Blue Jays' John Axford produces another stellar set of Oscar picks

Tom Gatto

Blue Jays' John Axford produces another stellar set of Oscar picks image

John Axford took time out from trying to make his hometown Blue Jays to make his annual Academy Awards picks. Once again, he brought the heat.

The right-handed reliever went 18 for 24 with his selections for Sunday's program. That's a 75 percent clip — not his best (he was 18 for 18 in 2014 and 19 for 24 in 2017), but still darned good. Also, one of the misses was on Kobe Bryant's "Dear Basketball," so points off for no cross-sport solidarity.

Still, Axford, 34, continues to put his film nd TV degree from Notre Dame to excellent use: He's at 79.6 percent (125 for 157) since he began posting picks in 2011. That's better than his 79.1 major league save percentage (144 for 182). Since expanding his picks to include all 24 major categories in 2015, he is at 74.0 percent (71 for 96).

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While his eye for cinematic excellence is well-established, he does have one blind spot.

His choice this year was "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," which produced the best actress (Frances McDormand) and best supporting actor (Sam Rockwell). Axford got both of those right. 

Axford can now put his entire focus back on going north with the team he grew up watching in Ontario (he was born in Simcoe, grew up in Fort Dover and went to high school in Brantford). His early spring outings have been solid; he has not been scored upon in two innings of work.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.