SM Sarja - Finnish Baseball League & Suomi Sarja - Finnish Baseball First Division
2023
SM Sarja: Second Place
Suomi Sarja: Second place Softball: N/A
Juniors: N/A
Tampere Tigers is a baseball and softball club from Tampere, Finland. The club competes in the two Finnish Baseball Leagues, Suomi Sarja and SM Sarja. Tampere Tigers were founded in 2004 by Arni Hukari and Lassi Autio. The Tigers have also a female softball team and a juniors program for kids 7-13.
During its first year the team participated in two exhibition tournaments, winning the second one. The team's name, Tigers, comes from the Japanese baseball team Hanshin Tigers.
Season 2005 was the team's first in the Finnish Baseball League. The team had 18 players, and its win-loss record was 4-11. The Tigers finished 5th in the league of 6 teams. In the award ceremony at the end of the season, Tigers’ Tomi Krogerus was elected the Rookie of the year.
Going into the 2006 season, Tigers set their goal to top-3. They finished 5th in the league, although only 2 wins away from meeting their goal. The best part of the season was the apparent development of their players. In 2006, two members of the Tigers were handed federation awards: Tuomo Mesimäki being the Rookie of the year and Niko Wirgentius the Best batter.
Year 2007 was a huge disappointment for the Tigers. They lost a couple of key players, and only managed one win in 12 games. In the Finnish Cup of baseball they advanced to the semifinal only to lose against the reigning 5-in-a-row league champions Espoo Expos. Tigers played many even games, always losing in the final innings due to the lack of experience.2008 was a historical year, 3 years after initiating its participation in the Finnish league, the team qualified for their first postseason playoff. In a best of three series the team was defeated by the 5 time consecutive champions Espoo Expos. The Tigers showed defiance on its first away game when they managed to take a 3-0 lead by the top of the second inning but gradually lost the grip of the game and succumbed in a 6-14 loss. For the second game at home turf, the high speed pitches of Juha-Pekka Niemi and the precision of Tomi Krogerus were not backed up offensively and the team lost the game and the chances of getting to the finals on a shutout game 7-0. In 2009 the team ended the season with a low winning percentage of .185, with Tommi Harala (SS/P) having the best batting average of the league that year at 0.514 and 11 RBI.
Despite having a record number of players in their roster (28) and the best fielding percentage in the entire league (0.923) the team didn't manage to balance their winning percentage and ended up with a poor .200 in 2010. Despite this, Tommi Harala with an average of 0.529 won the title of Best batter of the league.
In 2011 the team did not participate in the SM Sarja and instead participated for the first time in the Suomi Sarja (First division) with a record of 3 wins, 1 loss and 1 tie (Games had an inning limit)
The Tigers came back to SM Sarja in 2012. At the end of the season the winning percentage was .250 but Andres Mena with an average of 0.512 was awarded the Best batter of the league.
The winning percentage for season 2013 had an increment at .267 and Andres Mena repeated the title of Best batter of the league with an average of 0.500. Teammate Yoan Martinez finished in third place with an average of .426.
There was a considerable improvement in the team's performance in 2014, the winning percentage rose up to .333 and Yoan Martinez became the best batter of the season with an average of 0.528.
The Tampere Tigers became Suomi Sarjaa Champions for the first time in 2016.
In 2015, the team returned to Suomi Sarja. After ending the season with a positive record, the team qualified to the postseason, their first in this league and second time in its history. A single game final took place in Espoo where the team couldn't manage to secure the title finishing the season in second place.
In 2016 the Tigers made history and after a second consecutive appearance in the Suomi Sarja finals, they clinched their first title after defeating the City Mets in an exciting final game played in home ground. The team had an almost perfect season, losing only two games and winning 13 in the regular season. A very strong and experienced bullpen and great power in the offensive gave the team their first championship title.
