Tadahito Iguchi
The Hawks were looking for their second championship in five years (they defeated the Chunichi Dragons in 1999, four games to one), and this was their third appearance in that span. Despite the team's youth, slugger and manager Sadaharu Oh whipped the young team into shape in the previous seasons. Daiei had the best offense in the league, led by Nobuhiko Matsunaka, Kenji Johjima, and Tadahito Iguchi, with speedsters Munenori Kawasaki and Arihito Muramatsu setting up the sluggers with their speed. The Hawks also had four hitters with 100 or more runs batted in and the team batted a league record .297.