Maxwell takes unique, powerful stance
Aaron Judge broke Mark McGwire’s rookie home run record, and Cody Bellinger broke the National League record.
Matt Olson and Rhys Hoskins have been comparably prolific albeit with smaller sample sizes.
It has been a historic season for rookies, and yet the one who stands out the most, who took the biggest risk and sacrifice, who took a knee as a statement for social equality is a .240 hitter with three homers.
A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell won’t win Rookie of the Year. He won’t win everyone to his side, not by a long shot. But the first baseball player to kneel during the national anthem — a man who was born on a military base in Germany, was raised in Alabama, is a proud son of an Army man, loves his country, puts his hand over his heart as he looks to Old Glory — is the perfect voice to protest, in his words, “a racial divide that’s being practiced from the highest power we have in this country saying it’s basically OK to treat people differently.”
It’s one thing to join an entire football team arm in arm. It’s another to be alone in an entire baseball league. Maxwell has no guaranteed long-term contract or stats that cry out for one. He has much to lose but says the cause is a “bigger purpose than the baseball field and the uniform I wear and the sport I play.”
Maxwell’s well-prepared demonstration, thoughtful comments and courageous determination have earned him respect from the clubhouse to beyond the sports world. One A’s player told me he doesn’t agree with what Maxwell is doing but supports him. Another said he has learned much from Maxwell and respects his actions. Mark Canha has been the most compassionate, continuing to place his hand on Maxwell’s shoulder during the anthem.
There are objectors, of course. Some respectful, some ruthless. Some using racial slurs, some wishing he’d get kicked out of the game, some wishing bodily harm. Maxwell marches on. Other rookies hit a lot of home runs to make names for themselves. Maxwell took the road less traveled and should be applauded.