Ax Man living the dream
Ontario native Axford ready for a bounceback season as he tries to earn spot with Blue Jays
DUNEDIN, Fla. — Last Sunday, relief pitcher John Axford tweeted a picture of himself from when he was a kid. It was Christmas morning and he was wearing Blue Jays pajamas.
And he had a smile on his face as a bright as a Christmas tree.
That same smile was shining at Dunedin Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
A native of Simcoe, Ont., Axford signed a minor- league deal with the Jays last week with an invitation to Major League spring training camp. After nine seasons in the majors, the hard- throwing Canadian is fulfilling a life- long dream, to play for the Blue Jays. The goal now, of course, is that he sticks with the club and becomes a valuable piece of the puzzle in the bullpen.
“It’s tough to put all that in words in all honesty,” said Axford when asked about coming to the Jays. “It was great coming in and seeing the Blue Jays ( logo) everywhere, seeing that in the locker room, in the weight room. It’s what I grew up with. It was what I was a fan of my entire life growing up as a kid. Once you play pro, those things change. You start working and believing in the team and the organization that you’re with, so for this to kind of come full circle for me and be able to play for this organization is pretty great.”
Toronto represents Axford’s seventh major- league team and though he struggled last year in Oakland, the former Team Canada pitcher says he is 100 per cent healthy with his fastball still in the mid to high 90s. Once a dominate power picture, who could touch 100 m. p. h. on occasion, he can still throw hard while mixing in an effective curveball and slider. Axford led the National League in saves in 2011 with 46 saves and said there is no reason why he can’t rebound from last year’s performance which saw him post a 6.43 ERA in 22 games. He said he started the year with a strained shoulder suffered while warming up and was placed on the DL for the first time in his career.
“Having a setback ( like that) right at the very beginning of the year, I think it kind of distracted me a little bit mentally,” he said. “I tried to work my way back through and, honestly, I felt really good for the first little bit. Even looking back on video I wasn’t giving up the big hits, there were a lot of balls where I feel like I was beating the hitters, but was just getting a flare through the infield, a flare over the infield, and runs were scoring on that too. And I tried to change things instead of sticking with what I knew.”
Axford said he and the Jays’ staff are on the same page here at training camp in terms of his preparation and he’s ready for a bounceback season.
Axford was a two- sport athlete growing up in Port Dover, Ont., and at one time felt he had a shot of being a pro hockey player. In the 10th grade, however, after he broke his wrist playing hockey, he saw baseball as his ticket to the pros. Axford grew up a Maple Leafs and L. A. Kings fan, but said the Jays winning the World Series in 1992 and 1993 really heightened his love of baseball.
“That was prime time for me loving sports at that point. I was 9- 10 years old when they won in ’ 92 and ’ 93,” said the 6- foot- 5 right- hander. “Growing up Canadian, you want to be a hockey player. That’s what I wanted to be, I wanted to play in the NHL. I wanted to be the next Rob Blake. Still probably my favourite athlete. But, I think that ( Toronto winning the World Series) was a big turning point. That really changed the love of the game for me.”
As for growing up a Kings fan, Axford said it was an easy choice.
“People always ask if ( being a Kings fan) because of ( Wayne) Gretzky. But, Rob Blake was my favourite player. Born in the same town as him, he was the first professional autograph I ever got, he went to school with my uncle so I got to meet him when I was younger, too. I liked Rob Blake, and that was my team, the Kings. So I had Kings stuff and Leafs stuff in my room,” Axford said.
“Right- handed defenceman, No. 4,” Axford added when asked what position he played. “Which doesn’t really work as a pitcher, you can’t really be No. 4. But a few years ago I was No. 44 when I was with Cleveland, so that’s the closest I can get, I guess.”
Axford’s signing brings up the Jays’ Canadian representation on the roster to five, along with Dalton Pompey, Russell Martin, Jordan Romano and Andrew Cash.
“I like that guy,” said Martin of Axford. “Definitely happy to have him. Another good Canadian boy. Put another one on the list. It’s great.”