2017 was another historical year for the Tigers. For the first time in its history, the club participated in the two competitive leagues in the country. With a solid offensive team and a great bullpen the team managed to end the SM Sarja season in a historical 3rd place. The team had the most stolen bases in the league and the second best bullpen with an ERA of 5.2. In Suomi Sarja the team clinched the second consecutive title after completing an almost perfect season where they only lost a game. Another historical milestone was accomplished with the establishment of the first softball team in the club with the participation of 9 women. The team had three exhibition games in Tampere.
In 2018 the Tigers showed an improvement in the quality of play. A very strong, record breaking 29 man roaster with great potential. However, luck was not in their favor in terms of results in SM Sarja. Despite a good performance the team lost a lot of games in extra innings and by the minimum difference and that was reflected in their record. The team however managed to qualify for the third time straight to the Suomi Sarja playoffs where they ultimately lost the opportunity to repeat the championship for the third time in a row by losing against their classic rivals Espoo XL5 in the semifinals.
Season 2019 was marked by a historical achievement. For the first time in Club's history the Tigers made it to the SM Sarja finals. With a very talented team and finishing in first place in the regular season on batting average, Slugging and On Base percentage the team managed to qualify to the best of 5 series against Espoo Expos. The experience on these instances and the spot on performance of the Expos bullpen made it impossible for the Tigers to claim their first title and end up losing the series 1-3. Meanwhile in Suomi Sarja, the team managed to qualify for their 5th consecutive postseason appearance. In the best of three series the team failed to win a game and ended up losing the series 0-2 in a series where despite their good production of runs, their bullpen did not respond as well as it had been responding during the regular season. In the end, Tigers concluded 2019 with a silver + silver season, a historical one.
The 2021 Tampere Tigers softball, National Champions
Season 2020 was an unusual one. The Tigers finished the regular SM Sarja season in first place for the first time in their history with a record 12 - 2 and a winning percentage of .857. The club however decided to resign from the SM Sarja league while the Final series was underway in protest for alleged irregularities in the way the Baseball Federation managed the league. The allegations included: special rules to automatically suspend players, provocations from members of the federation online and from the bleachers and scheduling final games in the opponent's field. A new Federation Board was brought up in 2020 and investigations were promised. In Suomi Sarja, the team full of new players ended the season in third place.
In season 2021 the Club made history after winning the SM Sarja championship for the first time since their foundation, becoming Finnish National Champions after defeating the Espoo Expos three games to one in the Finals. With the same structure of players from the previous year plus the incorporation of key come-backs, the team managed to dominate their rivals and secured the first place in the regular season and win the final series. Another historical achievement was made when the Tigers Softball won the Championship game against the Helsinki Sandstorm to crown themselves as Finnish National Champions. Both teams automatically gained a spot in the European tournaments. The Suomi Sarja (Fat Lizard league) team finished the season in second place, after finishing the regular season in first place and losing the final series 0-2 against Espoo XL5.
2022 was a record breaking for the Tigers in SM Sarja with a winning record of 14-1. The team ended in first place in the regular season but failed to defend their championship and lost the final series 0-3 against Espoo Expos. In Suomi Sarja, the team ended in third place after failing to qualify to the finals in the last game of the regular season. In 2022 the team made history by participating in the European Cup Qualifiers in Kutno, Poland representing Finnish baseball for the first time.
In 2023 the Tigers participated again in Superbaseball (Former SM Sarja), Fat Lizard League (former Suomi Sarja) and internationally in the European Cup Qualifiers in Budapest. The highlight of the year was the first international win for Tigers 24-11 against Sofia Leaders from Bulgaria. In the local front, both teams managed to qualify to the finals after finishing their regular seasos in first place but could not win the final series and end up losing the Fat Lizard final series 0-2 and the Superbaseball final series 2-3 after being in the lead 2-0. A diminished physical condition and small roster influenced their performances at the end of the season. The highlight in Finland was the 11 winning streak in Superbaseball.
Players 2023
A combination of experienced players and talented young faces have brought strength and confidence to the team.
