John Berton "The Ax Man" Axford (born April 1, 1983, in Simcoe, Ontario) is a Canadian Major League Baseball pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Raised in Port Dover, Ontario, Axford attended Assumption College School in nearby Brantford. Because the school didn't have an interscholastic baseball program, he played for Port Dover Minor Baseball, Team Ontario and Team Canada. 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.

He was originally selected by the Seattle Mariners in the seventh round (219th overall) of the 2001 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft, but accepted an athletic scholarship to the University of Notre Dame instead. He was inactive during his junior year after undergoing Tommy John surgery in December 2003. Used as a starting pitcher in 26 of 36 games, his record in three seasons with the Fighting Irish was 14–6. Despite losing his scholarship as a redshirt senior in 2005, he still earned a bachelor's degree in film, television and theatre.

Trevor William Hoffman (born October 13, 1967) is an American former baseball relief pitcher who played 18 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1993 to 2010. A long-time closer, Hoffman pitched for the Florida Marlins, San Diego Padres, and the Milwaukee Brewers, including more than 15 years for the Padres. He was the major leagues' first player to reach the 500- and 600-save milestones, and was the all-time saves leader from 2006 until 2011.

Hoffman played shortstop collegiately at the University of Arizona and was drafted in the 11th round by the Cincinnati Reds. After not having much success batting, Hoffman was converted to a pitcher, throwing up to 95 miles per hour (mph). The Marlins acquired him in the 1992 expansion draft, and he pitched in Florida until he was traded to the Padres mid-season in 1993 in a deal that sent star Gary Sheffield to the Marlins. Hoffman recorded 20 saves in 1994 in his first season as Padres closer, and in the following years, he became the face of the franchise after Tony Gwynn retired. He collected at least 30 saves each year for the next 14 years, except for 2003 when he missed most of the year recovering from shoulder surgery. After San Diego did not re-sign him, Hoffman pitched two years with the Brewers before retiring in 2010.