A’s catcher takes knee for anthem

Bruce Maxwell of the Oakland Athletics became the first major league baseball player to kneel during the national anthem.

Maxwell dropped to a knee just outside Oakland’s dugout on Saturday, adopting a protest started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in response to police treatment of blacks. Maxwell’s teammates stood in a line next to him. Teammate Mark Canha, who is white, put his right hand on one of Maxwell’s shoulders.

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.”

Maxwell’s protest comes after President Donald Trump denounced protests by NFL players and rescinded a White House invitation for NBA champion Stephen Curry in a two-day rant that targeted top professional athletes.

■ Puerto Rico: Houston Astros designated hitter CarlosBeltran and his wife, Jessica, pledged to donate $1 million to relief efforts for Hurricane Maria.

Beltran is one of many Puerto Rican major leaguers — Cleveland shortstop Francisco Lindor, St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina and Hall of Famer Pudge Rodriguez, among them — who are searching for ways to help their torn island.

Beltran’s teammate on the AL West champion Astros, star shortstop Carlos Correa, is collecting supplies and working with people in Puerto Rico to determine how best to get his donation to the southern part of the island where he’s from.

On Saturday, Major League Baseball donated $1 million to help relief efforts in Puerto Rico as well as from the earthquake in Mexico.

■ Marlins: Miami Special Assistant to the President Jeff Conine — who goes by the nickname Mr. Marlin — is part of the purge of Miami executives before the sale of the team to Derek Jeter’s investment group.

Also being let go are Hall of Famers Andre Dawson and Tony Perez, who had the same title as Conine, and former manager Jack McKeon, who has been special assistant to the owner since 2005.

■ Rangers: Texas manager Jeff Banister left the team on Saturday morning to be with his ill mother.

Banister’s mother, Verda, lives in Clear Lake, Texas.

Bench coach Steve Buechele manged the team’s game against the Oakland Athletics on Saturday and will manage again on Sunday.

■ Yankees: New York pitcher Luis Severino was hit in the back of the left shoulder by a line drive while the Toronto Blue Jays were taking batting practice.

The right-hander didn’t appear to suffer a serious injury in the accident.

■ Braves: Catcher Kurt Suzuki and Atlanta agreed to a $3.5 million, one-year contract for 2018.

The 33-year-old has a career-high 18 homers, and the Braves value his work with young starting pitchers.

Bruce Maxwell