Austin Jackson

Austin Jarriel Jackson (born February 1, 1987) is an American former professional baseball center fielder.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants and New York Mets.

Prior to playing professionally, he attended Billy Ryan High School.

In 1999, Baseball America named Jackson the best 12-year-old baseball player in the nation, and the best 15-year-old baseball player three years later.

Jackson attended Billy Ryan High School in Denton, Texas.

In basketball, he was listed as the #10-ranked high school point guard in the country by Athlon Sports after he averaged 22.5 points, five rebounds and three assists per game his junior year in high school.

In baseball, he hit .423 with five homers and 34 RBI for his class AAAA Texas State runner-up baseball team and was rated the No. 14 draft prospect among high school players in the nation by Baseball America.

The New York Yankees selected Jackson in the 2005 MLB draft and traded him to the Tigers at the end of the 2009 season, where he made his MLB debut in 2010.

The next two seasons, he made the postseason on both occasions with the Tigers.

Though Jackson committed to play both baseball and basketball for Georgia Tech, the New York Yankees drafted him in the eighth round (259th overall) in the 2005 Major League Baseball draft.

To convince him to sign instead of attending Georgia Tech, the Yankees offered Jackson $800,000, a record signing bonus for an eighth round pick.

From 2005 to 2009 Jackson Rose up the Yankees organization and after a slow start, he became a top prospect for the Yankees.

For the 2009 season he was the Yankees top prospect according to Baseball America.

After the 2009 season, Jackson was added to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

On December 9, 2009, Jackson was traded to the Detroit Tigers as part of a three-team trade that brought Curtis Granderson to the Yankees.

Jackson entered the 2010 season as the Tigers third-best prospect, according to Baseball America.

Jackson made his major league debut on April 5, 2010, against the Kansas City Royals, going one for five.

He hit his first major league home run on April 25, 2010, off of Colby Lewis of the Texas Rangers.

Through the first month of the season Jackson led the majors in hits with 36, and was named the AL Rookie of the Month.

On June 2, 2010, against the Cleveland Indians, Jackson made a difficult over-the-shoulder running catch in the ninth inning of Armando Galarraga's near-perfect game.

The perfect game eventually ended with two outs in the ninth after an incorrect call by umpire Jim Joyce.

He was named an outfielder on Baseball America's 2010 All-Rookie Team.

He was also named an outfielder on the 2010 Topps Major League Rookie All-Star Team.

On November 15, 2010, Jackson came in second in the 2010 American League Rookie of the Year voting, behind Rangers closer Neftalí Feliz.

Jackson finished his rookie season by playing 151 games with a .293 batting average, 10 triples, 4 home runs, 41 RBI, and an AL-leading 170 strikeouts.

During those seasons, he led the American League in hitting triples, and won the Fielding Bible Award for center field in 2011.

Jackson was named the American League Player of the Week for the week of August 29–September 4, 2011.

In receiving the award for the first time, Jackson had a .529 batting average (18 for 34) during the week with three doubles, three triples, two home runs, five runs batted in, and 13 runs scored.

The Tigers went 5–2 that week to increase their lead in the American League Central Division.

He won a Fielding Bible Award in 2011 as the best fielding center fielder in MLB.

Jackson played 153 games in 2011 batting .249 with 10 home runs, 45 RBI, an AL-leading 11 triples, and 181 strikeouts.

In Game 6 of the 2011 ALCS, Jackson hit his first career postseason home run.

The Tigers would however lose the game and the series to the Texas Rangers.

On April 5, 2012, Jackson was the leadoff hitter and played center field on Opening Day for the Tigers, where he went 3–5 with an RBI and a run.

Jackson hit a walk-off, bases-loaded single down the third base line to give the Tigers the win over the Red Sox, 3–2.

Jackson played 137 games in 2012, batting .300 with 16 home runs, 66 RBI, and an AL-leading 10 triples.

Jackson went to the postseason with the Tigers for a second straight season, and he hit a home run in the series-clinching Game 4 against the New York Yankees in the ALCS.

But the Tigers eventually got swept in 4 games by the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.

Injuries limited Jackson to 129 games in 2013.

Serving as the Tigers leadoff hitter again, he batted .272 with 12 home runs, 49 RBIs, and a career-low 8 stolen bases.