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...

Toni Kohonen makes history to become the first active player to choose his team-mates for East v West The big stories Toni Kohonen to pick the East all-star team Ok, so this news broke on 14th June, but it is such a big story. Wanted to include it in this roundup. There are not many awards or titles that Toni Kohonen hasn’t already won or earned, but history has been made by the Pesäpallo Federation determining that Korhonen will be the first active player in history to choose his team-mates for this year’s East v West game. The allstar event is a matter of great pride for players and this opportunity is a clear measure of how much the pesäpallo community respects Kohonen and his continued drive for success.  Kohonen has 49 home runs and 796 regular RBIs in his career, with 528 runs and a staggering 3,244 successful hits at moving the point runner across 743 regular-season matches in 28 Superpesis seasons. Korhonen’s career famously started with Kitee and he now stands in th...

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...

Markus Tuikka announced his retirement this week The big stories Markus Tuikka retires On 25th January Joensuun Maila announced that Markus Tuikka had decided to announce his retirement and both he and the team were mutually terminating his contract. Tuikka made an exciting start in a JoMa shirt against Kitee the weekend before, after taking 2020 away from the sport. Last year started with Tuikka playing for Hyvinkää, which would have given them a much needed boost in the regular season; however when the COVID-19 pandemic started to effect he sport, Tuikka and Tahko parted ways by usual agreement. Tuikka started his career with Spartak Kajaani in 2010, before joining Sotkamon Jymy. Tuikka’s debut in Superpesis was against Alajärvei on 11th June 2013. Thereafter, Tuikka was a regular in the Sotkamo lineup and won 1 gold medal and 3 silver medals. I was so excited to see Markus back on the pitch in JoMa’s training games last weekend, but it seems that Markus will not be returning to ...

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...