Bruce Maxwell

Bruce Tyrone Maxwell III[1] (born December 20, 1990) is German–born American professional baseball catcher in the New York Mets organization. He had played previously with Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican League. He also has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics.

Bruce Maxwell
Maxwell with the Nashville Sounds
New York Mets
Catcher
Born: (1990-12-20) December 20, 1990
Wiesbaden, Germany
Bats: Left Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 23, 2016, for the Oakland Athletics
MLB statistics
(through 2018 season)
Batting average.240
Home runs5
Runs batted in42
Teams

Early life

Maxwell was born on a U.S. military installation in Wiesbaden, Germany, while his father, Bruce Jr., was stationed there with the U.S. Army during a tour of duty.[1] He is African-American.[2]

Maxwell played first base at Sparkman High School in Alabama. He then played first base and catcher in college baseball at Division III Birmingham–Southern College in Alabama.[3][4]

Professional career

Oakland Athletics

The Oakland Athletics selected Maxwell in the second round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft.[5] He made his debut that year with the AZL Athletics, and was promoted to the Vermont Lake Monsters of the Class A-Short Season New York-Pennsylvania League after six games. For Vermont, he batted .254 with 22 RBIs and was charged with 18 passed balls in 38 games.[6][1] In 2013, playing for both the Beloit Snappers in the Class A Midwest League and the Stockton Ports in the Class A-Advanced California League, he was charged with 17 passed balls. He caught 16% of attempted base-stealers, as runners stole 103 bases against him while he caught 19, in 83 games.[6][1] He batted .275 with seven home runs and 49 RBIs in 104 games between both teams.

In 2014, Maxwell batted .243/.334/.334 between Stockton and the Midland RockHounds of the Class AA Texas League, as he gave up 19 passed balls in 102 games.[6] In 2015, he spent the whole season at Midland, batting .243/.321/.308 in 96 games.[6]

2016

He also played for Team Germany at a 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualification in March 2016.[7][8] He began 2016 with the Nashville Sounds of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League.

Maxwell was called up to the majors for the first time on July 23, 2016. He made his major league debut that night.[9] In 60 games for Nashville prior to his promotion, he was batting .321 with ten home runs and 41 RBIs.[10] He spent the remainder of the season with Oakland after his promotion and batted .283/.337/.402 in 33 games. For the season, runners were 8–0 in stolen base attempts against him.[9][11]

2017

Maxwell began 2017 with Nashville, and was recalled and optioned multiple times before he was called up to Oakland for the remainder of the season on June 22. In 76 games for Oakland, he batted .237 with three home runs and 22 RBIs.

On September 23, 2017, Maxwell became the first MLB player to join other US athletes protesting racial injustice by kneeling during the national anthem;[12] Maxwell placed his hand over his heart, and teammate Mark Canha stood next to Maxwell and put a hand on his shoulder in support.[13] Maxwell's actions came in response to President Donald Trump's comments that professional football franchise owners should fire players who knelt during the anthem. On Twitter and through his agent, Maxwell said his decision to kneel represented concern for racial injustice as well as freedom of speech and exercise of peaceful protest.[14] The Oakland Athletics immediately issued a statement saying the team "pride[s] ourselves on being inclusive" and supports "players' constitutional rights and freedom of expression."[13] While supported by the A's, Maxwell's future career in the MLB was seen as impacted by the reaction to his kneeling.[15] He remained the only MLB player to protest by kneeling until 2020, when the league allowed for "Black Lives Matter" patches and organized league-wide kneeling for social justice in the aftermath of the nationwide protests of the death of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.[16]

Subsequently, Maxwell said that while eating at a restaurant with a city councilman with whom he had attended high school, Devyn Keith, and another friend in Maxwell's hometown of Huntsville, Alabama, a waiter objected to Maxwell's protest and refused to serve their table.[17] The waiter denied the story, saying he did not know who Maxwell was.[18]

2018

Maxwell began 2018 with Oakland. He was placed on the restricted list on May 16 when the Athletics entered Canada to play the Toronto Blue Jays, as he was not eligible for entry into Canada as he had not yet been sentenced for his assault with a deadly weapon charge that was placed in the previous off-season.[19][20] He was designated for assignment on September 1, 2018.[21] For the season with the A's, he batted .182/.207/.309 with one home run. He elected free agency on November 2, 2018.[22]

2019

On March 6, 2019, Maxwell signed with the Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican League.[23] He was successful in his first season with the club, slashing .325/.407/.559 with 24 home runs and 112 RBIs across 109 games played. Maxwell was also selected to the LMB All-Star Game and won the Serie del Rey with the Acereros, which was the first-ever championship for the team.

