John Axford, who became a popular Milwaukee Brewer because of his underdog story, glorious facial hair, high socks, and amiable Canadian demeanor, will be added to the Brewers Wall of Honor in a ceremony at the home game on August 23, where he’ll also throw out the first pitch.
Axford was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the seventh round of the 2001 draft out of Assumption College School, a high school in Brantford, Ontario, but he did not sign. Instead, he went to Notre Dame, but Tommy John surgery during his junior year harmed his draft stock, and he wasn’t taken until the 42nd round in 2005, by the Reds. He used his final year of college eligibility in 2006, pitching for Canisius College, where he had an ERA over five, and the Reds didn’t sign him.
That could have been the end for Axford, but he caught the attention of Yankees scouts when, in a Canadian Western League game in 2006 (an equivalent of, for instance, the Northwoods League), Axford struck out 19 batters in a seven-inning game. The Yankees signed him as a minor league free agent, and he spent the 2007 season pitching in their minor league system. He only lasted a year with the Yankees, though, and he spent the winter of 2008 selling cell phones in Toronto. The Brewers gave him a contract during spring training in 2008, and he spent the entire season at High-A Brevard County, where he went 5-10 with a 4.55 ERA in 95 innings. But a late-season switch to relieving helped Axford, and in 2009, he got off to a magnificent start with Brevard County and had a 1.63 ERA and 14 strikeouts per nine innings in his first 19 appearances. That earned him a promotion to Double-A Huntsville and, not long after, a promotion to Triple-A Nashville.
The Brewers were out of the race in September of that 2009 season, and they added Axford to the roster as a September call-up. He made his major league debut on September 15 and served in mop-up duty in a 13-7 loss to the Cubs. It wasn’t a great outing: he walked three, threw a wild pitch, and gave up a run. But in six more outings that September, he had a 2.70 ERA and struck out eight batters in 6 2⁄3 innings.
Axford started 2010 with Triple-A Nashville. Trevor Hoffman, 42 at the time, was coming off of a surprisingly excellent year, but he ran out of gas as he approached his 600th save in 2010. With Axford pitching well in Nashville, the Brewers brought him up to the big league club in mid-May, and by the end of the month, he transitioned into the team’s closer role. Over the next four months, Axford pitched great — in total, he went 8-2 with a 2.48 ERA (163 ERA+), 2.13 FIP, and 24 saves in 50 appearances.
The Brewers had a great team in 2011, and Axford was locked into the team’s closing role. That season, he had one of the best relief seasons in Milwaukee Brewers history. In 74 appearances, Axford pitched to a 1.95 ERA (202 ERA+) and 2.41 FIP and led the National League with a franchise-record 46 saves. He finished ninth in Cy Young voting and even showed up on a couple of MVP ballots.
While 2010 and 2011 were certainly the high point of Axford’s career, he still saved 35 games in 2012 but had an ERA of 4.67 in 75 outings. The following year, he struggled again, and the Brewers traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals for a player-to-be-named that ended up being Michael Blazek. Axford pitched well for the Cardinals down the stretch but struggled to find a consistent role in the majors after that. He pitched in Cleveland and Pittsburgh in 2014, Colorado in 2015 (where he had a decent year and saved 25 games), and Oakland in 2016 and 17. In 2018, he joined his hometown Blue Jays but was traded to the Dodgers at the deadline, for whom he played in only five games down the stretch.
After that, Axford dealt with injuries in 2019 and pitched only one inning while on a minor league contract with the Blue Jays, and he did not play organized ball during the shortened COVID season in 2020. He signed another minor league contract with the Blue Jays in the summer of 2021 and pitched well in a brief minor league stint, and on August 2, the Brewers purchased his contract from Toronto. That day, the 38-year-old Axford was back on a major league mound for the first time in three years and back with the Brewers for the first time in seven. It was a great story, but it didn’t have a happy ending: Axford threw 22 pitches, allowed two runs, and blew out his elbow.
Without a major league contract, Axford went for one more Cinderella story and rehabbed to the point that he could make the Team Canada roster for the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He did make that team and threw one scoreless inning. That was his last appearance in organized baseball.
Axford saved 144 games in an 11-year major league career, 106 of which were with the Brewers. He also made 269 appearances for Milwaukee across six seasons. There have been a lot of great relief seasons in Brewers history, but that 2011 season is up there with any of them: his 46 saves that season remain the franchise record. He is third in franchise history behind Dan Plesac and Josh Hader in total saves.
The Wall of Honor is, in the words of the Brewers, “designed to honor the many individuals who either spent a significant portion of their career with the Brewers or have a significant legacy with the organization through various achievements.” He joins 71 other Brewers and 20 Milwaukee Braves figures as individuals who have received the honor.
