Jason Kipnis Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cleveland Indians

Kipnis was drafted 63rd overall in the second round of the 2009 draft. As with almost any professional baseball player, he did not actually see action in a Cleveland Indians uniform in his first year. He instead spent the 2009 year with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, a minor league affiliate of the Indians in Short Season A level play.

He was productive in this, batting .306 and receiving public words of praise from Indians manager Manny Acta.

Answer: Second Base

Kipnis himself felt he would be more successful in this position, citing the Indians' lack of solid second baseman as a reason he could succeed in doing so. Fortunately for Kipnis, the transition was practically seamless. As expected, Kipnis made the move from Single A to Double A in his second year, joining the Akron Aeros as a second baseman. For the Aeros, Kipnis batted a strong .311 and won the Aeros Player of the Week Award twice.

Due to his faster than expected development, the Indians allowed him to ascend to Triple A ball and join the Columbus Clippers for their ongoing playoff run. In a game which decided the International League Championship, Kipnis made the absolute most of his opportunity by straight up hitting for the cycle en route to a dominant Clippers win.

Answer: All-Star Futures Game

Kipnis played in this game in 2011. At the time, the way this game worked was that "Team USA" consisted of the MLB's generally best minor league talent, the talent also having not experienced major league play yet. Team USA would face "Team World", which was a series of players who had been chosen from the US Baseball Olympic team.

In 2011, the most recent Olympics had been 2008, so the 2008 team was the pool of players. In the game, Kipnis went 1/4, but his one hit was a towering 495 foot home run that ended up making the difference in Team USA's 7-6 victory.

Answer: Chicago White Sox

Kipnis did not manage to make an impact on this game, being held without a base hit on two plate appearances in Cleveland's 3-0 loss to Chicago. The offense was pretty quiet in general for both teams in this game; apart from a fifth inning Carlos Quentin three-run homer, no significant offensive momentum was gained by either team. Kipnis did make it on base via an HBP in the eighth inning, and this was actually just one of two times the Indians were able to even get a runner into scoring position in the game.

Answer: A Walk-off RBI to win the game

Kipnis earned his first hit in a classic situation that baseball players worldwide dream of: bottom of the ninth, game tied 2-2, bases loaded and two outs on the board. The absolute picture perfect scenario for Kipnis to become a hero for his team, and he delivered as Cleveland would defeat the Angels 3-2 off the strength of Kipnis' game-winning RBI single. Prior to the walk off RBI, Kipnis had once again been kept in check, as he was 0/3 at the time of taking his fourth at bat of the game.

He had actually struck out swinging his previous two plate appearances, and getting the game winning RBI probably had to be quite the load off his mind because of that.

Answer: 2012

Kipnis was off to a steady start to the year originally, as his batting average fluctuated in being above and slightly under .300. However, just over 20 games into the season, the Indians traveled to Chicago for a game with the White Sox. On May 3rd, Kipnis contributed a career high four RBI, adding in his first career triple to go with a late three-run homer that put Cleveland ahead for good in their 7-5 win.

In a game where Chicago starter John Danks was otherwise very solid, he just could not get Kipnis out. Though Kipnis went 2/3, he actually was not denied a basepath at any point, as a throwing error from Danks himself allowed Kipnis to reach base anyway in the third inning.

Answer: Yan Gomes

Both Kipnis and Gomes each received matching six year deals, though it is unconfirmed if they specifically arranged for this or if this was just a coincidence. Either way, both Kipnis and Gomes held a conjoining press conference to discuss their new contracts, when players typically fly solo with these things. When it came time for Kipnis to speak, he emphasized that he had handled things like this with the intent of ensuring he could help the team keep these core players around. Kipnis, at his press conference, began with saying "We've got the guys who can win games now and we want them to stick around, I'm excited about being a part of that."

His contract extension was a six year deal but, at the time, his projected value was considerably higher. In line with this, Yan Gomes received a six year deal in an offseason where Gomes was also projected to receive a much bigger contract. With the Indians notoriously being a small market team that had struggled to sell out crowds, it would have otherwise been very difficult to keep both players, and a sacrifice would probably have had to be made.

Answer: No

Unfortunately for Kipnis, while he was fairly productive during the early goings of his new contract, his body began to betray him. He landed on the Disabled List (now known as the "injured" list) five times between the span of 2015 and 2018. Then, in late 2019, Kipnis required surgery to repair a broken right hamate bone, which ended both his season and his Cleveland career. Due to the Indians declining the club option, he became a free agent and the Indians unsurprisingly let him go.

His production had faltered at this point in addition to his durability, as he only managed to hit .245 in his final season as an Indian.

Answer: Kipnis had been a Cubs fan as a kid

Kipnis grew up in Illinois and, hilariously, actually once lived next door to Steve Bartman, the infamous figure entwined within the Bartman Ball controversy where Bartman, without ill-intent, interfered with the Cubs winning a major playoff game that would have sent them to the World Series in 2003. Kipnis grew up a Cubs fan, as he had an older sibling playing softball and his father once played in the American Legion of Baseball, an amateur baseball league. Given his close proximity to Chicago and love for baseball, Kipnis becoming a Cubs fan makes perfect sense.

Answer: No

Kipnis played a total of 59 games in Triple A, playing for the Gwinnett Stripers, an affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. While he was pretty good for Gwinnett, he did not manage to make it to the Braves' MLB roster. As such, Atlanta released him from his contract after the season ended.

Unfortunately, this would be curtains for Kipnis, as he would not sign with any other team in any capacity, and in 2023, Kipnis formally announced his retirement from baseball.