Have you cried for a team sport in which boys and girls can play together? Are you tired of watching boring baseball and do you prefer faster and more tactical batting sports? Pesapallo (FINNISH BASEBALL) is the game for you ! --------------------------------------- INTERNET INTRODUCTION TO o . o FINNISH BASEBALL |- \| PESAPALLO .,_o_ / \ / \ ==---o__ / \ EDITED by Jari Pullinen don@clinet.fi --------------------------------------- This is an introduction article to the world of PESAPALLO! Feel free to copy this file unmodified wherever you want. TABLE OF CONTENTS ------------------- 0. VERSION INFORMATION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1. SUMMARY OF PESAPALLO RULES 2. PESAPALLO VS. BASEBALL 3. THE SEVEN DECADES OF PESAPALLO IN FINLAND 4. THE HISTORY OF PESAPALLO IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES 4.1 AUSTRALIA 4.2 ESTONIA 4.3 LITHUANIA 4.4 JAPAN 4.5 SWEDEN 4.6 GERMANY 5. INTERNATIONAL PESAPALLO CUPS 5.1 WORLD CUP 5.2 INVITATION CUPS 6. NATIONAL PESAPALLO LEAGUES 6.2 FINLAND (SUPERPESIS) 6.3 SWEDEN 6.4 ESTONIA 6.5 GERMANY 7. HOW TO START ? WHERE TO OBTAIN MORE INFORMATION ? 8. PESAPALLO INFO VIA INTERNET ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0. VERSION INFORMATION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS VERSION NUMBER 1.01some_bugs_fixed_and_some_stats_added LAST DATE MODIFIED 30.9.93 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many articles have been taken from Finnish Baseball rules booklets, Pesapallo yearbooks of various years and World Cup I information guide. Thanks to authors! EDITOR'S NOTE Actually the name of the game is pes{pallo { = a with two dots, but because it could mess up some terminals i have converted all a's with two dots (or {'s) to a's. Please note this! ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. SUMMARY OF PESAPALLO RULES In a pesapallo game there are two teams playing against each other. The game takes place on an exactly measured field and according to the detailed rules. The teams alternate as in- teams (offence) and out-teams (defense) The aim of in-team is to score as many runs as possible. The number of runs decides the result of the game as well as the winner. The in-team player, while in active play, is either a batter or a runner. The batter hits the ball from the home base after the out-team player (the pitcher) has delivered the ball to him. As soon as the batter leaves the home base he becomes a runner. The runner tries to return to the home base without getting "wounded" or being "put out". He has to pass the out-field bases in certain order. When he reaches the home base, he has scored a run for his team. The batters seek to support the runner through their hits. Only one runner at a time has safety in an out-field base. The out-team players try to prevent the in-team players from advancing. This is possible e.g. by catching fly balls - and the runners are called "wounded" and they cannot continue but return back to the home base. On the other hand, the out-field players try to put the runners out by passing the ball to the base the runner is aiming to, before the runner reaches the base. A player not advancing can also be put out by touching him with the ball, provided that he is not in position to return. When three in-team players have been put out, the teams change positions: the out-team goes in and the in-team out. The teams also change innings when all in-players have had their turn at bat and the in-team hasn't been able to score a run. When each team has been once in and once out, they have played an inning. A normal men's game lasts nine innings. The game is controlled by an umpire-in-chief assisted by base umpires. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. PESAPALLO vs. BASEBALL So what's the difference between pesapallo and baseball? Pesapallo is a European version of American Baseball. It's more brain demanding, needs more athletic abilities and it's much faster (and more entertaining). Pesapallo in the highest level has said to be the most tactical game in the world with American Football. But unlike Football and Baseball it doesn't require big muscles but _quick legs_, _tactital eye_ and _brains_ to master the game. Anyway the main reason why Pesapallo gives more than other games is that EVERYONE can play it! Women and men, boys and girls, together or apart. Pesapallo has been played in Finland ever since the year 1922 when professor Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala introduced it. The game is based on the basics of baseball and old Finnish batting games such as Longball and Kingball. The main differences between Finnish and American baseball