Pesäpallo (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈpesæˌpɑlːo]; literally meaning "nest ball", Swedish: Boboll,[1] colloquially known in Finnish as pesis and also referred to as Finnish baseball) is a fast-moving bat-and-ball sport that is often referred to as the national sport of Finland[2] and has some presence in other places including Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, and Canada's northern Ontario (the latter two countries have significant Nordic populations).

Pesäpallo, a combination of traditional ball-batting team games and North American baseball, was invented by Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala in the 1920s.

[5] The basic idea of pesäpallo is similar to that of baseball: the offense tries to score by hitting the ball successfully and running through the bases, while the defense tries to put the batter and runners out.

This gives the offensive game more variety, speed, and tactical aspects compared to baseball.

[3] The fielding team is forced to counter the batter's choices with defensive schemes and anticipation.

The manager has an important role in pesäpallo, leading the offense by giving signals to the players using a multicoloured fan.

The defensive team play is directed by the manager's orders and hand signals by the fielders.

[3] Pesäpallo was a demonstration sport at the 1952 Summer Olympics, held in Helsinki, Finland.

If the periods are tied, there will be an extra inning; if needed, there is a round (similar to a penalty shoot-out) where each team tries to bring a player home from the third base.

[6] During an inning, both teams take turns playing offense (batting) and defense (fielding).

The offensive team can use three jokers (similar to designated hitters) during one half-inning in addition to the nine players in the regular batting order.

The batter and the pitcher face each other in the home base, on opposite sides of the circular plate.

The pitch is delivered by throwing the ball directly upwards above the plate, at least one meter over the head of the pitcher.

[3] The most significant differences from baseball are: The team playing the defensive half has nine players in the field.

Today, players usually have a specialized role in the batting order depending on their abilities.

[8] The fields' dimensions vary dramatically: The distance to center field fencing in the men's Superpesis vary from 109 metres (358 ft) at Kiteen Pallo -90, to 168 metres (551 ft) at Seinäjoen JymyJussit.

The playing fields are most commonly various mixtures of thin dirt comparable to tennis clay courts, sand, and sometimes artificial grass, for instance at Pesäkarhut.

The glove is made of leather although some manufacturers use different kinds of synthetic fibers on the back side.

The ball is caught into the glove's cup between the thumb and the index finger.

Sometimes, however, the ball hits the palm and a properly designed glove can prevent injuries.

The biggest differences between bats lie in the weight, center of gravity, flexibility and length.

However, they do help the player substantially in rapid situations, especially when playing on modern artificial grass fields with some sand, which are very slippery to ordinary sport shoes.