John Axford

On September 24, he set the Brewers franchise record for most saves in a single season, saving his 45th against the Florida Marlins.

For the season he led the National League in saves (46), and was second in games finished (63), pitching 73 2⁄3 innings with 86 strikeouts and 59 hits while going 2–2 with a 1.95 ERA.

Axford was the first Brewers pitcher since Rollie Fingers to be a league leader in saves.

In a game against the Chicago Cubs on July 27, Axford converted his 26th consecutive save opportunity, breaking Doug Jones's Brewers franchise record.

John Berton Axford (born April 1, 1983), nicknamed "Ax Man", is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher.

He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, and Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Seattle Mariners selected Axford in the seventh round (219th overall) of the 2001 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft, but he accepted an athletic scholarship to the University of Notre Dame instead.

In 2002, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Hyannis Mets of the Cape Cod Baseball League, and returned to the league in 2003 to play for the Cotuit Kettleers.

He was inactive during his junior year after undergoing Tommy John surgery in December 2003.

Used as a starting pitcher in 26 of 36 games, his record in three seasons with the Fighting Irish was 14–6.

Despite losing his scholarship as a redshirt senior in 2005, he still earned a bachelor's degree in film, television and theatre.

Axford was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 42nd round (1,259th overall) of the 2005 MLB draft.

He spent the spring of 2006, his one remaining year of collegiate athletic eligibility, at Canisius College where he went 3–8, with a 5.01 earned run average in fourteen starts.

After watching him in action with the Golden Griffins, the Reds declined to offer a contract.

By that summer, he was pitching for the Melville Millionaires of the Western Major Baseball League.

A nineteen-strikeout performance in a seven-inning contest caught the attention of the New York Yankees.

The New York Yankees signed Axford as a minor-league free agent on August 11, 2006.

His 2007 campaign was divided between three Class A farm teams (Staten Island Yankees, Charleston RiverDogs and Tampa Yankees) and the Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, where he appeared in only one game.

He had a combined 1–4 record in 27 games, and was released on December 14, 2007.

After spending the winter working as a cell phone salesman for Telus in the Toronto area, he signed with the Milwaukee Brewers on March 4, 2008.

A 5–10 campaign with a 4.55 ERA for the Brevard County Manatees was followed by an offseason employment as a bartender at an East Side Mario's location in Hamilton, Ontario.

Axford made his MLB debut in 2009.

Used exclusively out of the bullpen in 2009, he improved to a combined 9–1 with the Manatees, Huntsville Stars and Nashville Sounds.

He was called up to the Brewers on September 7, and made his major league debut eight nights later as the last Brewers pitcher in a 13–7 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

He surrendered an earned run, a hit and three walks in one inning pitched.

Axford started 2010 in Nashville before being promoted by the Brewers on May 15.

With Trevor Hoffman struggling in save situations, Axford, despite having never been a closer in his career, was given the job, where he became a big success in the role and gained popularity with Brewers fans as he sported a handlebar mustache in many of his early appearances, evoking memories of legendary reliever Rollie Fingers.

Axford finished his first full season with an 8–2 record, a 2.48 ERA, pitched in 50 games, was 24 out of 27 in save attempts, and struck out 76 batters in 58 innings pitched.

He was named a relief pitcher on Baseball America's 2010 All-Rookie Team.

Axford, however, blew his first save since the second week of the season in the decisive Game Five of the NLDS, but still got the win as the Brewers won in the 10th inning.

He led the National League in saves in 2011, when he won the Rolaids Relief Man Award.

Raised in Port Dover, Ontario, Axford attended Assumption College School in nearby Brantford.

Because the school did not have an interscholastic baseball program, he played for Port Dover Minor Baseball, then Team Ontario and Team Canada.

His combined four-year totals with the three clubs were a 37–12 record, a 1.88 earned run average (ERA), 278 innings pitched, 432 strikeouts and 173 walks.

Axford went into 2011 as the Brewers closer and struggled early, blowing two saves in the first two weeks of the season, then went on to convert every single save opportunity the rest of the way.

Axford was named Delivery Man of the Month Award winner for July 2011, in which he recorded 11 saves with a 2.57 ERA.

He continued his success in the 2011 postseason, appearing in 6 playoff games and racking up 3 saves and a 1.29 ERA while striking out 9 batters in 7 innings pitched.

On October 28, Axford was named the recipient of the 2011 Robert Goulet Memorial Mustached American of the Year Award by the American Mustache Institute.

Recognition of Axford's success in 2011 continued into the offseason, where he was ninth overall in voting for the NL Cy Young Award and 17th overall for the NL MVP award.

He was nominated for and won several awards recognizing his success, including the NL Rolaids Relief Man (given to the league's best closer), and the Canadian Tip O'Neill Award (presented annually by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame to the Canadian-born player judged to have excelled in individual achievement and team contribution).