Finnish International Sergio Fernandez, considered one of the best players in the history of baseball in Finland and a regular in the Finnish National Team plays with the Tigers
Official list of players
Roynet Perez
Andres Mena
Jose Mesa
Sergio Fernandez
Luis Noyola
Mauricio Rosales
Niko Mäki
Gabriel Rosell
Willys Reyes
Einieri Mainegra
Jose Gonzales
Tommi Harala
Juan Carlos Mendez
Henri Santala
Corey Niemi
Adunais Perez
Juha-Pekka Niemi
Miikka Aaltonen
Jyri Portin
Janne Ylänkö
Janne Pihlajaniemi
Luis Diaz
Israel Perez
Christopher Lopez
Eduardo Megret
Raynel Corporan
Tuomas Virtanen
Faith Jepkogei
Samuel Figueroa
On DL:
Pasi Tulonen
Andres Mena of Cuban origin is one of the best players in the league and in the Finnish National Team roster. He started his career in Finland playing as a short stop for the Tigers
Managers
The Tigers have had a great selection of managers and coaches. Working together with the Club's board, their main objectives have always been the development of new talents and building up a competitive team for each season.
Tiger's pregame meeting, getting ready to take on their rivals
2004 Lassi Autio
2005 Lassi Autio
2006 Lassi Autio
2007 Oliver Paredes
2008 Tuomo Mesimäki
2009 Lassi Autio
2010 Aki Ropo
2011 Lassi Autio
2012 Aki Ropo
2013 Andres Mena
2014 Luis Noyola
2015 Lassi Autio
2016 Mauricio Rosales
2017 Mauricio Rosales
2018 Mauricio Rosales
2019 Mauricio Rosales
2020 Mauricio Rosales
2021 Mauricio Rosales
2022 Mauricio Rosales
2023 Mauricio Rosales
Former or not currently active players
Throughout its history, the team has had an array of extra ordinary players. Some are still active in other teams in Finland and some are playing overseas. Some of the players have had previous experience playing baseball while some others learned to play in the club.
List of former players
Yendrys Serrano Williams Kelly Remberto Martinez Niklas Palander Santeri Heino Toni Kemppainen Sakari Keskitalo Duviel Fernandez Harvey Fernandez Severi Lehtimäki Tuomo Vestola Simon Visser Cassie Andersen Anssi Rämä Riku Sjöroos Tuomas Lemmetty Markus Blommendahl Jarkko Vilkkilä Otto Nojonen Jarkko Juutilainen Tomi Krogerus Tommi Harala Arni Hukari Akira Ropo Aki Ropo Toni Sjöman Oliver Paredes Juha Kurki Mikko Salmensuo Mauno Ahlgren Jarmo Rintala Aarne Juutilainen Olli Mehtonen Klaus Tamminen Niko Wirgentius Tuomo Mesimäki Abel Maranon Julian Hasegawa Ton Sjöman Jyrki Nummenmaa Samuli Ikola Tomi Karppinen Kari Harjunniemi Jarkko Kettunen Carlos Ardila Tommi Tuominen Juha Antikainen Alberto Martinez Tommi Sakki Victor Viloria Simopekka Vänskä Marc Phillipe Tomi Mäntymaa Tuomas Miskala Jarkko Mällinen Harri Moisio Edvin Suarez Konsta Eskelinen Otto Eskelinen Victor Maso Antony De la Cruz Atro-Matti Puruskainen Heikki Valkama Toivo Aaltonen Dayron Lester Markku Tikka Teemu Takala Antti Kiviniemi Markus Kailanto Don Kilpela Jake Binney Markku Tikka Henri Virinsalo Juuso Valkeala Jarmo Rintala Jarkko Vilkkilä Mikko Helin Joni Holmberg Dennys King Roope Korhonen Mikko Siltanen Samuel Kivi Narender Kumar Rafael Espinal Gilberto Ruiz Silvio Guarat Jeremi Rannikko Riku Katajamäki Eemi Huhtinen Jani Aaltonen Wilmer Wilson Elwin Rosario Yoan Martinez Martin Magris Lassi Autio Silvio Quevedo Teo Scheepstra Tauno Koppel Camilla Lehtimäki Roberto Martinez Sidney Kitchen Vicente Herrera Heidi Rimpi Yuber Fajardo Petteri Peijonen Tuomas Virtanen Patrick Carney Christian Camacho
Some of the players in this list become available and return to the team to play in a particular season while some others have already retired from the sport.
