Indians closer Axford bats 1.000 in Oscar picks

John Axford went 18 for 18 on Academy Award predictions Sunday, live-tweeting throughout the broadcast in what became the Oscar picks version of a no-hitter. (Paul Sancya/AP)

If you want to win your Oscar pool next year, start following pitcher John Axford on Twitter.

The Cleveland Indians closer went 18 for 18 on Academy Award predictions Sunday, live-tweeting throughout the broadcast in what became the Oscar picks version of a no-hitter. (We’ll save the “perfect game” for when he includes every category.)

Axford sent out his picks ahead of the broadcast, and bumped up the number of categories he makes predictions for from 15 to 18 this year, and nailing each one for the first time. It’s probably safe to say that was the only way Axford could bat 1.000 this year.

 

Axford, who was born in Simcoe, Ont., received a Bachelor of Arts degree in film and television from Notre Dame.

“It was fun,” Axford said Monday. “I was following it online, not even watching it on TV. I was getting updates from people on Twitter. ‘You’re 3 for 3, 5 for 5.’ It was pretty neat. By the time it got 14 for 14, I said, ‘Wow, I picked 14 right last year.’ It definitely got a little more intense after that. When it got 16 for 16, I assumed I had it locked.”

Hopefully his teammates will get better at dealing with their closer’s movie buff status.

Or as Indians manager Terry Francona put it: “I hope he’s as good when it comes to saves.”

— With files from AP

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