Superpesis roundup

  The Olympic stadium in Helsinki will not be the host of the 2022 Superpesis championship final The big stories Olympic stadium plans scrapped The controversial plans for the 2022 championship games to be reduced to a single “winner takes all” game at the Olympic stadium in celebration of the 100 year anniversary have been scrapped. Whilst there seems to have been a great deal of support from teams, the suggestion was not unanimously agreed and several teams opposed the plan. The proposals sparked a lot of media interest and certainly boosted the profile of pesäpallo, but ultimately the Pesäpallo Federation determined that the plan would not be workable without the consent of all teams. From my perspective, I still am convinced that the East v West game is the perfect fixture for the Olympic Stadium; it provides a showcase for the best players across the league and can create a party atmosphere unique to any other games.  Around the league SiiPe’s game against PattU is...

SiiPe pull off a miracle by winning both jakso at home against 2020’s silver medalists KPL The big stories The season has started - but some fixtures are swapped or delayed Unlike last year, where teams all started the season with the same sets of rules and restrictions in place, 2021 has seen some very skewed outcomes for teams in areas with higher COVID numbers. In some instances, the number of spectators varied so wildly that it would be completely unsustainable for teams to play. Pesis works on very tight budgets, with local sponsors and ticket sales bringing in the bulk of a team’s income. Without fans in the stands, sponsors equally feel uncomfortable supporting a team when there is no prospect that the advertisement will bring business to the sponsor. The Pesäpalloliito has considered the most pragmatic ways to ensure the season starts and teams can try and secure the best financial outcome; their conclusion was to switch the home and away fixtures for some teams, as well off...

The future of pesis podcasting is here: the multi language team under the Polttolinja brand This blog has been running for almost 2 years now and the Superpesis Roundup podcast recently celebrated its 1 year anniversary. However, behind the scenes, work has been going on to build on the content that is currently available and create a new platform for information, articles and discussions. Now, I can reveal (for those who haven’t already heard the latest podcast) that Superpesis Roundup will be part of the Polltolinja project, with regular podcasts in English every 2 weeks, published every other Wednesday. Being part of the Polltolinja family brings fantastic opportunities for the podcast and means that we get better access to special guests, data and analysis, as well as the endorsement and backing as the official pesis podcast in English. The format of the podcast will stay the same, but with more frequent content and greater analysis and depth.  When I started writing this...

Ville Väliaho had a solid start in JoMa red against Kitee, but a tight game against KPL gave Kopla a narrow win The big stories Halli SM fixtures cancelled After concerns that a new variant of the COVID-19 virus has started to spread across Europe, countries have introduced more public safety measures to stop the virus spreading even more. In the world of pesäpallo, this has meant that the Halli-SM fixtures (which were due to start in the coming weeks) have been cancelled and the Pesäpalloliito has suggested that a tournament could be held in March/April to replace it. Whilst this means that we will not be able to get our usual winter warmup tournament, training matches are still allowed to be played (subject to local and National rules, as well as the team’s willingness to play). One option for a warmup tournament is a knockout competition with 16 teams; the Pesäpalloliito has suggested that some creative thinking may be needed... so I will write a post shortly about my idea for a ...

Dahlström scored 5 RBI against JoMa, but the reigning champions had the edge The big stories Game manager for KPL hit in the head during Joensuu game During the most anticipated game of the week, KPL’s game manager Iiro Haimi suffered a serious head injury during the game against Joensuu at Kerubi stadium that brought play to a complete standstill. During one of Joensuu’s innings, JoMa captain Aleksi Rautiainen reached out and swung at an intentionally bad pitch, only to see it strike Haimi behind his left ear. Haimi managed to walk off the field of play after initial treatment, before being taken to North Kyle Hospital for X-rays and a CT scan. Haimi was later discharged from hospital and advised to rest. As a result, Haimi will miss KPL’s next match against IPV and Anssi Lammila will take up the reigns.  I sincerely hope Iiro recovers well and my thoughts are with him at this time. Sami Partanen plays his 600th game in Superpesis There are not many players who can boast a...

One of the most prolific batters in Superpesis history reaches 1500 combined Runs and RBI The big stories Roope Korhonen becomes first ever player to reach 1500 power rankings Just as PattU and Vimpeli had finished their celebrations for legendary runner Sami Haapakoski, rivals Sotkamo had something to celebrate too. Roope Korhonen is a long standing player for Sotkamo and has battled with Haapakoski many times for the championship, as a hard hitter he forms a key part of Sotkamo’s offence. This week his contributions were celebrated when Roope reached 1500 in the power points rankings. Power points are calculated by combining runs and RBI. Roope starts his 20th year in Superpesis with 11 championships, 6 silver medals and 2 bronze medals. I want to congratulate Roope for reaching this significant milestone; he has been a powerhouse for Sotkamo and a significant factor in the championships the team has won. I want to thank  Roope for all the great memories he has given to so m...

As if there could be any other top story! The big stories Sami Haapakoski reaches incredible milestone With only a few games played this season so far, PattU’s Sami Haapakoski reached a phenomenal and never before seen milestone - 1000 runs. This feat surely secures his place in the history books, if it was ever in doubt, and is likely to be a milestone that will never be beaten. The run came in the first jakso against Kempele in what turned out to be an exceptional game from Haapakoski. It was a perfect moment for the veteran, who returns to his original Superpesis club after a decade with Vimpeli, as well as the fact that brother Jussi Haapakoski is PattU’s game manager.  Sami Haapakoski was the subject of one of Valtteri Karjula’s fantastic player biography articles earlier this year and I highly recommend a read (although you will need to use a translation programme if you don’t speak Finnish). Known as “Sigge” to friends and fans alike, Sami has had a sparkling career in ...