Cleveland Indians vs. Toronto Blue Jays

Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona congratulates second baseman Jason Kipnis after the Indians clinched the ALCS.

(Gus Chan/PD)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Jason Kipnis' uncle delivered one of Ryne Sandberg's children.

Kipnis grew up a little more than a half-hour north of Wrigley Field, one of baseball's most treasured sanctuaries.

Kipnis lived down the street from Steve Bartman, the most infamous man in a green turtleneck, glasses and cheap headphones to ever grace the corner of Clark and Addison.

"The Cubs are part of who I am," Kipnis said Sunday.

The Cubs are who Kipnis and the Indians must conquer if they are to capture their first championship in 68 years. Of course, Chicago's drought has persisted four decades longer than that.

Kipnis knows. He endured some of the agony.

He was a sophomore in high school when Bartman was vilified for attempting to corral a pop fly down the third-base line in Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series. He spotted the line of police cars camped outside of Bartman's house for the ensuing month, ensuring that no crazed Cubs fan tried to trespass.

Kipnis remembers watching Sandberg and Mark Grace and Kerry Wood and Mark Prior and Sammy Sosa.

"It was must-see TV every time," Kipnis said. "'Hey, Sammy's up.' Wherever you were, people would tune in."

He remembers listening to Harry Caray. He remembers Wood's 20-strikeout game, and then having the opportunity to play defense behind the hurler during an Indians spring training game more than a decade later. He recalls sitting at Wrigley Field and watching Prior out-duel Greg Maddux in Game 3 of the 2003 NL Division Series.

He watched the Cubs' latest postseason triumph with former Tribe teammate Joba Chamberlain.

This time, Kipnis felt conflicted.

"The 10-year-old boy in me is saying, 'Why does it have to be the Cubs?'"

The 29-year-old native of Northbrook, Illinois, didn't know how to react to Chicago reaching its first World Series in 71 years, not with his team waiting patiently for a chance to wipe away its own streak of futility.

"I even teared up because I didn't know how to handle it," Kipnis said. "I didn't know what to think."

Kipnis' friends are Cubs season-ticket holders. His three siblings maintain an allegiance to the Cubs. He scanned his social media feeds after the Cubs won on Saturday night and saw mostly pro-Cubs posts.

"And now I have to go try to disappoint all of them," Kipnis said.

Kipnis had two trains of thought when it settled in that the Indians and Cubs would clash in the Fall Classic. First, reality seemed daunting.

"It's intimidating a little bit, the idea," he said. "You dream about it and you're always excited, but then when it comes to fruition, you're like, 'Holy crap, this is actually going to happen. Everybody is going to be there watching."

Then again, maybe that isn't a bad thing.

"You start to think about it more positively," he said, "like, 'I could win a World Series in front of everyone I know.'"

His friends and family have vowed their support of the Indians in the World Series. Kipnis has hosted a few buddies at his home when the Indians have played at Progressive Field this October. They'll grab dinner and watch TV on off-days, anything to keep Kipnis from "over-thinking stuff and having the wheels turn."

Those friends attended the Cubs' victory against the Dodgers on Saturday. After the game, they texted him: "It was a great last night of being a Cubs fan. Let's go Tribe."

"Without me having to say anything," Kipnis said, "they reaffirmed that, 'Hey, we're on the Indians' side. The curse can wait one more year.'"

That "curse" has persevered since 1945, when the Cubs last advanced to the World Series. The franchise hasn't won a championship since 1908.

And here stands Kipnis, the kid who used to imagine vanquishing that title drought himself, tasked with making sure it lasts at least another year.

"I always dreamed of playing in the World Series at Wrigley Field, full count, two outs," Kipnis said. "I always thought it was going to be the bottom of the ninth, but it's the top of the ninth now."