are: PESAPALLO BASEBALL RUNNING ZIGZAG (with back line) DIAMOND PITCHING VERTICAL HORIZONTAL Other MAIN rules in Pesapallo: In case of a catch batter isn't automatically put out but all the runners are "wounded". Every batter is allowed three strikes and pitcher one ball. The second ball gives a free advance to furthest advanced runner. If there's no runners in the field, one ball is enough to give free advance to the batter. If the last strike is a foul, the batter is put out. Every difference has a very good reason. - Because the field isn't a diamond the distances between bases vary. The distance between home base and first base is the shortest and the distance between third base and home base is the longest. ASCII PICTURE OF MEN'S PESAPALLO FIELD women's field is 10 percent smaller |---------42m--------| - -------back-line------ approximate distances | | | between bases | | back field | | | | HB->1B 20.0m | | | 1B->2B 32.0m | | | 2B->3B 36.0m | 3B-------------------2B 3B->HB 38.0m 92m | / | | | front field | total 126m | | / | | \ 1B / | \ / | \ / | \ / - ------ | HB | \____/ - Beacause pitching is made upwards the ball is much easier to hit for beginners and the first step in learning the game is easier to take. Professional pitchers, however, can pitch _very_ strange spins and high pitches which are difficult to hit properly Watch the direction of the arrow ( > and ^) o > . o / BASEBALL: |- | / \ / \ pitcher batter . PESAPALLO: o ^ \o |- | / \ / \ pitcher batter - Because batting is easier, there's a back line on the field. If a fly ball crosses the line (before hitting the ground) it is a foul ball. - Also because batting is easier and the field is smaller than in baseball, a caught pop fly (fly ball) is not an automatic out. Rather, all runners are "wounded" and have to exit the running field. To put a runner out the ball must be thrown to base before runner gets there. The positions of outfield players -------back-line------ | | outfielders | LF RF | LF=left fielder | | RF=right fielder | LSS RSS | LSS=left short stop | | RSS=right short stop 3B-------------------2B 3B=third baseman | / | 2B=second baseman | / | 1B=first baseman | / | C=catcher \ 1B / P=pitcher \ C / \ / others \ / B=batter (infield plr) ------- o=pitch delivery plate | B o P | *) \_____/ *) when pitching the ball must rise at least one meter above the pitcher's head and fall down on the plate, touching it clearly. Otherwise the pitch is a ball. the diameter of the pitch delivery plate is 60cm ------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. THE SEVEN DECADES OF PESAPALLO IN FINLAND Various kinds of ball batting games have been played in Finland presumably ever since the 17th century. The playing was liveliest in the 19th century but as modern kinds of sport gained popularity, interest in traditional ball games faded. Noticing this, Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala, who had been studying in the United States in the early 20th century and got familiar with baseball, began to develop the old Finnish batting game called Kingball in a more competitive direction. Finally in 1922 PESAPALLO was officially introduced. Pesapallo rapidly replaced the old batting games and spread over the whole country through schools, sporting clubs and above all, semiofficial protective corps. The clubs playing pesapallo joined in the Finnish Central Sports Federation as a section in 1925. Finally on October 10th 1931 the Finnish National Baseball Association (Suomen Pesapalloliitto) was established. The Association commenced its operation at the turn of 1932. The 30's was a period of rapid expansion of the game. Both the personal skills of the players and the tactical knowledge advanced. A national league called "suursarja" was established. Even women began to play and new clubs specializing in pesapallo were founded. The first East vs. West match (an annual match between combined teams from Eastern and Western Finland) was played in 1932. During the Second World War playing naturally diminished but as soon as the rebuilding got started people began to gather on the fields. The national leagues started again and they were now divided into more divisions than ever. Sytematic and extensive junior training began in the late 40s and wide nation-wide leagues for different age classes were founded which was of utmost importance to the future of the game. In the 50s the number of active players and the teams increased steadily. The game flourished in the schools and the masses finally found their way to the stands. Centres of the game with up to four teams in the highest league, championship league, emerged. In the 60s the long period