Pesapallo (Finnish baseball)
During our stay in Helsinki, we were fortunate enough to catch a game of "pesapallo" (Finnish baseball) -- and even more fortunate to have friendly Finns sitting next to us and willing to explain the general rules of the game.Among the many differences from its American counterpart: pesapallo has no home runs (anywhere out of play is foul territory); there are 9 outs per inning; the pitcher stands next to the batter and every ball tossed must be hit (there are exceptions, but I didn't quite grasp them); and the bases are set differently, with first base being to the left, second base to the right and third base to the left again.All this makes for a faster-paced game than in America. We dare say we found it more spectacular than American baseball! You can check out the premier league (Superpesis) website at www.superpesis.fi to see the cities and schedules of the teams.