Statistics
Tigers SM Sarja record (Including post season)
Tampere Tigers in 2016
Year
Games
Win
Loss
2005
15
4
11
2006
12
4
8
2007
12
1
11
2008
14
4
10
2009
16
3
13
2010
15
3
12
2012
12
3
9
2013
15
4
11
2014
15
5
10
2017
16
9
7
2018
16
6
10
2019
20
15
5
2020
17
12
5
2021
20
15
5
2022
18
14
4
2023
17
13
4
Total
250
115
128
Tigers Suomi Sarja record
Year
Games
Win
Tie
Loss
2004
4
1
1
2
2011
5
3
1
1
2015
13
7
1
5
2016
16
14
0
2
2017
15
14
0
1
2018
12
7
1
4
2019
12
8
0
4
2020
14
9
0
5
2021
14
10
0
4
2022
12
5
1
6
2023
12
8
0
4
Total
128
86
5
38
Post-season record
The Tigers celebrating the 2017 title after defeating XL5 in Turku
The team won its first final in 2016.
2008:
SM Sarja playoff
Lost playoff series 0-2 vs Espoo Expos
2015:
Suomi Sarja final
Lost single final game 14-5 vs Espoo XL5
2016:
Suomi Sarja Final
Win single final game 8-5 vs Helsinki City
Note: In 2017 there was no post-season scheduled. The team won the title by winning more games (14) than the rest of the teams in the regular season
2018:
Suomi Sarja Playoffs
Win wildcard game 15-5 vs Nokia White Sox
Lost final series 0-2 vs Espoo XL5
2019:
Suomi Sarja final series
Lost final series 0-2 vs Espoo XL5
SM Sarja 2021 National Champions
SM Sarja final series
Lost final series 1-3 vs Espoo Expos
2020:
SM Sarja final series
Lost final series 0-3 vs Espoo Expos (Forfeiting games 2 and 3)
The SM-liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It was created in 1975 to replace the SM-sarja, which was fundamentally an amateur league. The SM-liiga is not directly overseen by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, but the league and association have an agreement of cooperation. SM is a common abbreviation for Suomen mestaruus, "Finnish championship".
Porin Ässät, officially named Hockey Club Ässät Pori and colloquially known as Pata, is a professional ice hockey club based in Pori, Finland. It competes in the SM-liiga, the highest-ranking league of ice hockey in Finland. Since 1971, Ässät has played its games in the Isomäki Ice Hall.
Mestis is the second-highest men's ice hockey league in Finland. The league was established by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 2000 to replace the I-divisioona.
Kotkan Titaanit is an ice-hockey club founded in 1974 in Kotka, which at its best has played four season at Finland's second highest level. Titaanit play their home match at Ilona Areena, which can hold nearly two thousand (1958) viewers.
Savonlinnan Pallokerho (SaPKo) is an ice hockey team from Savonlinna, Finland, they currently play in the Suomi-sarja. It plays its home matches at the Talvisalo ice rink.
HIFK is a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland that plays in the SM-liiga, the sport's top-level league in Finland. The team plays at Helsinki Ice Hall.
Noora Helena Räty is a Finnish ice hockey goaltender and the goaltending coach of Shenzhen KRS in the Chinese Women's Ice Hockey League. She was a founding board member of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) and was a member of the board affiliated with the Minnesota chapter of the organization until signing a Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) contract with the Metropolitan Riveters in May 2023.
The Baseball Finnish Championship Series has been played in Finland since 1981. Currently the Championship consists of 6 teams, but has had as many as 7. The Championship winner represents Finland in the following year's CEB European Cup tournament.
