Pastime Baseball League – Baseball Bi-Weekly
Vol. 6, Monday, June 15, 2009
Knights Battling Back
New Orleans now 16-6 since Alston took over
NEW ORLEANS -- It's a long road ahead sharing the division with the PBL's best team, but manager Walter Alston has the New Orleans Knights believing they can catch the Memphis juggernaut.
Yes, the same Knights that were 11-23 a month ago have gone 16-6 since Alston replaced Tony LaRussa, and now find themselves a sniff from .500 - a mark Alston has designated as goal number one.
"When you start like we did, your first order of business is to get even," Alston said. "You don't win a division if you're below .500, so that's the first step. Then we can look up a bit."
"A bit" is 11 games, where the Memphis Strummers seem to be cruising. In between are the Orlando Orcas, but New Orleans now trails them by only 2 1/2 games.
Key to the resurgence has been Sam Thompson, whom Alston sat down with not 15 minutes after entering the clubhouse.
"Mr. Alston told me he needed me to lead, and that's what I've tried to do," Thompson said. And he's followed through, hitting .360 with 8 homers, 21 RBI and 26 runs scored in the 22 games since Alston took over. That performance culminated with a 3 homer, 6 RBI game June 2 against Alabama, setting Thompson up to win Southern League Player of the Week honors.
Add strong work by the trio of Doc McJames (5-0, 2.79), Rich Harden (4-1, 2.78) and Jack Chesbro (2-1, 2.50) since Alston took the helm and you have a recovering team that has plenty of time left to make waves.