Air Force Baseball

The Greatest School in the World. #AmericasTeam🇺🇸 | #FlyFightWin⚡️

[Air Force Baseball @AF_Baseball]

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐀𝐢𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐌𝐋𝐁 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬

Wishing Griffin Jax and the Tampa Bay Rays all the best in the 2026 MLB World Series!

#FlyFightWin #AmericasTeam🇺🇸

[Tampa Bay Rays @RaysBaseball]

Jax gets the nod

#ForTampaBay | #Postseason

[Air Force Baseball @AF_Baseball]

On to the 𝗔𝗟𝗖𝗦 🙌

Congrats to Air Force baseball alum 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗻 𝗝𝗮𝘅 and @RaysBaseball on reaching the ALCS. Wishing you the best!

#FlyFightWin

[the Sports ON Tap @thesportsontap]

The Tampa Bay Rays are going to the American League Championship Series.

One of the pitchers who got them there is the only person who has ever graduated from the Air Force Academy and reached the major leagues.

He turned down professional baseball at 18 to go there.

Start with his father.

Garth Jax was the 296th player taken in the 1986 draft, in the 11th round. At Florida State in his junior year he hurt his kidney and his spleen badly enough that some doctors told him he was finished playing football.

The Dallas Cowboys cut him on September 1, 1986. They signed him back about a week later because somebody else got hurt.

He lasted ten years in the National Football League, mostly on special teams. In 1988 he led the Cowboys in special teams tackles with 24. He finished with the Arizona Cardinals in 1995.

So that is the house Griffin Jax grew up in.

In 2013 he went 7 and 1 with a 1.74 earned run average at Cherry Creek High School in Colorado and was named the state's Gatorade Player of the Year. The Philadelphia Phillies drafted him in the 12th round.

He did not sign. He went to the Air Force Academy instead.

He was not good there at first. A 5.86 earned run average as a freshman and 5.17 as a sophomore. Then as a junior in 2016 he went 9 and 2 with a 2.05 earned run average and 90 strikeouts, and was named co-pitcher of the year in his conference.

The Minnesota Twins took him in the third round, 93rd overall, and gave him $645,000.

Then the rules changed on him.

In April of 2017 the Department of Defense began requiring academy graduates to serve two years of active duty before they could move to reserve status and play professionally.

So Griffin Jax reported to Cape Canaveral, Florida, and worked as an acquisition manager while the rest of his draft class played baseball.

Here is the part that is hard to believe.

He was eventually allowed to pitch. But a person on active duty is not permitted to earn a second income.

So the Air Force paid his salary, and the Minnesota Twins paid for his travel and his equipment.

Two legal departments had to sit down and work out an arrangement so that a man could be a baseball player.

He reached the major leagues on June 8, 2021, in relief, against the New York Yankees.

He is a captain in the Air Force Reserve now. He won a silver medal with Team USA at the World Baseball Classic this year. In August his elbow put him on the injured list for the first time in his career and he came back on September 2.

And tonight, in New York, in the game that finished off the Yankees and sent the Rays to the American League Championship Series, Griffin Jax pitched two innings and struck out four.

Against the same team he debuted against.

Nobody who graduated from the Air Force Academy had ever reached the major leagues.

One has. It took him five years and two legal departments.

[Air Force Baseball @AF_Baseball]

Happy National Coaches Day from America's Team! 🇺🇸⚾️

#FlyFightWin

[Air Force Baseball @AF_Baseball]

One of one! ⚡️

Air Force baseball honored Kaz with a coaching retirement ceremony during Alumni Weekend!

#FlyFightWin #AmericasTeam🇺🇸

[Air Force Baseball @AF_Baseball]

Welcome to America's Team, Coach Ipson! ⚡️

#FlyFightWin

[Air Force Baseball @AF_Baseball]

Welcome to America's Team, Coach Conn! ⚡️

#FlyFightWin

[Air Force Baseball @AF_Baseball]

Welcome to America's Team, Coach Wolfe! ⚡️

#FlyFightWin

[Air Force Baseball @AF_Baseball]

Air Force Baseball Strengthens Staff with Three Additions

#FlyFightWin #AmericasTeam🇺🇸
https://t.co/5OgbGdCcz5

[Drew LaComb @dlacomb22]

⁦@AF_Baseball⁩ 🫡 https://t.co/K8BmnGe47y

[Drew LaComb @dlacomb22]

⁦@AF_Baseball⁩ 🫡 https://t.co/JbkvdoCYaI

[D1Baseball @d1baseball]

🆕 2026 Cape Cod Prospect Rundown: Brewster

@VCUBaseball’s Jacob Lee, @DiamondHeels’s Jamie Laskofski and @BeaverBaseball’s Zach Kmatz lead our prospect rundown of the Brewster Whitecaps.

https://t.co/95vY96FY4y

[Air Force Baseball @AF_Baseball]

JOBS DROPPED! ✈️😮‍💨

#FlyFightWin #AmericasTeam🇺🇸

[Drew LaComb @dlacomb22]

It is an incredible honor and privilege to have the opportunity to serve our program, our Academy, and our cadets! 🇺🇸⚡️

[Air Force Baseball @AF_Baseball]

𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗟𝗮𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗯 🎙️

🔗 Read the full story: https://t.co/D3UxhMTsfH

#FlyFightWin | #AmericasTeam 🇺🇸

[Air Force Baseball @AF_Baseball]

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 ⚾️

Welcome to the head coach’s seat, Drew LaComb! After three seasons on the Falcons’ staff, LaComb has been named Head Coach of America’s Team.

🔗 https://t.co/D3UxhMTsfH

#FlyFightWin | #AmericasTeam 🇺🇸

[D1Baseball @d1baseball]

🆕 2026 Mountain West Season Wrapup

Eric Sorenson looks back at the standout performers and intriguing storylines from the 2026 Mountain West season, led by turnarounds from San Diego State and Wazzu.
https://t.co/IVDxzzxYv9

[Air Force Baseball @AF_Baseball]

Flying Aces Fuel Brewster's Playoff Push https://t.co/hACYXLRYf4 via @OfficialCCBL

#FlyFightWin #AmericasTeam🇺🇸

[Air Force Baseball @AF_Baseball]

𝗔 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗞𝗮𝘇 💙

#FlyFightWin | #AmericasTeam