of growth finally broke off. It was an era of exceptionally rapid urbanization in Finland. Hundreds of thousands of people moved from the countryside to the cities in the south. Pesapallo, however, flourished mostly in the countryside and in the small towns, particularly in Ostrobotnia on the west coast but also in the eastern parts of the country. On the other hand in the biggest cities pesapallo lost its previous position as the number one summer game. The 70s and the early 80s were a new golden age of the game. Training became much more intensive and scientific and players have begun to specialize in different tasks both in batting and in fielding operations. One can say that it was only in the 70s that pesapallo at the top level became widely accepted as a highly valued top ranking sport. Side by side with the top game the number of the junior teams increased. Pesapallo schools for children under the age of ten were arranged as well as annual camps where tens of teams of boys and girls of different age classes gathered to play the game. The future of the game seemed to be full of promise. Characteristic of the present day and the near future of pesapallo are increasing crowds of spectators and better fields (stadiums) and still higher quality of game in SUPERPESIS as the highest league for both men and women is today called. The marching forth of young people in various organizational tasks has also been powerful recently. The 90s will also be a decade of the internationalization of pesapallo. Young messengers of the game have already visited Canada, Australia and Japan and in July 1992 the first World cup of Pesapallo was held in Helsinki. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. THE HISTORY OF PESAPALLO IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES 4.1 AUSTRALIA Pesapallo took its first tentative steps in Australia in the late 50's. The then newly formed Finnish clubs, in order to retain their cultural links with Finland began playing pesapallo as well as taking part in many other 'Finnish' activities. Lack of equipment was soon apparent. In Melbourne for example the first bats were home made, some gloves and balls had mysteriously found their way to Australia from Finland, this was at least a beginning. Soon, playing with friends on Sunday mornings was not enough - Interstate visits were arranged. An all night drive 1000km's to play other clubs was a common occurance. From this enthusiasm the Easter Games developed. Now called the "Suomi-P{iv{t". They are shared alternately between cities such as Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide, Wollongong and the Gold Coast, and have been the stage of many titanic battles, played in anything from 40 degree (celcius) heat to torrential downpours and ankle-deep mud, but minor wheather conditions don't dampen the enthusiasm for the game and the games are always played through to the end. The number of teams varies each year, long distances and infrequent games are taking their toll, presently there are five Womens and Mens teams playing. Everyone is encouraged to take part, it is not uncommon to have fathers and sons, mothers and doughters playing on same teams, sometimes even on opposite teams. Players in the teams are mainly first and second generation Finns, however over the years there have been more Australians becoming interested in the sport. At Pesapallo World Cup I 28 of the team Australia players were first or second generation Finns and 3 of them were original Australians. The grounds they play and practise pesapallo in Australia on are mainly football (soccer) fields, these fields are grassy all year round. The equipment has been sent to Australia from Finland to the central association where each club purchases what they need throughout the year. Enthusiasm for pesapallo in Australia is still strong and the only snag in its growth is the lack of newcomers from Finland. Now its future is with people born in Australia, be they of Finnish parents or real 'Aussies'. 