2020

Maxwell re-signed with the Acereros de Monclova for the 2020 season. In March, he was selected to the German national baseball team at the 2021 World Baseball Classic Qualifier.

New York Mets

On July 27th, 2020, the New York Mets signed him to a minor-league deal, pending physical and a negative COVID-19 test.[24] He resigned on a minor league deal on November 2, 2020.

Personal life

On October 28, 2017, Maxwell was accused of pointing a firearm at the head of a female food delivery driver delivering food to him at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. Maxwell was arrested on a felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.[25] On July 2, 2018, he was sentenced to two years probation for disorderly conduct.[26]

References
  1. "RockHounds: Midland's Maxwell starting to turn a corner". Midland Reporter-Telegram. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
  2. Woo, Jeremy (September 23, 2017). "Who is Bruce Maxwell?". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
  3. "Birmingham-Southern's Bruce Maxwell takes break from spring training to play for Germany". AL.com. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
  4. "The Bat Is Back For Bruce Maxwell | BaseballAmerica.com". BaseballAmerica.com. 2017-03-11. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
  5. "Bruce Maxwell selected 62nd overall in 2012 Major League Baseball Draft - Birmingham-Southern". www.bscsports.net. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
  6. "Bruce Maxwell Minor & Fall Leagues Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
  7. "Deutschlands Kader für World Baseball Classic Qualifier veröffentlicht". Deutscher Baseball & Softball Verband eV - DBV (in German). Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  8. "Catcher Bruce Maxwell making strong impression on A's". SFGate. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
  9. "Bruce Maxwell Stats, Fantasy & News". Oakland Athletics. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
  10. "Bruce Maxwell Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  11. "Bruce Maxwell Stats | Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
  12. Madani, Doha (2017-09-24). "MLB's First Player Just Took A Knee During The National Anthem". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
  13. Slusser, Susan (September 23, 2017). "A's Bruce Maxwell first MLB player to kneel for anthem". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
  14. "A's catcher first in MLB to kneel during anthem". ESPN. September 23, 2017. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
  15. ""MLB Exec: Kneeling During National Anthem May Keep Teams from Signing Bruce Maxwell"". Sports Illustrated. December 14, 2018.
  16. ""Whatever Happened to Bruce Maxwell."". Alabama Media Group.
  17. Rollins, Khadrice (October 24, 2017). "Bruce Maxwell: I was denied service by pro-Trump waiter". SI.com. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
  18. McKay, Hollie (2017-10-25). "Waiter: MLB catcher Bruce Maxwell made up story about service refusal over anthem protest". Fox News. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
  19. "A's to place Bruce Maxwell on restricted list for Toronto series". SF Gate. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  20. "Police Report Says Bruce Maxwell Put Gun in Woman's Face, Cussed Out Police". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  21. Hall, Alex (September 1, 2018). "Oakland A's call up 8 players in flurry of September moves". Athletics Nation. SB Nation. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
  22. Eddy, Matt (November 6, 2018). "Minor League Free Agents 2018". Baseball America. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  23. Adams, Steve (March 6, 2019). "Bruce Maxwell Signs With Mexican League Club". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  24. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29552993/sources-mets-sign-bruce-maxwell-catcher-knelt
  25. "Oakland A's Catcher Bruce Maxwell Arrested at Scottsdale Home". ABC 15/KNXV-TV. October 29, 2017. Retrieved 2017-10-29.
  26. http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23976831/oakland-athetics-catcher-maxwell-gets-probation-arizona-case
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