Maxwell kneels for anthem as A’s top Texas
Bruce Maxwell knew people would be watching, and so he took a knee, pulling baseball into a polarizing protest movement fueled by stars in the NFL, NBA and elsewhere.
Maxwell became the first major league baseball player to kneel during the national anthem before Khris Davis hit his 40th home run to lift the Oakland Athletics over the Texas Rangers 1-0 on Saturday night.
Maxwell dropped to a knee and pressed his cap against his chest just outside Oakland’s dugout during the anthem, adopting a protest started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in response to police treatment of blacks. The rookie catcher, 26, pressed his right hand against his heart, and teammates stood in a line next to him.
Teammate Mark Canha, who is white, put his right hand on one of Maxwell’s shoulders, and the two hugged after the anthem finished.
“Everybody watches sports and so everybody loves sports, so I felt this was the right thing for me to do personally,” Maxwell said.
The Athletics released a statement on Twitter shortly after the anthem, saying they “respect and support all of our players’ constitutional rights and freedom of expression” and “pride ourselves on being inclusive.”
Davis became the first A’s player to hit 40 home runs in consecutive seasons since Jimmy Foxx (1932-34). He’s the fourth player in franchise history with multiple 40-homer seasons. Foxx (3), Mark McGwire (3) and Jose Canseco (2) are the others.
“It’s nice to be mentioned in the presence of Hall of Famers,” Davis said. “I’m just enjoying it and embracing it as much as I can, just trying to help the ballclub win games.”
Davis homered against Miguel Gonzalez (8-12) in the second inning as the A’s won their season-high sixth straight game.
Raul Alcantara (1-1) threw five shutout innings of twohit ball, striking out five and walking two in a spot start for left-hander Sean Manaea, who’s experiencing upper back tightness.
A’s closer Blake Treinen pitched a scoreless ninth for his 11th save.
Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus said the Rangers have to win out their remaining games to have any chance of catching the Twins in the wild-card race.
“It is tough, but there’s no other way to go,” Andrus said. “We have to come back tomorrow and win, especially here. We’re having a tough time winning here. Winning tomorrow and heading back home would be really good.”