The U20 SM-sarja is the premier junior men’s ice hockey league in Finland. It was previously known as the A-nuorten SM-sarja during 1945 to 1991 and the Nuorten SM-liiga during 1991 to 2020. The league was founded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 1945 and a Finnish Champion in men’s under-20 ice hockey has been named annually since the league’s inaugural season – with the exception of the 2019–20 season, in which the playoffs were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eighteen to twenty teams compete in the U20 SM-sarja regular season, which is played in a preliminary ranking stage followed by a divisional or group stage.
Ella Viitasuo is a Finnish ice hockey player and member of the Finnish national team. She most recently played during the 2022–23 season with HV71 of the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL).
The 2016–17 Mestis season was the 17th season of Mestis, the second highest level of ice hockey in Finland after Liiga. Previous seasons champion Jukurit got a place in the Liiga. IPK got promoted from Suomi-sarja at the end of last season. Espoo United got a place in Mestis after Espoo Blues suffered bankruptcy and the league was exceptionally played with 13 teams.
The 2018–19 Mestis season is the 19th season of Mestis, the second highest level of ice hockey in Finland after Liiga. KOOVEE was promoted from Suomi-sarja due to Espoo United declaring bankruptcy at the end of last season.
Ice hockey is the most popular sport in Finland in terms of television viewership and game attendance figures. It is third most popular sport in participation amongst children. As of 2020, approximately 1.3% of the Finnish population was registered with the International Ice Hockey Federation, ranking Finland second in the world for percentage of population participating in ice hockey and the highest percentage of any country outside of North America.
Naisten Liiga, also called the Naisten SM-liiga (NSML) and Jääkiekon naisten SM-liiga, is the elite league for women's ice hockey in Finland. Founded by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association as the Naisten SM-sarja in 1982, it was so known until being rebranded as the Naisten Liiga in 2017. The league comprises approximately 250 players across ten teams.
HPK Kiekkonaiset or HPK Naiset are an ice hockey team in the Naisten Liiga (NSML), the premier women's ice hockey league in Finland. They play in Hämeenlinna, a city in the Finnish south-central province of Kanta-Häme, at the Hämeenlinnan harjoitushalli, a secondary ice rink at Ritari-areena. HPK were the first team to be awarded the Aurora Borealis Cup as the winners of the Finnish Championship in 2011 and also won bronze in the 2011–12 IIHF European Women's Champions Cup.
Naisten Mestis is the second-highest women's ice hockey league in Finland. The league was founded as Naisten I-divisioona in 1985 by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, when the number of teams playing in the Naisten SM-sarja was limited. It was renamed Naisten Mestis prior to the 2012–13 season.
Kiekko-Espoo is a Finnish professional ice hockey club founded in 2018 as a continuation of the Kiekko-Espoo team originally founded in 1984. Kiekko-Espoo men's team plays in the Mestis, where they have won one championship (2022–23), and the women's team plays in the Naisten Liiga. Kiekko-Espoo's junior teams play at national league levels in U16, U18 and U20 juniors. The junior teams of Espoo Blues and Kiekko-Espoo played under Kiekko-Espoo Juniorit ry until 2014. Kiekko-Espoo will participate in the SM-liiga for the 2024–25 season.
The Naisten Suomi-sarja, distinguished as the Jääkiekon naisten Suomi-sarja, is the third-tier women's ice hockey league in Finland. It was established by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 2003 and is the lowest tier of national ice hockey competition, below the premier Naisten Liiga and secondary Naisten Mestis, but above regional leagues.
Anni-Elina Montonen is a Finnish ice hockey player and member of the Finnish national team, currently playing in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) with HV71 Dam.
The 2023–24 Mestis season is the 24th season of Mestis, the second level of ice hockey in Finland. 13 teams will participate in the league. This season will mark the return of Jokerit to Finnish hockey after 10 years in the KHL.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Mauricio Rosales
