A Schelling For Your Thoughts

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When he wrote a quick note Friday night to the Milwaukee media, John Axford was just trying to be courteous to explain his situation. And when I tweeted a quick photo of it early Saturday morning, I thought it was something fun my followers would enjoy.

Neither of us had any idea the note would become as big a deal as it did.

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(Link to original tweet here)

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My tweet and photo soon were retweeted by Adam McCalvy, Derrick Goold, Richard Justice and Will Leitch, among others, including Doug Gottlieb, Tom Oates, Bleacher Report and USA Today. Thanks to their significantly larger followings, my photo reached thousands more users on Twitter.

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It also was picked up by a number of other news websites:

John Axford blows save, evades media with clever note | CBS Chicago

John Axford is cooler than you | The Score

Twitter Responses | Muckrack

John Axford pretty much rules | NBC Hardball Talk

John Axford is awesome | SB Nation

Baseball player leaves adorable note so he can rush to help his wife | The Atlantic

John Axford letter to media | SB Nation Chicago

John Axford loses saves streak, leaves note for media to be with wife | Sporting News

John Axford left an awesome hand-written note in lieu of postgame interviews | The Big Lead

Brewers closer leaves funny note | Yard Barker

John Axford leaves a note after wife goes into labor | MLB.com Cut 4

Brewers closer John Axford lost his saves streak last night, but not his sense of humor | Sports Grid

John Axford leaves hilarious note after blown save ends streak | Midwest Sports Fans

Brewers closer blows first save in 50 chances, leaves hilarious note for the media | Reddit

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After tweeting the picture, I noticed a couple retweets, but simply went about my business writing my game MLB.com game story. It was, after all, 1 a.m., and I did have to be back at Miller Park in about nine hours. I drove home still thinking the Axford note was funny, but no big deal. Just before going to sleep, I checked Twitter on my phone and was surprised by the number of retweets.

That surprise turned to shock in the morning. All told, between my tweet and others that RT’d with a comment, I had well over 500 retweets. At its height, there was an almost constant flow of mentions coming in to my account. It was overwhelming and by far the most attention I’ve ever received on Twitter.

I owe much thanks to Axford for the note itself, as well as the high-profile writers that helped get my tweet out to the masses. I’m still just a freelance baseball writer, but it was fun to feel like more of a big shot for a day or two.

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