This is the first time Hopatcong, the No.2 seed, will play for the championship, on their fourth journey into the playoffs. Fourth-seeded Tucson has made the playoffs five straight seasons, including a title run in 2016.
After five losing seasons as an expansion team, including three straight 100-loss campaigns, the Floating Fish finally broke through and made the playoffs in 2012 and again in 2013. As a No. 3 seed in 2012, they beat the No. 6 Newark Sugar Bears, 3-1, in the first round before falling to No. 2 Vancouver in 5 games.
In 2013, Hopatcong gained a 5th seed and was swept by Hoboken in the first round as the No. 4 Cutters went on to win the title. The Fish made the playoffs in 2017 as a No. 6 seed, losing in 5 games in the first round, again to the eventual champ, No. 3 Hoboken.
Tucson is enjoying a five-year playoff run since entering the league in 2013. As the then-Durham Bulls, they qualified as a No. 3 seed in 2014 and swept Brick City (now Poovey Farms) in 3 games, before falling to No. 3 Hoboken in a 7-game semifinal series.
The King Snakes would earn back-to-back No. 1 seeds with varying results. In 2015, they were upset by No. 5 Arkansas in the semi-finals but in 2016 took their revenge by beating No. 2 Arkansas in 6 games for the title after taking No. 5 Allentown in 5 games. Last season, as a No. 2 seed, Tucson went 7 games before losing to No. 3 Hoboken.
Enough about history though, let's have a closer look at each contender before Friday night's Game 1:
Hopatcong took the season series 8-2. The Fish went 29-23 versus playoff teams during the regular season and won their first playoff series 4-2. Tucson was just 18-32 versus playoff teams but is 7-4 after two rounds of the playoffs.
Both teams were fairly balanced in wins and losses whether facing right-handed or left-handed starters, with no great departures from their overall records (.617 and .546, respectively). Both had slightly better records against left-handers, Hopatcong was 27-15 (.643) and Tucson was 28-22 (.560) while against versus righties, the Floating Fish were 73-47 (.608) and the King Snakes were 61-52 (.540).
Hopatcong has home-field advantage in the Best-of-Seven series and that goes in their favor. The Fish had a league-best 59-22 (.728) home record but were barely .500 on the road at 41-40 (.506). Tucson also was strong on their home field at 51-31 (.630), the 4th best mark in the league, but struggled even more away from home at 38-43 (.469), the only playoff team with a losing mark.
Both teams had only one other team in their divisions with winning records and two with losing records. Within their respective divisions, Tucson had the better mark at 27-16 (.628) compared with 23-19 (.548) for Hopatcong. (Tucson also had the extra play-in game versus Arkansas.)
If you're looking for any keys to a Tucson upset, it could be to get into one-run, extra-inning games. Those were about the only categories where the Fish had a poor record. They were 18-29 (.383) in 1-run games and 3-9 (.250) in extra-inning games. The King Snakes meanwhile was 9-7 (.563) in extras and 25-25 (.500) in 1-run games.
Both teams also had fairly even records when it came to leading, trailing or being tied after 7 innings. Hopatcong was 87-7 (.926) when leading after 7 compared with 76-5 (.938) for Tucson. The two were almost identical when tied after 7: 8-7 (.533) for Hopatcong, 8-8 (.500) for Tucson. They also staged precisely 5 comeback wins a piece in the regular season, Hopatcong, 5-48 (.094) versus Tucson, 5-61 (.076).
No. 2 Hopatcong Floating Fish
Hopatcong went 100-62 (.617) to win the Bonds Division, laying in wait as Philly got off to a hot start and overtaking the Green Range mid-season to ultimately take the division by 13 games. The Floating Fish had the league's No. 1 offense, scoring 866 runs (5.3 per game) behind a long-time core of former MVP Joey Votto (41 HR, 113 R, 107 RBI), Bryce Harper (39-107-108), Yoenis Cespedes (32-91-77) and last year's Listach Award winner, Gary Sanchez (31-68-88), along with Robinson Cano (23-70-84). They also had an emerging season at 3B by from Nick Castellanos (28-78-90), who had an unexpected 10 triples.
As a team, the Fish batted a league-best .268 and finished 4th in OBP, here's a look at some batting categories and where they ranked:
BA, .268 (1)
OBP, .335 (4)
SLG, .473 (1)
OPS, .808 (1)
HR 272 (1)
2B 277 (10)
With all that focus on offense, it might come as surprise to know that Hopatcong also led the league in pitching (3.53 ERA, 1.21 WHIP), allowing a league-low 632 runs (3.9 per game). The combination led to the best run differential in the DMBL this season at +234. Fifth-seeded Marietta, knocked out by Tucson in the 1st round, was the only other squad to break 200 (+203).
