Former closer John Axford, who was inducted to the Brewers Wall of Honor on Aug. 23, recalled the impact Bob Uecker had on his career.
At one of the lowest points of John Axford's career, Bob Uecker was there to lift him up.
Axford had just beaten the odds and returned to the major leagues in early August 2021 after a three-season absence – and with the Milwaukee Brewers of all teams, having signed as a 38-year-old free agent following a dynamite workout.
The right-hander ran in from the bullpen at American Family Field just as he did a decade earlier when he was one of the game's best closers, took the mound and in the span of 22 pitches blew out his elbow.
Comeback over. Feel-good story ruined.
Axford underwent Tommy John surgery and returned a couple years later to pitch – thanks in part to a conversation he had with "Mr. Baseball" immediately following his injury.
"I think we all know what Bob meant to this organization, to this city, every player that was in the clubhouse," Axford said on Saturday afternoon in his induction speech for the Brewers Wall of Honor.
On Sunday, the Brewers will honor Uecker with a celebration of life prior to their series finale against the San Francisco Giants, making Axford's memories of him as perfectly timed as they were from the heart.
"Bob is one of the main reasons I ended up pitching again in 2023 after I blew my elbow out here in 2021," Axford continued. "Bob and I had a heart-to-heart in the kitchen, and he talked to me like a player. Lots of swear words used, which people didn't really get to hear from Bob, but he was a player at heart and that conversation changed something for me.
"It made me realize I needed to have surgery. I needed to go out on my own terms and get to pitch for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic. Without that conversation, I'm not sure how it would have gone. So, my immense gratitude towards Bob – obviously, for every conversation that we had.
"But that moment in particular really changed things for me, and I know this organization, the city, this whole community misses him a lot."
Now 42, Axford is through with playing but still involved with the game as he coaches his two sons, JB and Jameson.
They were on hand at American Family Field along with a number of Axford's other family members and friends as he became the 72nd player, coach or executive to be inducted to the Wall of Honor for having reached a set of criteria based on service to the organization and career accomplishments and be so honored.
Team principal owner Mark Attanasio and former general manager Doug Melvin – like Axford, a fellow Canadian – were joined by two of Axford's former teammates, Rickie Weeks and Jim Henderson, and each offered their perspectives on a player who rose from anonymity to develop into one of the top closers in Brewers history after debuting in 2009.
Axford's first big season came in 2010, when he posted 24 saves in 50 appearances while sharing the same bullpen with eventual Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Trevor Hoffman.
"I remember going from Colorado to Minnesota and I was with the team. Trevor had struggled a little bit," said Melvin. "I had met Trevor in my hotel room at 2 in the morning when we landed, and I had to tell a Hall of Famer who was four saves short of 600 that he was not going to be the closer and that we're going to hand the ball to John Axford.
"I thought maybe I should have had two bodyguards in there when I was telling Trevor that. But Trevor's a true professional, a class act, one of the best teammates this game has ever known. And he looked at me and said, 'Doug, John deserves the opportunity, and I'll do anything to help.'"
The Brewers threaded the needle and managed to get Hoffman to No. 600 as well that year, and by 2011 it was Axford alone at the back end of the bullpen. He responded with a franchise-record 46 saves – including 43 straight – with a 1.95 ERA and 86 strikeouts over 74 appearances (73 ⅔ innings) for a 96-win team that finished a couple games shy of the World Series.
Axford blew a save in Game 5 of the Brewers' National League wild-card series with the Arizona Diamondbacks at then-Miller Park, but that just set the stage for one of the most memorable moments in franchise history when Nyjer Morgan singled home Carlos Gómez in the 10th inning for a walk-off victory.
"I remember coming in that game, running in from the bullpen, roof closed," said Axford, who ultimately earned the victory. "The noise in my ears was something like I've never heard before and I've never experienced again since. The rabid fan base here in Milwaukee was always great.
"Whether the team was doing well or not, this place was packed, this place was loud and I appreciate every one of those moments that I had."
Axford saved 35 games the following season, then was replaced as closer in 2013 by Henderson, another fellow Canadian, before ultimately being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals after making 62 appearances for the Brewers that season.
He saved 49 straight games bridging the 2011 and 2012 seasons, the longest such run in club annals and sixth-longest streak in major-league history.
"John handled the pressure of (being) the closer," said Melvin. "He persevered when he had to on his road to the major leagues. He was a great teammate, and the success of the team, along with his 106 saves, is the reason he's got a plaque on the wall today."
Axford would pitch for six more teams in the majors through 2018 before making that final appearance with the Brewers in 2021.
In six seasons with the Brewers, Axford went 21-19 with a 3.41 ERA, WHIP of 1.34 and 318 strikeouts over 269 appearances (263 ⅔ innings). His 106 saves are third-most in franchise history.
In 544 career appearances, Axford went 38-34 with 144 saves, a 3.90 ERA, WHIP of 1.42 and 589 strikeouts in 525 ⅔ innings.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Even on his special day, John Axford tips his cap to Bob Uecker
Category: Baseball
