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MLB

Texas-Size Texas League Playoffs

'Hounds, Hooks set to begin Texas League playoffs
By Bob Hards
September 9, 2015

The Corpus Christi Hooks and the RockHounds open their best-of-five Texas League South Division Championship Series Wednesday night (7:05) at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi. The match-up ranks as one of the two best in 39 of divisional postseason play (dating back to 1977).  

The Hooks & 'Hounds 

… were the top two teams over the course of the 2015 Texas League regular season. Corpus Christi finished 89-51, and the RockHounds 83-57. The Hooks won the South Division first halt title and the 'Hounds took the second half, each with a 48-22 mark. 

The 48-22 half-season records are tied for fifth-best since the Texas League began utilizing the half-season format in 1977.

The Texas League Record Book 

… says this is the second-best match-up in the 39 years since the advent of the division championship series in 1977.  

Combined, the two clubs are 64 games over .500. Only once since 1977 … 39 seasons … has a divisional playoff series pitted two clubs with a better combined win-loss total. In 2011, when San Antonio and Frisco squared off (also in the South Division series), the clubs were a combined 66 games over .500 (San Antonio was a remarkable 94-46 and Frisco 79-61).

Today's Useless Statistic 

While the South's two playoff clubs are a combined 64 games over .500, the North's playoff participants (Arkansas and Northwest Arkansas) are combined two games over (the Travelers are 71-68; the Naturals 69-70). That being said, once the playoffs begin, records go out the window.  

Head of the Class at the Dish 

The series between the Hooks and RockHounds features, among many others, the following Texas League leaders:

-   The top five hitters in the league: Jon Kemmer (CC, .327), Chad Pinder (RH, .317), Colin Moran (CC, .306), Colin Walsh (RH, .302) and Ryon Healy (RH, .302). The 'Hounds' Chad Oberacker finished 10th (.294).

-   The top four in on-base percentage: Colin Walsh (RH, .447), Jon Kemmer (CC, .414), Matt Olson (RH, .388) and Colin Moran (CC, .381). 

-   The top three in slugging percentage: Jon Kemmer (CC, .574), Chad Pinder (RH, .486) and Renato Nuñez (RH, .480).

-   Three of the top five run producers: Chad Pinder (RH, 1st, 86 RBI), Matt Olson (RH, 3rd, 75) and Conrad Gregor (CC, 5th, 73).

-   Two of the top five home run hitters: Jon Kemmer (CC) and Renato Nuñez (RH), tied for second, each with 18 HR.

-   Three of the top four in runs scored: Colin Walsh (RH, 1st, 97), Teoscar Hernandez (CC, 2nd, 92), Matt Olson (RH, 4th, 82).

-   The clubs finished 1-2 in both team batting average (the RockHounds .276 and the Hooks .275) and in runs per game. Corpus Christi averaged 5.30 rpg and the 'Hounds 5.17 - - - no other club in the league average more than 4.5 runs per contest (NW Arkansas, 4.5).

The RockHounds' 2015 Season 

… a new franchise mark for most wins (83)

… included the franchise's best half-season in the 39 seasons (since 1977) in which the Texas League has utilized the half-seasons format

… eclipsed the previous best half-season by five games (2001 RockHounds, 43-27)

… had the second-best winning percentage (.593) for a full season, second only to the 1975 Cubs (81-53, .604)

Mother Nature Déjà Vu?   

The '75 club became the only team in the Cubs era (1972-84) to reach the Texas League Championship Series, but the club had to settle for a "shared" championship when the final game of their series with the Lafayette (LA) Drillers was washed away by rain. The forecast for Corpus Christi is a little "dicey," with one local meteorologist calling for 1-3 inches of rain Thursday. Then again, what's his "batting average?