Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/75050
IRISH IN THE PROS weeks of his existence on Earth here. It was worth every part of it. It's been a fantastic year." Just a few hours after Axford, who talked about he and his wife, Nicole, expecting another son this June, spoke to Blue & Gold Illustrated on May 11, his MLB-best streak of 49 consecutive saves came to an end against the Chicago Cubs. He left Miller Park before the end of Milwaukee's come- from-behind win in 13 innings. Axford wasn't dodging reporters, who inevitably would want to grill him about the end of the fourth-longest saves streak in MLB history, and he left a note on the chair of his locker to explain his absence. The note read: "I put my wife into con- tractions with my performance tonight! So I had to run to the hospital. The streak is over so now you can talk about it. The luck I've had in the past didn't show up tonight! All I can do is begin another streak and keep my head up! Cliché … cliché … another cliché. Gotta go! Love, Ax." Doctors were able to keep Nicole from going into labor nearly seven weeks early and everyone is healthy. Shortly before Axford's first blown save in over a year, his words were almost pro- phetic. "It's a long season and you can't get too amped up and too excited right away," he said. "When you play 162 [games] you're going to have a few ups and downs, that's for sure." brain. Axford, who suited up for the Fight- ing Irish from 2002-05, sat down on May 9 to Under the long hair is a pretty analytical compare the start of the 2012 season for the Brewers to the beginning of the 2011 cam- paign. The organization was exactly five games under .500 to that point both years. Last year the Brew Crew posted a franchise- best record of 96-66 and won their first Na- tional League Central Division crown. They lost in six games to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Championship Series. "It's kind of amazing the comparison," work through May 20 this season. "I did actually change my facial hair in the middle of [last] May," he said. "I just had a mustache and I changed it into the Fu Manchu. I started growing that out the rest of the year right after my son was born in June. ⁄3 innings of said Axford, a 6-5, 208-pounder from Sim- coe, Ont. "After this point last year is when we kind of started figuring things out and the team sort of started rolling. We've been down before and come back." Axford, with facial hair many Brewers fans try to imitate, had a 4.73 ERA with six saves and 23 strikeouts in 131 "I did mix things up. I still haven't cut my hair. I'm not overly superstitious or anything like that; I just go with the flow. Maybe at the end of the year I'll try to look like a gentleman once again." RHP, Washington Nationals: Underwent surgery in early May to repair a sports hernia and hopes to return in the next month … His last appearance was against Miami on April 21 … For the year, has an ERA of 5.14 … Has given up seven hits and a home run, and has seven strikeouts in • Brad Lidge (Played at Notre Dame from 1996‑98), MLB PLAYER UPDATES Through May 20 JUNE/JULY 2012 104