Pesäpallo Pesäpallo (; sv, boboll, both names literally meaning "nest ball", colloquially known in Finnish as pesis, 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 a ...

, the Finnish variant of

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, was played as a demonstration sport at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Helsinki Olympic Stadium The Helsinki Olympic Stadium ( fi, Helsingin Olympiastadion; sv, Helsingfors Olympiastadion), located in the Töölö district about from the centre of the Finnish capital Helsinki, is the largest stadium in the country, nowadays mainly used ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. The ceremonial first feed, or pitch, was thrown at 18:00 on 31 July by

Lauri Pihkala Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala (born Gummerus, 5 January 1888 – 20 May 1981) was the inventor of pesäpallo, the Finnish variant of baseball. In 1969 he became one of the first persons to receive an honorary doctorate in Sport Sciences from the Univer ...

, who had created the sport. The teams playing were the Finnish Baseball Federation and the

Finnish Workers' Sports Federation The Finnish Workers' Sports Federation ( fi, Suomen Työväen Urheiluliitto, ''TUL'', sv, Arbetarnas Idrottsförbund i Finland, ''AIF'') is a Finnish amateur sports organization founded in 1919. In addition to the competitive sports, TUL focuses o ...

. In a match with a shortened schedule, the Finnish Baseball Federation won, 8–4.

Rosters

Finnish Baseball League (Pesäpalloliitto)

Eino Kaakkolahti Eino Vihtori Kaakkolahti (April 25, 1929 — June 25, 2014) was a Finnish pesäpallo Pesäpallo (; sv, boboll, both names literally meaning "nest ball", colloquially known in Finnish as pesis, also referred to as Finnish baseball) is a f ...

, pitcher * Leo Hannula, 1st baseman * Viljo Niemi, left fielder * Olli Hanski, 2nd baseman * Antti Elomaa, catcher * Pertti Ahonen, 3rd baseman * Eero Vuorio, right shortstop * Toivo Ilola, left shortstop * Taisto Lehto, right fielder * Viljo Kokkonen, substitute * Pertti Jaakkola, substitute * Eero Vilevaara, substitute

Worker's Athletic Federation (Työväen Urheiluliitto)

* Aimo Paavola, pitcher * Osmo Juntto, 1st baseman * Onni Sallinen, left fielder * Jorma Harlin, 2nd baseman * Reino Hakkarainen, catcher * Veikko Auersalmi, 3rd baseman * Pauli Kilpiä, right shortstop * Paavo Reiju, left shortstop *

Lasse Heikkilä Lasse Heikkilä (born May 27, 1934) is a retired professional ice hockey player and coach who played in the SM-liiga. Heikkila played for Karhut and Ässät. He was later inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame The Finnish Hockey Hal ...

, right fielder * Pauli Lahtinen, substitute * Pauli Vainio, substitute * Oiva Huuskonen, substitute

Sources

*
Official Report
XV Olympiad Helsinki 1952. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pesapallo at the 1952 Summer Olympics 1952 Summer Olympics events 1952 1952 in baseball

1952 Discontinued sports at the Summer Olympics Olympic demonstration sports Men's events at the 1952 Summer Olympics