Austin Jackson

Austin Jackson is a former MLB outfielder who spent 29 oddly memorable games with the Chicago Cubs in 2015.

For most of his life, Jackson was considered to be the premier baseball player in his age group in the country, though he spent even more time playing basketball in high school. Jackson was selected in the eighth round of the 2005 MLB Draft by the New York Yankees, foregoing college to play for one of his favorite childhood teams thanks to a record-signing bonus. Before even getting a chance in the majors with the Bronx Bombers, though, Jackson became a high-profile prospect and was dealt to Detroit Tigers for Curtis Granderson.

Jackson led the AL in strikeouts in 2010 but still finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting behind only Neftali Feliz. From 2010-12, he was a triples machine, leading the league in that category (31). He was also an extremely productive outfielder for a Tigers team on the rise, averaging 5.1 WAR per season and slashing .280/.346/.416 with 61 steals. For good measure, he also hit a clinching home run against the Yankees in the deciding Game 4 of the 2012 ALCS.

From there, Jackson became a journeyman, as he was traded to the Seattle Mariners at the 2014 deadline in a three-team trade that sent Drew Smyly, Nick Franklin and Willy Adames to the Tampa Bay Rays, and David Price to the Tigers. A year later, he was traded to the Cubs on the now-defunct August 31 waiver trade deadline for a player to be named later and international signing bonus money,

Not including of the very obvious winner, 2015 was my all-time favorite season of Cubs baseball. It was so exciting to watch the team emerge from that rebuild so spectacularly, with a toppling of the mighty St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS as the cherry on top. And by God was Austin Jackson technically a component of that team.

In 29 games for the Cubs, Jackson slashed .236/.304/.375, filling in mostly for Jorge Soler in the outfield. He also platooned with Jason Heyward and Chris Coghlan, while also spelling Dexter Fowler on the center fielder's days off. Jackson didn't do much in the 2015 postseason either, notching zero hits in eight at-bats, though he did tally a stolen base and a run against the Cardinals in the momentum-shifting Game 2 win in the NLDS.

For some reason, Jackson visibly remains a Cubs in my mind, even though that was the stop he spent the least amount of time at in his career. His best years were obviously for the Tigers, and yet I can only envision him shagging down fly balls near the ivy in Wrigley. Clearly, that 2015 team left even more of an impression than I ever realized.

After the 2015 season, Jackson gave the Cubs every chance to retain him, though they opted to re-sign Fowler in a widely-publicized move (remember him showing up announced to spring training?). Jackson moved on to the White Sox in 2016, the Guardians in 2017 (when he made one of the greatest catches of all time), and the Giants, Rangers, and Mets in 2018.

He never actually retired, and he tried to make a comeback in 2020 that was stunted by the pandemic. Still, he hasn't played since 2018, so the book can all but be closed on an impressive career.