Waiter tells Maxwell he won’t serve him

A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell, an African American who became the first major-leaguer to kneel during the national anthem Sept. 23, told TMZsports.com that he and two people with whom he was dining were refused service by a waiter at an Alabama restaurant because of his protest.

Maxwell ordered a beer with his lunch, and the waiter asked for driver’s licenses from everyone at the table, said Huntsville, Ala., city councilman Devyn Keith, who was with Maxwell at the restaurant. When the waiter saw Maxwell’s ID, the waiter told the group he wouldn’t serve them, Keith said.

The incident happened this month, shortly after Maxwell returned to his Alabama home following the season, Maxwell said.

“I wasn’t even home four hours and I got denied service at lunch with my city councilman,” Maxwell told TMZ. “Because the dude recognized me as the guy who took a knee. And he voted for Trump and was at that Trump rally in Huntsville, Alabama.

“He goes, ‘I voted for Trump. And I stand for everything he stands for.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, really?’ And our councilman went and got their manager and had some words with him and he took him off of our table and put another person on our table.”

Maxwell told TMZ that incidents like his encounter with the waiter are hard to accept.

“Unless you’re subject to it, you won’t understand it and you won’t feel it,” Maxwell told TMZ. “But I’m 26 years old, I’m very respectful, I’m very educated, and it still happens to this day. And that’s the reason I’m kneeling, stuff like that.”

Maxwell told the Washington Post in a text message, “I’m really over that happening and it’s BS.”

Keith called the episode “an embarrassment.” He and Maxwell promised the restaurant’s management they wouldn’t publicize its name so people would continue to support local businesses.

“I believe in the fact that this was an idiot doing a stupid thing rather than a small business doing something wrong,” Keith said. Briefly: Former Giants thirdbase coach Phil Nevin and A’s third-base coach Chip Hale, each of whom interviewed for the Phillies’ managerial position, are no longer in the running, according to reports by USA Today and Fanrag.com, respectively . ... The Cardinals have added former A’s and Giants outfielder Willie McGee to manager Mike Matheny’s staff to help with outfield defense and baserunning, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported.