Larry Brown Sports

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher John Axford has joined an elite club. Not all professional athletes will get the opportunity to sign a baby bump before their careers end, but Axford was recently given the privilege courtesy of a Brewers fan named Kristin Corcoran.

As you can see from the above photo that Concoran shared on Twitter on Monday, Axford was a good sport and signed her belly during an autograph session with fans.

“Thanks for the autographs & for reassuring that signing my belly wasn’t the strangest request you’ve had!” Corcoran wrote.

Unlike the stomach former Kentucky star Terrence Jones signed last year, Axford signed the woman’s shirt instead of her actual belly. Had Concoran lifted her shirt up, Axford may not have told her it wasn’t the most bizarre request he’s ever gotten.

H/T Big League Stew

Brewers closer John Axford‘s club-record streak of 49 consecutive converted saves came to an end Friday when he conceded the lead back to the Cubs in the top of the ninth, his first blown save in over a year. After the Brewers finally secured the W in the 13th, Axford skipped talking to the press.

There are guys who after a rough outing can snub the media afterward and look like a tool (Hi, Kerry Wood). But Axford skipped his postgame chat and still came off looking charming and classy as hell. As the hilarious note he left behind indicates, he had a good excuse to hurry out of the ballpark: his wife was going into labor with their second child.

This probably won’t be the last time Axford will be using his kids as an excuse to get out of stuff.

H/T Hardball Talk

We here at LBS have had a long standing fascination with athlete’s facial hair. A few years ago it was Eric Byrnes bringing back the porn stache, then it was Jason Giambi sporting a lucky stache, and this Spring it was Jayson Werth invoking the Jesus look. On Thursday night, I and many others noticed that Twins pitcher Carl Pavano’s stache was coming in well. While Pavano has a beauty going, nothing compares to new Brewers closer John Axford whose got the best Rollie Fingers mustache since Clay Zavada. Here’s a picture of John Axford’s mustache in full form:

Axford has emerged as Milwaukee’s closer now that Trevor Hoffman and Carlos Villanueva have struggled. With the Brewers’ closing situation there’s always instability, but as long as Axford keeps converting saves he should stick with it. And that would be great for all of us because more mustache is better for everyone.