Milwaukee Brewers closer John Axford has a NL-best 46 saves this year. Although he's revered in that city, few people here in Hamilton have heard of him, or know he's from this city.
The search for details about the last Hamiltonian who was a real difference maker for a playoff-bound team in the Major Leagues doesn’t take long to complete. Mostly because that man doesn’t exist.
Until now.
When you turn on the TV and tune in to the playoffs this fall, keep your eye out for John Axford. He’ll be hard to miss if the Milwaukee Brewers have a lead late in a contest. His world-class Fu Manchu moustache tends to make him stand out whenever he steps onto the field. That, and the fact that he’s the National League’s most-dominant and most-feared closer.
He’s also a Hamiltonian.
OK, originally he’s from Port Dover. The folks there bristle when we leave that part out. But he now lives in a modest house in Ancaster in the established part of town, when he’s not in Wisconsin. His wife’s from here and she went to university at McMaster where he works out in the off season. He held jobs in Ancaster and Stoney Creek and was working the bar at East Side Mario’s in Dundas before getting his break in baseball.
Best of all, he’s good.
Axford’s NL-best 46 saves this year are not just a Brewers’ franchise mark — a rather impressive achievement considering this is the club that once employed Rollie Fingers and Trevor Hoffman — but they’re 23 times more than all the other big-league saves recorded by Hamiltonians, combined.
How dominant has he been this year?
After blowing two saves early in the season — including a walk-off home run to Cincinnati on opening day that had some folks wondering if last year was a fluke — Axford’s been perfect since April 18. He’s surrendered just one earned run since early August, this in the blast-furnace heat of a pennant race. And in a city that hasn’t won a division title in 29 years, he’s been a stabilizing force in what’s become a dominant bullpen.
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