Marcus Semien was sporting a Black Lives Matter shirt during his media availability on Friday prior to the A's Opening Day game against the Los Angeles Angels.
Throughout the league, teams have shown support of the movement against police brutality by taking a knee during the national anthem as the season opens up. Semien said the team had discussed whether or not they would participate in anything similar, and he said the A’s were still discussing it.
“The biggest part was wearing these shirts today, I think that’s important,” Semien told reporters. “MLB and the union and the Player’s Alliance did a good job of doing something -- we have a platform to do something and I think these shirts are a step in the right direction along with the patches on the jerseys, the pregame festivities look like they went well for both of the games last night.”
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“Us being on a nationally televised game, I’m sure that we’ll get together and make sure it looks good,” Semien added.
The A's also announced the team will be participating in Opening Night festivities in support of Black Lives Matter:
The A’s shortstop was also asked about Bruce Maxwell who back in 2017, was a catcher for the A’s and was the first MLB player to kneel during the anthem.
[RELATED: Maxwell felt joy seeing Gabe Kapler kneel]
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Semien said he has always supported Maxwell’s decision.
“Now it seems like there’s more peaceful protesting going on, and if people don’t understand why then I think that’s a problem and I think a lot of people understand why -- and change is happening because of it,” Semien said. “For me, I’m participating in what we’re doing as a team today -- everybody will see that.”