2001 Nippon Professional Baseball season
# 2001 Nippon Professional Baseball season

The 2001 Nippon Professional Baseball season ended with the Yakult Swallows defeating the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes in the 2001 Japan Series 4 games to 1.

## Standings

### Central League

| Central League | G | W | L | T | Pct. |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Yakult Swallows | 140 | 76 | 58 | 6 | .567 |
| Yomiuri Giants | 140 | 75 | 63 | 2 | .543 |
| Yokohama BayStars | 140 | 69 | 67 | 4 | .507 |
| Hiroshima Toyo Carp | 140 | 68 | 65 | 7 | .511 |
| Chunichi Dragons | 140 | 62 | 74 | 4 | .456 |
| Hanshin Tigers | 140 | 57 | 80 | 3 | .416 |

### Pacific League

| Pacific League | G | W | L | T | Pct. | GB |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes | 140 | 78 | 60 | 2 | .565 | - |
| Fukuoka Daiei Hawks | 140 | 76 | 63 | 1 | .547 | 2.5 |
| Seibu Lions | 140 | 73 | 67 | 0 | .521 | 6.0 |
| Orix BlueWave | 140 | 70 | 66 | 4 | .515 | 7.0 |
| Chiba Lotte Marines | 140 | 64 | 74 | 2 | .464 | 14.0 |
| Nippon-Ham Fighters | 140 | 57 | 80 | 3 | .416 | 20.5 |

## Japan Series

Yakult Swallows (4) vs. Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes (1)

| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Buffaloes – 0, Swallows – 7 | October 20 | Osaka Dome | 33,837 |
| 2 | Buffaloes – 9, Swallows – 6 | October 21 | Osaka Dome | 33,277 |
| 3 | Swallows – 9, Buffaloes – 2 | October 23 | Jingu Stadium | 30,443 |
| 4 | Swallows – 2, Buffaloes – 1 | October 24 | Jingu Stadium | 32,145 |
| 5 | Swallows – 4, Buffaloes – 2 | October 25 | Jingu Stadium | 32,568 |

## League leaders

### Central League

Batting leaders :

| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| - | - | - | - |
| Batting average | Hideki Matsui | Yomiuri Giants | .333 |
| Home runs | Roberto Petagine | Yakult Swallows | 39 |
| Runs batted in | Roberto Petagine | Yakult Swallows | 127 |
| Hits | Takuro Ishii | Yokohama BayStars | 171 |
| Stolen bases | Norihiro Akahoshi | Hanshin Tigers | 39 |

Pitching leaders :

| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| - | - | - | - |
| Wins | Shugo Fujii | Yakult Swallows | 14 |
| Earned run average | Shigeki Noguchi | Chunichi Dragons | 2.46 |
| Strikeouts | Shigeki Noguchi | Chunichi Dragons | 187 |
| Saves | Shingo Takatsu | Yakult Swallows | 37 |

### Pacific League

Batting leaders :

| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| - | - | - | - |
| Batting average | Kazuya Fukuura | Chiba Lotte Marines | .346 |
| Home runs | Tuffy Rhodes | Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes | 55 |
| Runs batted in | Norihiro Nakamura | Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes | 132 |
| Hits | Michihiro Ogasawara | Nippon-Ham Fighters | 195 |
| Stolen bases | Tadahito Iguchi | Fukuoka Daiei Hawks | 44 |

Pitching leaders :

| Stat | Player | Team | Total |
| - | - | - | - |
| Wins | Daisuke Matsuzaka | Seibu Lions | 15 |
| Earned run average | Nate Minchey | Chiba Lotte Marines | 3.26 |
| Strikeouts | Daisuke Matsuzaka | Seibu Lions | 214 |
| Saves | Rodney Pedraza | Fukuoka Daiei Hawks | 38 |
