John Axford’s improbable rise from retirement to Olympic hopeful to major-league reliever again — after being out of the game for three years — seemed almost too good to be true. In the end it probably was, but that doesn’t make the journey any less remarkable.
He was a studio analyst who rediscovered an upper-90s fastball at the age of 38 and wanted to pitch for a contending team down the stretch. But Axford’s comeback came to an abrupt halt this week, in his first appearance with the Milwaukee Brewers, when he sustained major structural damage to his right elbow.
It wasn’t the storybook ending people hoped for when the 11-year veteran returned to pitch for Baseball Canada at an Olympic qualifier in June. Canada came up short in its quest but Axford felt so good that he decided to keep pitching. He secured a minor-league deal with the Blue Jays and began working his way through the system, eyeing a return to the majors for the first time since 2018.
Axford wasn’t a charity case. The Jays didn’t sign him because he was a product of nearby Port Dover, Ont., or out of respect for the season he spent with the big-league team three years earlier. They did it because he was consistently hitting 95 miler per hour, occasionally topping out at 98, harder than he threw during the prime of his career. The Jays, who needed help in the bullpen, were intrigued.
For more than a month, the script looked like something out of a Disney movie. Axford began working out at the Jays’ minor-league complex. After one appearance for Class-A Dunedin, the former NL reliever of the year was promoted to Triple-A Buffalo, where he dominated. Axford allowed just one earned run and two hits while striking out 14 in 10 2/3 innings. It was no longer a matter of if the big leagues would come calling, but when.
There was a tentative plan to have Axford join the Jays, but things changed after the club acquired four big-league relievers in the days and weeks leading up to the July 30 trade deadline. When it became clear there wouldn’t be enough room for Axford’s continued ascent, the Jays followed through on a previous promise: They wouldn’t get in his way if an opportunity presented itself elsewhere. Milwaukee came calling and the Jays were more than willing to facilitate a deal, asking for just $1 in return.
Even though the comeback wasn’t going to continue in Toronto, there were plenty inside the organization who were rooting for him to make it back. He did, but he lasted less than an inning before his elbow gave out.
“We’re talking about a (Brewers) team that’s probably going to the playoffs, leading their division,” said Andrew Tinnish, the Jays’ vice president of international scouting who was responsible for signing Axford. “This wasn’t some team towards the bottom, just needing someone to soak up innings. This was a real opportunity with, not just a contender, but a team that looks like one of the best teams in the National League.
“It’s unfortunate the way it finished there. But on the bright side, he did get that shot. He did find his way back there. You just wish it would have lasted.”
Axford’s career once felt like it would never start. He was picked in the 42nd round of the 2005 draft by Cincinnati but he wasn’t offered a contract. He signed with the Yankees the following year and, after an uneventful season pitching for three Class-A teams, he was released two weeks before Christmas.
That would have been the end for most players. There was a time when Axford would have thought the same as he spent his winters selling cellphone plans and working as a bartender in Hamilton. But he got his foot in the door with the Brewers organization in 2008 and the following season advanced through all three levels before making his big-league debut.
Axford recorded 24 saves in 2010. The following year, it was a major-league-leading 46. When retirement initially hit in 2019, Axford was second among Canadians with 144 saves, trailing only Quebec’s Eric Gagné.
The first ascent was difficult enough. By comparison, the latest seemed downright impossible. Sure, it was short-lived, but just getting back was enough of an accomplishment on its own.
“We were definitely following him,” said Jays manager Charlie Montoyo, whose path crossed with Axford in spring training of 2019. “That would have been a great comeback, being that old. I heard he was throwing really hard in Buffalo and, when he pitched for us, I liked him a lot. So, of course, we feel bad for him.”
The Brewers haven’t made any official announcements about Axford’s heath but, if the injury is as serious as initially believed, it likely spells the end of his career for a second time. The feel-good story of the local guy done good, however, is far from over.
His induction into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame is a foregone conclusion and, in the coming years, he may appear on our television screens, just like he did for the first couple months of 2021 as an analyst for Sportsnet.
“Just think about the story,” Tinnish said. “He’s out of baseball, bartending, and then you blink, two years later, he’s closing games in the big leagues and saving 40 games. I mean, that’s unbelievable. That in itself is crazy improbable, you know what I mean?
“He’s a great example of perseverance and never giving up … He should be very proud of it. I’m definitely not saying it’s the end, but if this is the end from a playing perspective for him, hopefully, he stays in the game. I’m sure he will.”
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