Canisius alum John Axford inducted into MLB’s unofficial Hall of Pretty Good

By Colin Richey, Sports Editor, and Peter Neville, Assistant Sports Editor

One of the best sports projects on social media is Bryce Whitlow’s Hall of Pretty Good account on Instagram, focusing on highlighting players with good MLB careers that will likely never be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. One of Whitlow’s most recent nominees that was officially inducted was Canisius alumni John Axford.

Axford, who played one season at Canisius in 2006 after three seasons with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, went 3–8 with a 5.01 earned run average in fourteen starts. His résumé in college baseball was good enough for him to be signed as a minor league free agent by the New York Yankees in 2007. From there, he would go on to have a very successful major league career spanning 11 seasons, during which he played for eight different teams. His most successful stint was with the Milwaukee Brewers from 2009 to 2013, where he earned cult-hero status after finishing ninth in National League Cy Young voting and 17th in MVP voting in 2011.

The former Griff is one of 34 nominees to be inducted into the Hall of Pretty Good thus far, and he doesn’t take this recognition lightly. Commenting on the page’s post about his induction. “I write this with tears in my eyes and joy in my heart … to be elected to the Hall of Pretty Good is a crowning achievement and highest of highlights in my wandering career out of the bullpen! To be considered was prodigious … to be elected in … transcendent! And to think … 70% of you made it happen. That’s 1 more percent than 69! I owe you all a hug! Ax”

As he explained in his comment, Axford received 70% of 35,361 votes to become the 33rd member of the Hall, dipping as low as 62% before a late push brought him back above the necessary 65% of votes needed to be inducted. 

Photo courtesy of @mlbhallofgood on Instagram