near the batter.
• 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 (short) 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. Aimed towards the base runner is leaving, or to the center. Technically very hard to perform, used only by advanced players.
• A home run is scored when the batter reaches third base before the ball (the ball is in play even if it has bounced to the river near the field). After a home run the runner will stay at third base and continue as a normal runner.
• Walking requires fewer invalid pitches. When the field is empty of runners, one invalid pitch grants a walk, otherwise two. After two invalid pitches every single one after that grants another walk. A walk advances the point runner; if there is a runner at third base, that player shall score.
• A fair hit does not force the batter to advance; he can use all three strikes at bat before he becomes a runner. A pitch counts as a strike, if the batter takes a swing at the ball or if the umpire rules the pitch legal.
• Force outs are always outs: if the runner is off the base and the ball is in the control of a defensive player at the next base, the runner is out.
• The bases are not laid in a diamond shape; the players have to 'zig zag' the court (see chart).
• When entering a base or the home base, the runner only has to cross the line of the base; there are no actual cushion bases like in baseball, only lines in the field showing each base's boundaries (a much larger area compared to the bases used in baseball). Similarly, the pitcher or the fielders in the bases don't have any plates to touch to make an out; having only a foot in the base is enough.
• The attacking team uses a colour coded fan to signal the runners when to move. The fan is multicoloured, held by the coach of the team. Colour sequence is decided prior to the game.