The 2000

2000 in baseball

-Major League Baseball:*Regular Season Champions*World Series Champion - New York Yankees*Postseason - October 3 to October 26Click on any series score to link to that series' page....

 Japan Series

Japan Series

, or is the annual championship series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top baseball league in Japan. It is a seven-game series between the winning clubs of the league's two circuits, the Central League and the Pacific League....

matched the Central League

Central League

The or is one the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consists of six teams from around the country,The Central League...

 champion Yomiuri Giants

Yomiuri Giants

The are a professional baseball team based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The team competes in the Central League in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top level of professional play in Japan. They play their home games in the Tokyo Dome, opened in 1988. The English-language press occasionally calls the...

 against the Pacific League

Pacific League

The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series...

 champion and defending Japan Series champion Fukuoka Daiei Hawks

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

The are a Japanese baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. The team was bought on January 28, 2005 by the SoftBank Corporation.The team was formerly known as the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks. In 1988, Daiei bought the team from Osaka's Nankai Electric Railway Co., and its headquarters were...

. The press called it the O

Sadaharu Oh

Sadaharu Oh, or Wang Chenchih , is a retired Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager. He batted and threw left-handed and primarily played first base. Oh, who was born in Sumida, Tokyo the son of a Taiwanese father and a Japanese mother, had originally signed with the powerhouse Yomiuri...

N

Shigeo Nagashima

is a Japanese former professional baseball player and manager.Nagashima was by far the most popular figure in Japanese baseball during his career. His contributions to the development of the sport in Japan are immeasurable.-Biography:...

 series because of the managers on both sides: Sadaharu Oh

Sadaharu Oh

Sadaharu Oh, or Wang Chenchih , is a retired Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager. He batted and threw left-handed and primarily played first base. Oh, who was born in Sumida, Tokyo the son of a Taiwanese father and a Japanese mother, had originally signed with the powerhouse Yomiuri...

 for the Hawks and Shigeo Nagashima

Shigeo Nagashima

is a Japanese former professional baseball player and manager.Nagashima was by far the most popular figure in Japanese baseball during his career. His contributions to the development of the sport in Japan are immeasurable.-Biography:...

 for the Giants. The two were teammates in the 1960s and 1970s, and their combined hitting prowess gave them the nickname, "O-N Cannon."

Fukuoka Daiei Hawks

The defending Japan Series Champions were largely the same team that had taken the field in 1999, with one major exception: left-handed starter Kimiyasu Kudoh

Kimiyasu Kudoh

is a left-handed pitcher for the Pacific League's Saitama Seibu Lions of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball . He has recorded 224 career wins...

 had departed as a free agent over the winter and signed with the Giants. The core of the team was still intact, with Kenji Johjima

Kenji Johjima

is a Japanese catcher who is currently playing for the Hanshin Tigers. He played in Major League Baseball for four years with the Seattle Mariners in the American League....

 anchoring a strong lineup that also featured stars Nobuhiko Matsunaka

Nobuhiko Matsunaka

is a left fielder and designated hitter for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.Matsunaka is the only active hitter in Japanese professional baseball to have ever led the league in all three Triple Crown categories in the same season...

 and Hiroki Kokubo

Hiroki Kokubo

Hiroki Kokubo is a professional baseball player from Wakayama, Japan. He currently plays for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in the Japanese Pacific League....

. Pitching-wise, the Hawks saw the big-stage debut of future right-handed ace Kazumi Saitoh, who would make three appearances in relief without giving up a run.

Yomiuri Giants

For the first time in four years, the Giants had reached the Japan Series. They had not won the series since 1994, when they faced the Seibu Lions

Seibu Lions

The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based west of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Prince Hotels, which in turn is owned by the Seibu Group...

. A lot had changed in the six years since they had won, but the plethora of stars that they had been building since the mid-1990s was finally enough to get back to the Japan Series. Yomiuri had a powerful middle of the order between aging slugger Kazuhiro Kiyohara

Kazuhiro Kiyohara

is a former professional baseball player in Japan, having played in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league for 23 seasons. He retired following the 2008 season.-Biography:...

 and Hideki Matsui

Hideki Matsui

is a Japanese Major League Baseball designated hitter and outfielder. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed.After playing the first ten seasons of his career for the Yomiuri Giants of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, he played the next seven seasons, from 2003–2009, for the New York...

. The pitching staff featured established stars such as Kudoh and Hiromi Makihara

Hiromi Makihara

Hiromi Makihara is a former Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher. He was a six-time Central League All-Star, won Rookie of the Year honors, and pitched a perfect game in a 19-year career with the Yomiuri Giants. He is also the last man in Japanese baseball to throw a perfect game, a feat he...

.

Summary

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance
1	Giants – 3, Hawks – 5	October 21	Tokyo Dome Tokyo Dome Tokyo Dome is a 55,000-seat baseball stadium located in Bunkyo Ward of Tokyo, Japan.The stadium opened for business on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of the Velodrome which was next door to the site of the predecessor ballpark, Kōrakuen Stadium...	43,848
2	Giants – , Hawks – 8	October 22	Tokyo Dome Tokyo Dome Tokyo Dome is a 55,000-seat baseball stadium located in Bunkyo Ward of Tokyo, Japan.The stadium opened for business on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of the Velodrome which was next door to the site of the predecessor ballpark, Kōrakuen Stadium...	43,850
3	Hawks – 3, Giants – 9	October 23	Fukuoka Dome Fukuoka Dome The is a baseball field, located in Chūō-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Built in 1993, the stadium can accommodate 35,695 spectators and was Japan's first stadium with a retractable roof....	36,625
4	Hawks – 1, Giants – 2	October 26	Fukuoka Dome Fukuoka Dome The is a baseball field, located in Chūō-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Built in 1993, the stadium can accommodate 35,695 spectators and was Japan's first stadium with a retractable roof....	36,701
5	Hawks – 0, Giants – 6	October 27	Fukuoka Dome Fukuoka Dome The is a baseball field, located in Chūō-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Built in 1993, the stadium can accommodate 35,695 spectators and was Japan's first stadium with a retractable roof....	36,787
6	Giants – 9, Hawks – 3	October 28	Tokyo Dome Tokyo Dome Tokyo Dome is a 55,000-seat baseball stadium located in Bunkyo Ward of Tokyo, Japan.The stadium opened for business on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of the Velodrome which was next door to the site of the predecessor ballpark, Kōrakuen Stadium...	44,033