‘A place I was wanted and belonged’ — exA Maxwell succeeds in Mexico
When the A’s clinched their wildcard spot this fall, Bruce Maxwell started hearing from his detractors. Oakland’s former catcher, the first and only bigleaguer to kneel during the national anthem, hadn’t played for the team in more than a year.
“I had a few people on Twitter saying, ‘F— you, I still hope you die. I’m glad you’re not on our team, we don’t play kneelers.’ I was like, ‘Two years later y’all are still worrying about me?’ ” Maxwell told The Chronicle. “People say they wish I’d go away — then they take the time to find me, when I’ve completely removed myself from damn near every contact I’ve had, and I have a new Facebook, new Instagram. I’ve started over, and I’m really happy with who I’m looking at in the mirror every day, physically, emotionally.”
Maxwell, 28, did go away, far away: He played in Mexico this year and had a terrific season, batting .325 with 24 homers and 112 RBIs; his teammate Chris Carter, another former A’s player, hit 49 homers and drove in 119 runs batting just in front of Maxwell as the two helped Monclova win the Mexican League championship last week for the first time in franchise history.
“It’s more about the perception, not who you are or what you do on the field. There’s no reason Chris should have been down here with me, either, we had the most electrifying lineup in the league, it was a historic season here,” Maxwell said. “When I showed up in March, I was like, ‘Why do all these people think I’m trying out?’ and the owner said, ‘Because you’re not on the roster.’ I told him, ‘You and I know I’m not here to try out. I’m here to lead your team to a championship.’ And I ended up doing that.
“I had less stress, more welcoming teammates and coaches, I felt like it was a place I was wanted and belonged.”
Maxwell clearly wasn’t welcome in the big leagues last year. No teams called last winter. Some of that was his production — he hit .182 with one homer and six RBIs in 55 atbats with Oakland, .219 with one homer and 17 RBIs in 200 atbats with TripleA Nashville. Some of it was his 2017 arrest on aggravated assault charges in Scottsdale, Ariz., after allegedly waving a gun at a food delivery person, charges that were dropped after Maxwell agreed to plead guilty to disorderly conduct. And some of it might have stemmed from his 2017 decision to kneel for the anthem (he stood throughout 2018). Numerous baseball executives told The Chronicle last winter that they had no interest in the free agent because of the political baggage associated with him.
“People looked at me in a different light because of that,” Maxwell said. “People in baseball and fans look at me like a terrible person, an awful human being for standing up for what I believe in. Or for the arrest I had, and those charges were dropped. Now I watch bigleague games and we’ve got guys who get opportunities day after day after cheating, after beating their wives and being proven guilty — depending on who they are or what team they play for, they get a pass from the fans and from MLB. As soon as someone stands up for something in probably the most peaceful and respectful way it’s been done, I get shunned and looked over.
“Addison Russell gets suspended for domestic violence and gets a new contract. Aroldis Chapman discharged a weapon at someone and has no problem getting a deal. People say you have to be standup citizens, but guys who are taking steroids come back and they still have jobs, guys who beat their wives are back like nothing happened. They pick and choose who they hold to a higher standard, and it’s bulls—.”
Russell was suspended by MLB for 40 games in September 2018 and Chapman received a 30game ban in 2016.
Maxwell was thankful the A’s supported him throughout the anthem uproar and his legal issues, but he felt they could have done more to make sure he was doing OK mentally while dealing with the backlash, which included threats to him and his family.
“I was getting all types of s—. If you think you have an idea, you don’t. I was getting threats where I live, on the road, all over the country,” he said. “My sister, my mom, my dad, my friends were getting threats. My sister had a security detail for a week or two, somebody found the school she worked at; that bothered me. You have a problem with me? Threaten me. Not my sister. Not my mom.”
At the same time, Maxwell acknowledged he came into camp overweight, which was one of the major reasons the A’s signed another catcher, Jonathan Lucroy. And he knows he didn’t handle himself as well as he might have, no matter how difficult things were for him off the field.
“I don’t regret the kneeling part because I did that for my family, for myself and for my people,” said Maxwell, who is biracial and who knelt to protest racial profiling by police. “But the one thing I regret is my attitude that last year with Oakland: I could have done better.
“It would have been great to have a little help deciphering these things, but I was kind of on my own, I let my emotions and my lack of play get to me, and it showed. I wish I hadn’t let that come out, but there were times I felt overwhelmed, I was in uncharted waters. I accept I had an attitude and I could have changed it and I didn’t; I accept responsibility for that.”
The A’s do have a team psychologist, Dr. Marc Strickland, who is regularly on site and is always available for players.
Maxwell plays a position, catcher, where many clubs have a need, but his exagent, Matt Sosnick, and current agent, former A’s pitcher Dave Stewart, got zero calls about him.
“I look at some guys and their production in the big leagues this year — there’s no reason I shouldn’t have had an opportunity when I see the numbers,” Maxwell said. “But I don’t have any hard feelings; I could easily be mad or heavy hearted about the sacrifices I made to play the game I love, but it’s pointless, it’s out of my hands. All I can do is wait for the road to take me wherever it takes me.”
At the end of the month, Maxwell is going to the Dominican Republic to play for the winter ball team Águilas Cibaeñas, which is based in Santiago; Maxwell was recruited by Águilas’ captain, Juan Carlos Pérez, formerly of the Giants.
“My outlook is I’m going to go somewhere someone wants me, if it’s in Japan or Korea, back in the U.S. or in Mexico,” Maxwell said. “Everyone’s goal is obviously to be in the big leagues, but I don’t want to be some charity case or because it’s someone just giving me the benefit of the doubt. I want someone to look and me and say, ‘I want you on my f—ing team because you can bring something to the table,’ something positive.
“Obviously I want to come back to the big leagues, but it’s not do or die for me anymore. It used to be. It used to stress me out. When I came to Mexico, I thought, ‘I have to absolutely destroy this game to get back to the big leagues,’ but as the days went by and I felt the love in the team and the country, it changed everything. It made me think a lot more in the moment. My job as a catcher is to take care of the team every day, be a leader, and I did that — I was thankful for every day and enjoyed it.”