LOS ANGELES — Rockies closer John Axford stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 220 pounds. He throws a 96 mph fastball and has 120 career saves.
He has nothing on Jameson, his toddling 2½-year-old son.
"Jameson is ... um ..." Axford said, his voice cracking and tears pooling in his eyes.
"Let's try this again," Axford said, searching for words while sitting in the nearly empty visiting team clubhouse at Dodger Stadium. "Jameson is feisty. Everybody can see that he's cute, but he's feisty. I look up to my little man."
Axford and his wife, Nicole, nearly lost their little man March 25, the day Jameson was bitten on his right foot by a rattlesnake while playing outside in the backyard of the house the family was renting in North Scottsdale, Ariz.