2001 Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes season

The 2001 Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes season was the 51st season of the franchise in Nippon Professional Baseball, the team's 4th season at Osaka Dome, and the team's 51st season under Kintetsu Railway. This was also the team's second season under manager Masataka Nashida. For another year, the Buffaloes were led offensively by star tandem Norihiro Nakamura and Tuffy Rhodes. For the first time since 1989, the Buffaloes won the Pacific League pennant, and in stunning fashion, with Hirotoshi Kitagawa hitting a grand slam walk-off home run against the Orix BlueWave to secure the pennant. Had they lost, they still had to win a series against the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks to win the pennant. They however, would lose to the Yakult Swallows in the Japan Series in 5 games.[1] This season would also be Kintetsu's last Pacific League pennant win.

2001 Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes
Pacific League champions
LeaguePacific League
Record78-58-6 (.567)
League place1st
Team information
Parent companyKintetsu Railway
ManagerMasataka Nashida
BallparkOsaka Dome

Regular season

The Buffaloes finished in first place, with a 78-58-6 record, with a .567 winning percentage.

Pacific League[2] 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

References
  1. 2001: An Osakan Odyssey - The Story of the Kintetsu Buffaloes, retrieved 2022-03-23
  2. 一般社団法人日本野球機構. "年度別成績 2001年 パシフィック・リーグ | NPB.jp 日本野球機構". Npb.jp. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
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