Axel Campbell/IF-83.635

Rumor / Community Lore
This article contains lore created collaboratively by the Blaseball community. It is just one of many Rumors that we've found in the Interdimensional Rumor Mill. You can find more Rumors about Axel Campbell at their Rumor Registry.

In the Shadows

Axel Campbell has been in the Shadows of the Baltimore Crabs for as long as the team has existed. As such there is little information available before this event, and Campbell has only ever described this part of his life as being a time when he was “an aspiring blaseball player”.

While he declined to provide any details on his time there and exactly what the Shadows were like, Campbell did admit to making a deal for the ability to navigate and understand the Shadows to a deeper level. As such Campbell possesses a keen understanding of the world below the Crabitat, as well as deep knowledge of the game of blaseball itself. Campbell has reportedly been able to use eyes or eye-shaped designs to “see” in places where others can not, and visitors to the Crabitat have reported a number of eyes and signs carved into the walls of the Crabitat, or posted on boards with post-it notes.

In exchange for this knowledge, Campbell lost the use of the eyes he was born with, and often covers them up using a bandage or darkened glasses.

A Return

When the Baltimore Crabs returned from their ascension, the ILB opened up access to the Shadows, shedding light on the people and places that had rarely seen any action. At the same time the overuse of his sigils resulted in a form of chronic fatigue for Campbell. In an attempt to assist their newly discovered teammate, the active Crabs roster assisted in getting Campbell a guide dog as he got used to being in the light of day once more.

Subsequently Campbell spent another X seasons off the active roster as Jacoby Podcast, Lorcan Smaht, Parker Meng, and Montgomery Bullock were all pulled onto the roster from the shadows before Axel was able to get a chance to play. This resulted in Campbell working even harder at his blaseball skills, becoming an accomplished replacement player either for the rotation or the lineup. This also resulted in Campbell picking up strange training strategies and routines including his alleged “solid only diet” which involved him refusing to even drink water - instead simply chewing on cups of ice, much to the annoyance of his teammates.

This was also the time when Campbell first made contact with Enid Marlow who spent a considerable number of seasons in the Crab’s Shadows. The two of them made a surprising friendship as they shared notes on magic deals with unintended consequences.

On the Crabs

In season X Axel Campbell finally entered active play, becoming a rotation pitcher for the Baltimore Crabs. His initial relationship with the rest of the team was tense as he was caught between the excitement of finally seeing active play, and the team that he thought of as having kept him from active play all this time. The team however seemed to take this somewhat in stride, as this was when the Tunnels were finally opened up for active play in the many ballparks of the ILB. The other members of the Crabs rotation made quick work of stealing away runs to prevent Campbell from being sent back into the shadows, with a stolen run from Adalberto Tosser being notably being all that stood between Campbell and the fax machine in at least one lateseason home game.

This relationship extended further still with fellow shadow player turned active player Lorcan Smaht who had once usurped Campbell’s potential place in the rotation when the fax machine was first installed. Campbell however found it difficult to remain bitter Smaht, noting that ey were “really sweet and an all around fun person”. For eir part, Smaht did eir part in stealing runs away from the opposing team when Campbell came up to pitch.

A Master of the Tunnels

While the addition of the tunnels may have been seen as a boon to protect Campbell, he was quick to turn them around to weaponize them against the opposing team. A skilled navigator of these forgotten spaces, Campbell recruited a new guide dog for traveling the underground with. This guide was an old mural of a faithful dog that had come to life in the aftermath of the Olde One’s death many years ago. This mural-dog was adept at assisting Campbell at navigating the tunnels for heists on days when he lacked the energy to draw upon his sigils, and even saved him the effort of doing so on multiple occasions. The mural-dog gets along famously with Campbell’s more traditional guide dog.

Now even when not in active play it is common to see Campbell appearing from unsuspecting places on his way through the Crabitat, and indeed any other stadium in the Crab’s regular away series.