Detroit Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson is among three finalists for the Gold Glove, which will be awarded Tuesday night at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN. Jackson is up against the Angels' Peter Bourjos and Red Sox's Jacoby Ellsbury for the award.
↵It may or may not indicate whether Jackson will win the Gold Glove, but he won The Fielding Bible's award for the top defensive center fielder. The winners were announced on Monday, and you can read the complete list of winners here.
↵Here is what John Dewan, who founded The Fielding Bible, had to say about Jackson's performance in center field.
↵↵↵"He topped all center fielders with 21 runs saved in 2010, but Austin Jackson had to do it even better (with 22 Runs Saved) in 2011 to earn his first Fielding Bible award. Jackson has made 63 more plays than an average center fielder over the last two years. That’s an incredible total. It’s on the plays over his head that AJ really excels (43 of the 63). Making 43 more catches than an average center fielder on balls hit deep is where those lofty runs saved totals come in, as he is saving doubles and triples when he makes these catches."
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The Fielding Bible awards are determined by a panel of analysts, which include Dewan, Bill James and Peter Gammons, that use a voting system similar to that which the Baseball Writers Association of America follow for MVP voting. 10 points goes to the first-place vote-getter, nine to second place, and so on.
↵Jackson earned 89 points among center fielders in voting for The Fielding Bible award.