Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala (born Gummerus, 5 January 1888 – 20 May 1981) was the inventor of pesäpallo, the Finnish variant of baseball.

[3] In 1969 he became one of the first persons to receive an honorary doctorate in Sport Sciences from the University of Jyväskylä, together with president Urho Kekkonen and Professor Kaarina Kari.

During the Finnish Civil War, he was responsible for propaganda in the White Guard flying unit "Devils of Kuhmoinen" of major Hans Kalm.

[9]Others claim that while the murderers indeed belonged to Devils of Kuhmoinen, Pihkala was not present at the time of the massacre.

[10] Memorial of Pihkala by sculptor Nina Sailo was unveiled in 1988 on the south-east side of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium.