Yesterday, news broke that the Milwaukee Brewers will be honoring John Axford better known as the “Ax Man” by giving him a place on their Wall of Honor this upcoming season. One of the oddest but most fascinating stories baseball doesn’t talk about, let’s reflect on it.
In 2001, Axford’s MLB career had a chance to begin when he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the seventh round of the 2001 MLB Draft. Axford decided to play baseball under a scholarship at Notre Dame. He took a chance on himself, and it paid off when in 2005, he was drafted again, this time by the Cincinnati Reds. Which he also chose to decline. Oddly enough, this wasn’t the last chance Axford got. After declining two chances to play baseball professionally, the New York Yankees convinced Axford to sign as a minor league free agent in the summer of 2006. From then on, he played for multiple minor league teams in the Yankees system, and it wasn’t working out, which led to him being cut. In Spring Training 2008, he found a home in Milwaukee, and the rest is history.
John Axford made his major league debut for the Milwaukee Brewers on September 15th, 2009, and made six more appearances that season, ending with an ERA+ of 122. Which proved he had the potential to be great in the majors. The next two seasons, Axford enjoyed the peak of his career, where he broke the Milwaukee Brewers franchise single-season record for saves with 46 in 2011, had a 2.19 era over that span, and won the 2011 Rolaids Relief Pitcher of the Year award.
After a struggling start to the 2013 season, the Brewers dealt Axford to St. Louis, where he enjoyed what some may call a revamp. In 13 appearances in the regular season, he had a 1.74 era and a 2.08 FIP, then continued the second-half success in the postseason. Axford pitched in six games for the Cardinals in their run to the World Series, in which he only gave up one run and six total baserunners. After the 2013 season ended the Ax Man’s journeyman career began, he spent the next four seasons playing for six different teams, struggling to find his spark again.
His time in Milwaukee was the longest and most prominent of his career, he spent his first five seasons there and the last part of his MLB career as a Brewer in 2021. Collecting many of his accolades and having the best seasons of his career. Over the six years spent in Milwaukee Axford collected 106 saves, 318 strikeouts, an era+ of 118, some hardware, and a sweet nickname in ” the Ax Man”.
John Axford’s career is one of the most fascinating in baseball. His peak is better than most, but it wasn’t long-lasting. He came back from a three-year hiatus from MLB baseball to come back and pitch a third of an inning for the Brewers in 2021. He made his last professional pitching appearance in the 2023 World Baseball Classic for his home country Canada. On March 12th, Axford announced his retirement from baseball. He is now remembered as one of the greatest relief pitchers to step on the mound for Milwaukee, and his spot on the Wall of Honor is well deserved.
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