e law of averages were on their side to win one today, Baker said.HITTING MACHINEWashington 2B Daniel Murphy hit his NL-leading 47th double in the thir

The parents of embattled San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick have broken their silence on their sons decision to kneel for the playing of the national anthem this season. Johnny Damon Jersey Large .Colin is carrying a heavy load and following a difficult path that he truly believes in. He is putting his entire future and possibly his life on the line for those beliefs, Teresa and Rick Kaepernick wrote in a statement addressed to The Undefeated on Friday. As his parents, it pains us to read articles and tweets saying that his family does not support him; this could not be further from the truth. We want people to know that we are very proud of our son and admire his strength and courage in kneeling for the rights of others.Reached by phone Friday evening, Teresa Kaepernick said the couple initially wanted to avoid the limelight associated with making a public statement about their son but were shocked by the overwhelmingly false narrative that she and her husband dont support their son.The Kaepernicks support of Colin initially came into question after USA Today reported in early September that the family flew an American flag in front of their Modesto, California, home, an apparent statement of their displeasure with Colin. At the time, Teresa said, Its not in our best interest or Colins best interest to make a comment. Colin later told reporters that his parents agree with what Im standing for.More than three months later, his parents are finally ready to speak.Colin has chosen to kneel for the national anthem as a protest to the continuing racial inequality in this country, the statement read. He has explained his reasons for this in multiple interviews, yet it seems some people still do not understand his point. For whatever reason, there are some who want to view this as an anti-military protest or an un-American stance. These views could not be further from the truth, but we know that people will believe what they wish to believe. The recent remarks (attacks) by Admiral Harris supported by the Pentagon are over the top, and we feel the desire to make a public statement in support of our son.On Wednesday, Adm. Harry B. Harris, who heads the U.S. Pacific Command, made indirect comments against Kaepernick while addressing a crowd to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. You can bet that the men and women we honor today -- and those who died that fateful morning 75 years ago -- never took a knee and never failed to stand whenever they heard our national anthem being played, he said.Our military takes an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and many have fought and died to defend our constitutional rights. Indeed after such sacrifice it is a reasonable expectation that all of our citizens enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the Kaepernicks statement read.Rick and Teresa Kaepernick, who are white, adopted Colin when he was only 5 weeks old. The couple had lost two sons at birth to congenital heart failure and were not eligible to adopt a white baby from a private adoption agency. Then came along a tiny biracial baby boy who had recently been given away by his 19-year-old white mother. Teresa called Colin her perfect child.Four years later, the family (Rick and Teresa also have two other children) moved from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, to Turlock, California, with the daunting task of raising a biracial boy in an all-white household in America.From the beginning, the Kaepernicks reaffirmed to their youngest son that his different skin color was perfectly OK, and they never tried to make him white. They even drove him an hour out of town to get him cornrows when he was a teenager.I never felt that I was supposed to be white. Or black, either. My parents just wanted to let me be who I needed to be, Colin told Mr.Porter.com in Septermber 2015.Teresa and Rick have had to stand up for their son for decades now, from strangers not realizing he was their child in his younger years, to a Sporting News columnist writing a racially charged story on Colins abundance of tattoos within weeks of his first professional start during the 2012 season.It annoyed me, Teresa told USA Today after the column was posted. You are categorizing this kid on something like tattoos? Really? ... Thats how youre going to define this kid? Its pretty irritating, but it is what it is.Added Rick: Instead of saying that Colin does all these great things and donates his time to children, this guy is going to make him out like a gangster.The 29-year-old quarterback has been under fire since late August, when football media noticed he wasnt standing for the national anthem during the 49ers third preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. He initially told reporters he would not stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color, and that There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.Over the past months, Colin has expanded on his mission, stating that he will donate $1 million of his salary this season to organizations whose mission is to help communities of color. He has donated at least $200,000 so far.While he has been criticized by members of the military like Harris, fellow