2001 Pittsburgh Pirates season

The 2001 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 120th season of the franchise; the 115th in the National League. This was their first season at PNC Park. The Pirates finished sixth and last in the National League Central with a record of 62–100, their first 100 loss season since 1985. The year also saw longtime Pirate Bill Mazeroski inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Offseason

 * February 1, 2001: Billy Taylor was signed as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Game log

 * Legend:      = Win       = Loss Bold = Pirates team member
 * Legend:      = Win       = Loss Bold = Pirates team member

Notable transactions

 * April 2, 2001: Billy Taylor was released by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
 * April 3, 2001: Billy Taylor was signed as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
 * April 11, 2001: Ramón Martínez was signed as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
 * June 5, 2001: Jeremy Guthrie was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 3rd round of the 2001 amateur draft, but did not sign.
 * July 30, 2001: John Vander Wal and Jason Schmidt were traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the San Francisco Giants for Armando Ríos and Ryan Vogelsong.

PNC Park
The Pirates opened the park with two pre-season games against the New York Mets, the first was played on March 31, 2001. The first official baseball game played in PNC Park was between the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates, on April 9, 2001. The Reds won the game by the final score of 8–2. The first pitch was thrown by Todd Ritchie, a ball to Barry Larkin. In the top of the first inning, Sean Casey's two-run home run was the first hit in the park. The first Pirates' batter, Adrian Brown, struck out; however, later in the inning Jason Kendall singled, the first hit by a Pirate. Two days later, John Vander Wal became the first Pirate to hit a home run in the park.

Upon opening in 2001, PNC Park was praised by fans and media alike. Jim Caple, of ESPN.com, ranked PNC Park as the best stadium in Major League Baseball, with a score of 95 out of 100. He compared the park to Fallingwater, calling the stadium itself "perfect", and citing the high ticket prices as the only negative aspect of visiting the park. Pirates' vice-president Steve Greenberg said, "We said when construction began that we would build the best ballpark in baseball, and we believe we've done that." Major League Baseball executive Paul Beeston has said the park was the best he's seen so far in baseball. Many of the workers who built the park said that it was the nicest that they have seen. In 2008, Men's Fitness named the park one of "10 big league parks worth seeing this summer".



Awards and honors
2001 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
 * Brian Giles, OF, reserve

Statistics
''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''
 * Hitting

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
 * Pitching

Draft picks

 * Note
 * Age at time of draft.

Farm system
LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Williamsport