OAKLAND, Calif. _ Just as Seren Smith Wheelwright walked to the microphone to sing the national anthem, Bruce Maxwell, his back facing the crowd and his face toward the flag out in left field, dropped down to a knee on the Coliseum dirt. He covered the left side of his chest with the classic A's green and gold hat held in his right hand. To his right, Mark Canha placed his left hand on Maxwell's right shoulder.
Many athletes have spoken out in the wake of President Donald Trump's remarks about athletes and how they should be fired should they choose not to stand for the national anthem. Maxwell did that and took it to another level, choosing to protest the anthem before the A's took the field for a 1-0 victory over the Texas Rangers.
Further making it know that his fellow A's teammates have his back, in a strong showing of team solidarity, Canha embraced Maxwell with a hug after the anthem had finished.
Maxwell, a German-born American citizen, is the son of a U.S. Army officer.
The catcher had already posted a series of tweets earlier in the day speaking out against Trump. He did not hold anything back.
"This now has gone from just a BlackLives Matter topic to just complete inequality of any man or woman that wants to stand for Their rights!" Maxwell tweeted. In another tweet he added, "Inequality is being displayed bigger than ever right now as our president shows that freedom of protest and speech is not allowed."
Maxwell became the first MLB player to kneel for the anthem. He said he would not be surprised if other athletes in other sports also begin to kneel after Trump's remarks.
These type of political statements are not a foreign concept in the Bay Area. Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick pioneered the anthem protest movement when he chose to sit during the anthem before an Aug. 26 preseason game against the Green Bay Packers at Levi's Stadium.
_The attention placed on Maxwell overshadowed what was a historic night for Khris Davis. The A's slugger accomplished a feat even A's power-hitting legends such as Reggie Jackson, Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez were unable to do with the organization: back-to-back 40-home run seasons.
Davis' 40th bomb of the year came off a first-pitch fastball from Miguel Gonzalez that was drilled over the right field wall to lead off the bottom of the second for the lone run of the ballgame.
You'd have to go pretty far back in a time machine to find the last A's player to hit at least 40 homers in consecutive seasons. It was Jimmie Foxx with 58 in 1932, 48 in 1933 and 44 in 1934 when the A's played in Philadelphia.
_Sean Manaea was scratched from his scheduled start because of back tightness. Starting in his place was Raul Alcantara, who gave manager Bob Melvin five scoreless innings of two-hit ball to pick up his first win of the season. Melvin said the club will wait to see how Manaea feels in the coming days before deciding when he will pitch again.