4.2 ESTONIA Knowing the close ties of kinship the related language and the historical similarities between Estonia and Finland it was natural that Estonia was the first foreign country where pesapallo was introduced. The first connections were between the protective corps of the countries in the early 20's and the first match between the cities of Tallin and Dorpat took place in 1926. The game spread rapidly and up to the mid-30's it had reached an established position in the protective corps, sporting clubs and schools. A national league with four top teams in Division A and varying number of teams in Division B was established. The connections between the Finns and the Estonians were lively. Sporting club teams travelled regulary across the Gulf of Finland to play against each other. The meetings culminated in the four matches between the national teams in 1932-1935, the last of which was won by Estonians. During most of the Soviet power years pesapallo had no recognized status in Estonia and the game was almost banned. Unofficial contacts to Finland were cut off and pesapallo had no place in the official sports exchange. Pesapallo survived, however, and side by side with the proceeding of the Perestroika interest in pesapallo flamed up again. In May 1989 the Finnish Pesapallo Association and the Estonian Pesapallo Association made an official agreement about co-operation. From that time on pesapallo activity has been very lively in Estonia. Enthusiatic junior teams from Estonia take part in the annual national camps in Finland. Partucular attention has been paid to the youth and not in vain: In 1992 a national league for boys with eight teams was arranged for the first time after the Second World War. The rules of the game have been delivered to all schools throughout the country. The main obstacle to the further expansion of pesapallo in Estonia is probably the perpetual lack of equipment which has bothered especially the girls' teams. In the near future junior camps with teams from both Estonia and Finland will be arraged in Estonia. As a result of hard training, Estonian junior team (13 years) won the Finnish champions title in the summer 1993. 4.3 LITHUANIA Pesapallo is something totally new for Lithuanian people. They have played American Baseball and now they are interested in to try out in practise their skills in this game. 4.4 JAPAN The Finnish national game pesapallo has just recently landed in Japan. Since there is no major community of Finnish immigrants in Japan the game had to be imported. The Hokkaido Finland Society and its managing director Mitsuo Iguchi have been promoting pesapallo in Sapporo and other Hokkaido towns. After the summer '91 visit of the group from Finland there was a total of four pesapallo teams in Japan. The oldest and the best of them is the Sapporo team managed by Mr. Iguchi who has acquired a good knowledge in pesapallo on his many visits to FInland. The other teams come from the Hokkaido University in Sapporo and the towns of Nayoro and Shiraoi. The group of Finnish youths also taught basics of pesapallo to school kids and students of Hokkaido. The popularity of pesapallo in Japan will certainly increase as the Japanese regard baseball almost as their national game and pesapallo is actually a better hobby game than softball. Pesapallo has now established a firm benchhead on Hokkaido and can perhaps advance to the other islands as well. The first step taken was gaining nationwide TV coverage in a newsflash two years ago. 4.5 SWEDEN Pesapallo has presumably been played to some etent in Sweden by Finnish immigrants ever since the dawn of the game. The first official championships were held in 1955 and won by team named Koisan Suomalaiset from K|ping. The Swedes who had up to then organized themselves as an section within the Finnish Association established their own national organization, Swedish Pesapallo Association, in 1981. The association has applied for membership in the Swedish Central Sports Association but so far in vain. Because of the lack of official status getting sponsors from the business life has been difficult and getting public financing has been impossible. All activities have been carried out by enthusiastic volunteers. There has been a steady immigration to Sweden from Finland until quite recently. The immigration was at its liveliest in the late 60's. The newcomers who were mostly young adults were a natural basis of recruiting new players. In the recent times the balance of immigration has shifted and many active players of pesapallo in Sweden lies thus in the second and third generation Finns and the native Swedes. Of the present members of the Swedish Association approximately 40 percent are first generation Finns, 30 percent are second (or subsequent) generation Finns, 20 percent are native Swedes and 10 percent are other immigrants. The national league is well organized and established. Six mens teams play in Division I. Division II is divided geographically into two sections in which the number of teams may vary. There are also leagues for women and special tournaments for juniors of 13, 15 and 17 years. All in all about 30 teams play in different leagues or tournaments. Most teams come from industrial centres on the axis Stockholm-Gothenburg. The game is played less in the very south (Sk}ne) and in north. The Swedish Association also organizes annually a youth camp and one team in each age class takes part in the national camps in Finland. Playing and training conditions are generally quite good in Sweden. The fields are fit up a month earlier than in Finland. Some Finnish teams have discovered that and have come to train and to play especially in spring. Also Estonian players have recently visited Sweden. 