No. 4 Tucson King Snakes
To look at the records of both title contenders, you might think it'll be a cake walk for Hopatcong. Tucson was 11 games behind at 89-74 (.546). The King Snakes were in control of the Clemente Division most of the season until a furious rally by Arkansas in the final months when both teams swapped the lead over the final weeks, ultimately finishing in a tie that warranted an extra game to decide the division winner.
Yet once the King Snakes got the postseason, they've already dispatched two 100-win teams, first No. 5 Marietta in a five-game opening round series, and then knocking off top-seeded Sardine City in a 6-game semi-final round series. Only three No. 1 seeds have gone all the way in the last decade, Sardine City's loss breaks a Giants-like even-numbered year pattern (Marietta, 2012; San Francisco, 2014; Tucson, 2016).
Tucson tied (with Vancouver) for 4th in runs scored with 801 (4.9 per game) and 6th in runs allowed at 711 (4.3 per game), making for a run differential of +90, good for 4th in the league. Tucson ranked 7th in ERA at 4.03 and 6th in WHIP at 1.28.
The King Snakes didn't rank No. 1 in any batting stats but did find themselves in the top quarter of the league in most major categories:
Yet once the King Snakes got the postseason, they've already dispatched two 100-win teams, first No. 5 Marietta in a five-game opening round series, and then knocking off top-seeded Sardine City in a 6-game semi-final round series. Only three No. 1 seeds have gone all the way in the last decade, Sardine City's loss breaks a Giants-like even-numbered year pattern (Marietta, 2012; San Francisco, 2014; Tucson, 2016).
Tucson tied (with Vancouver) for 4th in runs scored with 801 (4.9 per game) and 6th in runs allowed at 711 (4.3 per game), making for a run differential of +90, good for 4th in the league. Tucson ranked 7th in ERA at 4.03 and 6th in WHIP at 1.28.
The King Snakes didn't rank No. 1 in any batting stats but did find themselves in the top quarter of the league in most major categories:
BA, .258 (T6)
OBP, .327 (7)
SLG, .444 (4)
OPS, .771 (3)
HR, 236 (5)
2B, 286 (7)
Tucson seemed to get here on their pitching with some timely hitting. No King Snake finished the regular season with 100 RBI. Marcell Ozuna (28-93-98)was the only player to eclipse 80 RBI, leading the team with 98, and continuing his timely hitting into the postseason. Ozuna, along with Jose Altuve (17-113-76), both reached 200 hits, and Altuve has a postseason-leading 16 hits through two rounds. Another playoff hero, Mike Zunino (30-70-69), had a team-best 30 HRs in the regular season. Tucson also boasts he 2018 batting champion, Avisail Garcia (9-80-66), who hit .347 in 131 games and also had some big hits - and got hit - in the semi-finals against Sardine City.
Tucson has a formidable bullpen with a variety of options from which to choose. First-rounder Josh Hader (6-4, 7 Sv, 2.32 ERA), is one of the first out of the pen and Craig Kimbrel (25 saves, 0.65 WHIP) has been an elite DMBL closer for years, making Blake Parker (2.43, 5-3, 4 Sv) the more unheralded but still effective reliever. They also picked up lefty Felipe Rivero at the deadline.
Max Scherzer (18-7, 3.33) acquired last offseason for two 1st-rounders and Zack Cozart, is the anchor of the rotation, with a 1.07 WHIP and 280 Ks. Then it's left-handers, Robbie Ray (11-6,4.50) and Madison Bumgarner (5-13, 5.22), with Rich Hill (6-7, 4.68) also an option though he has yet to appear in the playoffs. But there's also Tanner Roark (13-9) who came up with a stellar outing in his lone postseason start in Game 4 of the semis, as did Ray in a critical Game 5.
Hopatcong meanwhile features the only 20-game winner this season in Stephen Strasburg (20-3, 2.55 ERA) and a leading McDonald Award contender. Backing him in the rotation are Gio Gonzalez (16-6, 3.29) and Kyle Hendricks (12-8, 3.63), while Paul Blackburn (15-7, 4.27) also has made a start in the postseason. The bullpen has a variety of options with Adam Warren (2.38 ERA, 7-3, 9 Sv, 81 G) usually the first out of the pen and a trio of lefties: Aroldis Chapman (2-5, 2.67, 1 Sv), Tyler Lyons (2.56, 2-6, 6 Sv), and Alex Claudio (2.33 ERA, 30 Sv). Mychal Givens led Fish relievers with a 2.01 ERA.
OBP, .327 (7)
SLG, .444 (4)
OPS, .771 (3)
HR, 236 (5)
2B, 286 (7)
Tucson has a formidable bullpen with a variety of options from which to choose. First-rounder Josh Hader (6-4, 7 Sv, 2.32 ERA), is one of the first out of the pen and Craig Kimbrel (25 saves, 0.65 WHIP) has been an elite DMBL closer for years, making Blake Parker (2.43, 5-3, 4 Sv) the more unheralded but still effective reliever. They also picked up lefty Felipe Rivero at the deadline.
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