Finland celebrates 40 years of baseball with first-ever int'l games in the country

Finland celebrates 40 years of baseball with first-ever int'l games in the country
20/09/2021
The two games were played at the brand new Myllypuro Baseball Stadium at Helsinki. Finland hosted Sweden and Estonia.

The Finnish Baseball and Softball Federation celebrated 40 years of baseball in the country. World No. 57 Finland hosted No. 73 Sweden and No. 75 Estonia on 4 September at the brand new Myllypuro Baseball Stadium in Helsinki, marking the first ever international baseball games played in the nation.

In the first game of the day, Sweden defeated Finland, 11-0; while in the second match the host squad topped Estonia, 3-1.

“Our goal is to reach the European A-pool level in 5 years, so it is vital that we start to measure ourselves against tougher teams like Sweden to see how much we need to improve and what areas we have most work to do,” said Finnish manager Tero Honkanen.

Before the game between Finland and Sweden, Finnish federation president Jukka Ropponen spoke on the 40 years of baseball in Finland, highlighting how a small group of people have been keeping the game alive in the country and were able to build the foundation to the growth of the game with new facilities like Myllypuro stadium and newly started junior programs.