4.6 GERMANY Pesapallo is mainly played in Germany by members of the German- Finnish association. There exits no association for the game in the country. Playing is most active in the Munich-Augsburg region in Bavaria in the south, in Cologne and Dusseldorf in the Rhine area in the west and in Berlin. The majority of the players can be roughly divided into two categories: The younger ones are chlidren of German-Finnish families, the older ones are Germans with Finnish wives or girlfriends. There are, however, some "pure" Germans who have lost their heart to the game. Though no organized league exists, the teams play regularly with each other and the German champion title is given to the most succesful team. Pesapallo is also played during the "Finn-Treffs" organized by the German-Finnish Association There have been some problems with fields and with equipment. Since football dominates German sports life, there are plenty of grass fields but a shortage of sand fields in Germany. Luckily at least in Cologne and Augsburg the players have recently got access to decent fields. All equipment has to be brought from Finland either during summer holiday visits or by Finnish-German companies whose sponsoring have been of great importance. Two years ago the "Young Power" group from Finland visited Germany. They played some matches but what is more important they arranged demonstrations and trainings and brought a lot of newest knowhow from the motherland of the game. As an interesting experiment pesapallo is presented to Non- Finnish people in Augsburg at the local University. The game is teached by Matti Leinonen who was also a member of the German World Cup team. On the whole pesapallo is still in Germany a somewhat eotic game which mainly astonishes and amuses occasional local passers-by. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. INTERNATIONAL PESAPALLO CUPS 5.1 WORLD CUP The first Pesapallo World Cup was held in the beautiful capital city of Finland, Helsinki, 27.7-1.9.92. There were participating teams from seven countries: Finland, Sweden, Australia, Estonia, Germany, Lithuania and Japan. The results of the World Cup I MEN World Champion and gold medals: Finland The second place and silver medals: Sweden The third place and bronze medals: Australia FINAL Finland-Sweden 19-4 BRONZE Australia-Sweden II Sweden II gave up WOMEN World Champion and gold medals: Finland The second place and silver medals: Sweden The third place and bronze medals: Australia FINAL Finland-Sweden 30-6 BRONZE Australia-Estonia 10-5 MIXED TEAMS World Champion and gold medals: Finland The second place and silver medals: Sweden The third place and bronze medals: Australia FINAL Finland-Sweden 39-8 BRONZE Australia-Japan 12-8 TOTAL MEDALS gold silver bronze Finland 3 0 0 Sweden 0 3 0 Australia 0 0 3 5.2 INVITATION CUPS In October 1992 German team, Berlin Tahko, arranged an invitation cup for two Swedish and two German teams. G|ta SS (from Gothenburg) won the cup beating defending German champion Augsburg Pesis-Team 32 - 0 in the final. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. NATIONAL PESAPALLO LEAGUES 6.1 FINLAND (SUPERPESIS) Men's Superpesis is corresponding to Major League Baseball in Northern America. It has 14 top Finnish teams which play 26 games against each other in a season. The best eight teams will continue in Playoffs. Winner of the glorious final matches is the Finnish champion. The best team of the near past has been Sotkamon Jymy which has taken three of the four last championships. Superpesis is the most popular summer league in Finland (soccer league is the second) and the second popular of all after icehockey. The first men's Finnish championships was held in 1922 when Helsingin Pallonly|j{t was the winning team. Women play their own SUPERPESIS league with 12 best Finnish female teams. The most succesful team of the near past has been Lapuan Virki{ with two consecutive championship titles. Women's Superpesis has more spectators than ALL other Finnish female leagues together (basketball, soccer, volleball, etc) MEN'S SUPERPESIS 1993 COMPLETE RESULTS Sotkamo 28 27 0 1 365-140 54 Alaj{rvi 28 23 0 5 232-116 46 Imatra 28 22 0 6 278-148 44 Oulu 28 19 0 9 252-163 38 Hyvink{{ 28 14 0 14 285-220 29 Riihim{ki 28 14 0 