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

He 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.

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.

[1] The Seattle Mariners selected Axford in the seventh round (219th overall) of the 2001 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft,[2] but he accepted an athletic scholarship to the University of Notre Dame instead.

[8] 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.

[9] After spending the winter working as a cell phone salesman for Telus in the Toronto area,[3] he signed with the Milwaukee Brewers on March 4, 2008.

[9] 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.

[12] 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.

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

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.

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.

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 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).

[20] On January 18, 2013, the Brewers announced they had avoided arbitration with Axford, signing him to a one-year contract worth $5 million.

[25] On December 19, 2013, Axford signed a one-year, $4.5 million contract with the Cleveland Indians, who announced he would serve as their closer.

[22] Despite 9 saves in April, Axford struggled in the closer role and lost the job to a closer-by-committee composed of Cody Allen, Bryan Shaw, Scott Atchison and Marc Rzepczynski in May.

[36] On February 8, 2018, Axford signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays with an invitation to spring training.

[38] On July 28, Axford made his first career start against the Chicago White Sox, becoming the sixth Canadian-born starter in franchise history.

[40] On July 31, 2018, Axford was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for minor league pitcher Corey Copping.

[46] Axford only appeared in one rehab start with the rookie-level GCL Blue Jays before electing free agency on November 4, 2019.

On June 6, 2022, Axford announced on his personal Twitter account that he had resumed throwing for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2021.