Stanford Cardinal vs California Golden Bears: the Stanford Axe

Playing for the Stanford Axe

An axe stolen after an 1899 baseball game, stolen back in 1930, and played for in the Big Game ever since.

Holder

Stanford

All-time series

Stanford 66-51-11

Trophy era

Stanford 48-38-3

First awarded

1933

Series records as of the end of the 2025 season.

• The trophy's plaque shows a different 1982 score depending on who holds it: Stanford changes it to a 20-19 Stanford win, and Cal changes it back to the official 25-20.
• The axe was a rally prop before it was a trophy. Cal students took it after a baseball game, not a football game, in 1899.
• Cal held the axe for roughly three decades before a single play was contested for it, because it took Stanford until 1930 to steal it back.