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Kipnis suffered the injury in "freak" circumstances when he
hugged team mate Francisco Lindor in celebration in the moments
after the Indians clinched a spot in the World Series by winning
the American League Championship Series against Toronto.
Shortstop Lindor accidentally stepped on the ankle of Kipnis,
who joked about it on Monday.
“I think I was getting too much of the spotlight so he (Lindor)
tried to take me out,” Kipnis told reporters at Progressive
Field in Cleveland.
“It was a freak accident. I just landed on it, rolled it.
Hopefully we’ll be good to go by tomorrow night.”
Kipnis, 29, has played his entire six-season major league career
for the Indians, after growing up in the Chicago suburb of
Northbrook, where he was a childhood Cubs fan.
His family and many of his hometown friends still follow the
Cubs, as he was reminded while watching Chicago win the National
League Championship Series against the Dodgers on Saturday.
“It was weird,” he said. “All I was seeing on social media
(from) all my friends from home, it was nothing but Cubs’ posts.
“You’re happy for all the friends and family back home rooting
for the Cubs. It’s cool to see and I know the history of the
team.
“I didn’t know how to really handle it. I couldn’t tell if I was
happy, sad. I was emotional, choked up, what does this mean
right now?”
If Kipnis has his way, the Cubs, who last won the World Series
in 1908, will have to wait at least 109 years to end their title
drought.
“I think a Tribe World Series would set this city off,” he said
of Cleveland. “It’s always been a great sports town.”
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina, Editing by
Larry Fine)
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