14 205-243 28 Loimaa 28 13 0 15 218-199 26 Sein{joki 28 12 1 15 173-169 25 ------------------------------------------- Kankaanp{{ 28 12 0 16 146-224 25 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Jyv{skyl{ 28 11 1 16 167-219 24 Kitee 28 11 0 17 159-212 22 Vimpeli 28 8 0 20 177-286 16 Muhos 28 6 0 22 164-250 13 ------------------------------------------- Siilinj{rvi 28 3 0 25 129-361 6 HALF-SEMIFINALS Sein{joki-Sotkamo (three wins needed) 0-3 (3-13, 4-12, 0-11) Loimaa-Alaj{rvi 1-3 (3-4, 0-10, 7-6, 1-2) Hyvink{{-Oulu 1-3 (7-15, 5-6, 7-3, 6-12) Riihim{ki-Imatra 0-3 (3-7, 9-10, 2-15) SEMIFINALS Imatra-Alaj{rvi (two wins needed) 2-1 (12-3, 1-4, 12-2) Oulu-Sotkamo 1-2 (5-4, 8-9, 0-5) BRONZE MATCHES Oulu-Alaj{rvi (combined result) 14-8 (12-4, 2-4) FINALS Sotkamo-Imatra (two wins needed) 2-0 (11-1, 7-6) WOMEN'S SUPERPESIS COMPLETE RESULTS Lapua 24 21 0 3 355-101 42 Vihti 24 20 0 4 289-134 40 Siilinj{rvi 24 17 0 7 269-153 34 Oulu 24 16 0 8 230-118 32 Jyv{skyl{ 24 13 0 11 242-233 26 Viinij{rvi 24 13 0 11 267-199 26 Helsinki 24 12 0 12 203-229 24 Ikaalinen 24 10 0 14 201-270 20 ------------------------------------------- Ylih{rm{ 24 9 0 15 180-231 18 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Hyvink{{ 24 6 0 18 186-325 12 Turku 24 5 0 19 148-365 10 ------------------------------------------- Pori 24 2 0 22 161-373 4 HALF-SEMIFINALS Helsinki-Vihti (three wins needed) 0-2 (4-10, 2-6) Ikaalinen-Lapua 0-2 (5-23, 1-20) Jyv{skyl{-Oulu 0-2 (7-20, 3-12) Viinij{rvi-Siilinj{rvi 1-2 (9-6, 5-8, 3-15) SEMIFINALS Oulu-Lapua (two wins needed) 1-2 (9-4, 2-7, 1-2) Siilinj{rvi-Vihti 2-1 (4-5, 5-2, 6-5) BRONZE MATCHES Oulu-Vihti (combined result) 13-10 (9-1, 4-9) FINALS Siilinj{rvi-Lapua (two wins needed) 0-2 (5-15, 1-7) 6.2 SWEDISH LEAGUE There has been an official championship league since the year 1955. The Swedish League Division A includes 6 top national teams and two sections of Division B varying number of teams. 6.3 ESTONIA The first official pesapallo-league after WWII was played in the year 1992. The champion was the team of V\RU. ESTONIAN PESAPALLO (FINNISH BASEBALL) CHAMPIONSHIPS 1993 The league was played in two separated groups with three teams. All teams in the same group played against each other twice. Because the Estonians are from far wise the best of 17 year old teams has the Estonian champion title. The Estonian Champion in year 1993 is yet again the team of V|ru (coach Taimo Linnas) which is also defending Finnish champion in 13 year old boys. ESTONIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 1993 COMPLETE RESULTS GROUP A GROUP B Avinurme V|ru Siimusti Viljandi Tartu N|o Avinurme - Tartu 11 - 1 V|ru - Viljandi 13 - 1 22 - 0 8 - 0 Avinurme - Siimusti 12 - 3 V|ru - N|o 20 - 0 10 - 8 20 - 0 Siimusti - Tartu 12 - 2 Viljandi - N|o 11 - 0 17 - 9 12 - 0 SEMIFINALS Avinurme - Viljandi 21 - 1 V|ru - Siimusti 27 - 10 PLACES 5-6 Tartu - N|o 21 - 0 BRONZE MATCH Siimusti - Viljandi 9 - 8 (after two extra innings) THE FINAL V|ru - Avinurme 19 - 15 FINAL ORDER I V|ru (2PEAT) II Avinurme III Siimusti 4. Viljandi 5. Tartu 6. N|o --- --- --- 6.4 GERMANY German championship-league has been active for three years. Top-teams are Munchen Mailajussit, Augsburg Pesis-Team (defending champion) and Berlin Tahko. The president of Berlin Tahko, Thomas Scharnberg and another eager pesapallo activist, Matthias Nern, really believe in dissemination of pesapallo interest in Berlin. Thomas has been negotiating with Freie University to introduce pesapallo to the students. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. HOW TO START ? WHERE TO OBTAIN MORE INFORMATION ? The mailing address to the Finnish Pesapallo Association is Finnish Pesapallo Association Radiokatu 20 00240 HELSINKI FINLAND fax +358-0-147 945 There is also active PESAPALLO people in various countries (e.g. Sweden, Estonia, Germany, Japan). Contact Finnish Pesapallo Association via old- fashioned post, fax or phone or contact me (don@clinet.fi) via Internet email to get more information about these persons. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 8. PESAPALLO INFORMATION VIA INTERNET NEWSGROUPS There is wide discussion about pesapallo in newsroup called sfnet.harrastus.urheilu but unfortunately it's all in Finnish language. Other noteworthy groups soc.culture.nordic soc.culture.baltics rec.sport.baseball rec.sport.misc FTP-SITES In future maybe... E-MAIL You can also obtain more specific info of pesapallo by contacting the author of this introduction. My Internet mailing address is don@clinet.fi, feel free to ask ANYTHING about pesapallo. ------------------------------------------------------------------ PESAPALLO - TO HAVE FUN IN GOOD COMPANY