Interview with Juha Puhtimäki

Juha Puhtimäki in the 2019 final series against Sotkamo, winning his second championship
Photograph from Joensuu Facebook (c) Joensuun Maila 2019

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When I set up this blog I could never have dreamed that a superstar like Juha Puhtimäki would make themselves available for an interview with me, but almost a year has gone since I started and that is what has happened!

First of all I want to say a big thank you to Juha for the team he has set aside to answer my questions for this interview, especially because I am just a fan of Superpesis in the UK writing a blog in English. Paljon kiitoksia Juha!

How did you start a career in Pesis?
I started to play when I was 5 years old, but my first Superpesis game was in 2005 at Koskenkorvan Urheilijat.

Puhtimäki debuted for Koskenkorvan Urheilijat’s second team in Suomensarija (third tier league) in 2001, playing 3 games. His debut in Superpesis came on 3rd June 2005 for KoU against Seinäjoen Maila-Jussit wearing number 12 and appearing as a joker. Juha’s stats for the game were a solid 2/4 with both successful hits coming off attempts to reach 1st base. It was not until 2007 that Puhtimäki gained a spot in the lineup regularly, this time with Seinäjoen Maila-Jussit.

As Puhtimäki progressed in his career, he signed for Hyvinkään Tahko in 2014 and played there for 4 seasons. During each of his years with Tahko, Puhtimäki was in the top 5 hitters in the year in terms of the total number of hits successfully moving the point runner (Kärkilyöntitilasto). This success, as well as his great success as a Lukkari earned him the attention of Joensuun Maila, in the pursuit of their first Finnish championship.

In 2018 Puhtimäki signed for Joensuu and the wait for a championship was over by the end of the year. 2019 saw a repeat championship year for Joensuu and Puhtimäki picked up a number of awards, including player of the year and Lukkari of the year. In the Halli-SM group games in 2020, Joensuu have looked unbeatable and have been excellent both defensively and with bat in hand.

Who are your inspirations in the game (in the past or at present)?
When I was young my favourite players were Jukka Holttinen, Jan Hautala and Matti Iivarinen. I really loved the game already then and I think I knew almost all Superpesis players

Where is your favourite place to play outside of Joensuu?
My favourite field is Vimpeli because of the atmosphere there. The field is on island and people in the stand sometimes talk with me before the game. Sometimes even when the game is on. 

What are the skills it takes to be a great Lukkari?
The most important thing is that you understand the game better then your opponent does. Physically you have to be powerful and fast.

What is your favourite memory in your career so far?
Of course our two championships

In 2018 Puhtimäki won his first championship with Joensuun Maila against KPL, winning 3 straight games. In the final game of the series, Puhtimäki was a perfect 4/4 with runners on 3rd base, as well as going 4/5 at moving the point runner to 3rd base. 

In 2019 Puhtimäki won the championship with Joensuu for the second time against Sotkamon Jymy 3 games to 1. In the postseason Puhtimäki batted in 15 runs (including 3 kunniajuoksu) and scored 13 runs over 10 games. The final game of the series was in Joensuu in front of a sell out crowd of 3900 fans and JoMa won in a supervuoro after Sotkamo won the opening jakso.

Outside of Pesis what are your hobbies and passions? We know that you have a love of horses - what does the future hold for you there?
Racehorses are my dear hobby. I really love them! And I think it stays like it in the future too.

Joensuu seem unstoppable at the moment - how do you prepare for the start of a Superpesis season?
We have a really good and motivated team. We train hard and think much about pesis. I really hope we can play in the summer. We and our fans really need that!

The crowds for the Halli-SM group games broke records and show that there is a lot of excitement in Joensuu for the coming season; let’s hope the season starts soon.

Earlier this year you launched a new YouTube channel. What kind of things can we expect in the future?

Wait and see...

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