NFL players and president-elect Donald Trump, Kaepernick also has received praise from high school and college athletes, a handful of WNBA teams, President Barack Obama, and a hashtag-full of other vets.Colins birth mother, Heidi Russo, scolded the quarterback on Twitter during the early days of his protest, tweeting, Theres ways to make change w/o disrespecting and bringing shame to the very country and family who afforded you so many blessings. In a subsequent tweet, she added, The path less traveled doesnt need to be one of destruction. #beenthere #besmarter #berespectful.Despite the negative press over the past four months, the Kaepernick family firmly stands behind Colin. They acknowledge that the current political and racial climate in America is not helping their sons cause but are hopeful the protest will evoke some form of change.When Colin first took a knee, his family was as surprised as anyone. We did not understand why he was doing this and were overwhelmed with the public reaction and hate. Colin not only received terrible racist tweets, but also received letters directly to our home similar to that recently received by [Denver Broncos linebacker] Brandon Marshall, the familys statement read. We were truly shocked at the amount of racist hatred out there! Until this had occurred, we had naively believed that the racial atmosphere in this country was far better than it actually is. Prayer and talks with our son gave us a much better understanding of the reason for his protest and how we should view it.I just want to be on the record that we absolutely do support him, Teresa told The Undefeated by phone. Alex Rodriguez Jersey Large . -- Whether Jeremy Hill deserves a prominent role in LSUs offence this early in the season is a matter for debate. Aroldis Chapman Jersey . The quest begins with what is supposed to be an easy one, although Germany has traditionally been a stubborn opponent to Canadian teams at international tournaments. http://www.customyankeesjersey.com/custo...large-974i.html .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. ATLANTA -- Gio Gonzalez didnt feel too badly about another poor performance against the Atlanta Braves, the worst team in the National League.I got beat by a lot of singles, Gonzalez said after the Washington Nationals 7-3 loss Saturday. Some were by just inches. It was one of those unfortunate things. You want to show you can pitch in this rotation, and it was the way todays game went.Trea Turner hit a pair of solo homers for Washington.Nick Markakis and Anthony Recker each drove in two runs and Josh Collmenter won as an emergency starter.Gonzalez (11-10) allowed six runs and nine hits and struck out seven in 4 1/3 innings. He dropped to 0-1 with a 7.11 ERA in four starts against Atlanta this season.He made some good pitches, Washington manager Dusty Baker said. Those balls were just blooping in. Heck, they hit just one ball hard.Turner hit a pair of solo home runs, is 7 for 9 in the series and has six homers, 16 RBI, 19 runs and seven steals in 12 games against Atlanta this year.Collmenter (2-0), acquired Wednesday from the Chicago Cubs, struck out eight in five innings and allowed two runs, four hits and three walks. He was Arizonas opening-day starter last year and was making his first big league start since July 7, 2015 for Arizona.We needed someone to come in and stretch a game as far as they could, interim Braves manager Brian Snitker said. Five innings -- well take it.Collmenter had four starts at Triple-A Iowa before the trade. Atlanta needed a starter because Mike Foltynewicz has a bruised left calf and Williams Perez has an elbow impingement.The Nationals wasted a chance to rattle Collmenter in the second when he walked three of the first four batters but struck out Turner to escappe the jam. Don Larsen Jersey. . Collmenter also stranded a runner at third in the third.I was able to retire him and, for the most part, kept them stringing some hits together and limit the walks, Collmenter said.Atlanta scored three runs in the fifth for a 6-2 lead. Markakis RBI single chased Gonzalez, Trevor Gott gave up Reckers RBI single and Gordon Beckhams bases-loaded walk.The Braves have won just 12 of the last 48 games in the series and their 29 losses to Washington since the start of 2015 are Atlantas most against one opponent in a two-year span.Maybe the law of averages were on their side to win one today, Baker said.HITTING MACHINEWashington 2B Daniel Murphy hit his NL-leading 47th double in the third to tie Ryan Zimmermans franchise record in 2006. Murphy stayed in the game after a hard head-first slide into the second base in the third.STREAKINGFreeman has a 21-game hitting streak and has reached safely in 37 straight games. Both are career highs and the longest active streaks in the majors. ... Braves CF Ender Inciarte went 3 for 4 and has 87 hits, most in the majors, since the All-Star break.BACK ON THE HILLBraves RHP Jose Ramirez threw an eight-pitch eighth. Ramirez has appealed a three-game suspension handed imposed for throwing at the head of Miami pitcher Jose Fernandez.UP NEXTJoe Ross (7-4) is to start Sunday for the Nationals and RHP Matt Wisler (6-12) for the Braves. Ross is on the 60-day DL and has been sidelined since July 2 with shoulder inflammation. Wisler is 2/3 with a 5.19 ERA in five career starts and one relief appearance against Washington. ' ' '