Joe Tipton

Joe Tipton was born on February 18, 1922 in a house that was practically on the Tennessee-Georgia border. His birth was in Copperhill, Tennessee. When Joe was a very small boy his family moved a few miles south into a Georgia community that the locals refer to as Vellenorthtown, just outside of McCaysville. Joe would grow up there and make his home in that hamlet until his retirement from professional baseball over 30 years later. Joe was the youngest of 5 boys in the Tipton household (two daughters would come along later). All of the boys were very athletic but Joe was the one who made the big-time. Brother Earl had a shot at professional baseball but a serious injury ended his pro career almost before it started. Joe was outstanding at all sports but baseball was his first love. He grew up in an age when baseball was truly the ‘National Pastime’. Joe attended high school at Epworth, a few miles further south in Georgia, and at Copperhill High School in Tennessee for one year, his sophomore year 1938-39. All of his brothers, Earl, J.B., Perry and Dwight, had been basketball and football stars at that school. During his one year, Joe was elected Vice President of his class and was the outstanding player on both the school football and basketball teams. The football team was not very good and scored only 5 touchdowns all year. Joe ran or passed for all five. The basketball team was a little better but Joe was the only player from the team selected to the all-tournament squad in the big event of the year, the Tri-State League Tournament. From the age of 15, Tipton had been one of the best players in the semi-pro teams in the area. He probably realized that baseball was his ticket to success and in the summer of 1940, along with his brother Dwight, Joe headed to the Rome, Georgia area to play in the Northwest Georgia Textile Industrial League, a very strong semi-pro baseball circuit. Joe could play anywhere on the diamond, but shortstop and catcher were his best positions. He had a good season with the Brighton Mills team in Shannon and was named to the Textile League all-star team for the 1940 season. Joe’s accomplishments and ability were soon noticed by the Cleveland Indians organization. The Indians had a scout named Art Decatur who lived in Talladega, Alabama. Decatur contacted Joe and persuaded him to come over to Talladega for a few weeks in the late summer of 1940 to play for a semi-pro team there. Decatur wanted to watch Joe play for an extended period of time before recommending that the Indians sign him to a contract. It did not take long for Decatur to become convinced that Joe was Major League material and he signed Joe to a professional contract with the Cleveland Indians. After spring training in 1941, the Indians assigned Tipton to Appleton, Wisconsin of the Wisconsin State League where he hit .298 and was promoted to the Flint, Michigan squad toward the end of the season. In 1942 he was promoted again, this time to the Charleston, West Virginia team in the Mid-Atlantic League. He batted .313 at Charleston and appeared to be on his way until Uncle Sam came calling. Joe served in the Navy during the 1943, 44 and 45 seasons so he lost three seasons in his prime to World War II. After the war, however, Joe resumed his journey to the Big Leagues with stops at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1946 and Wilkes-Barre of the Eastern League in 1947. It was at Wilkes-Barre that Joe enjoyed his greatest success to date by leading the Eastern League in batting with a lusty .375 average. Joe was on the roster of the Cleveland Indians in April, 1948 and would remain in the Major Leagues for the next seven years. In his rookie season of 1948, the Cleveland Indians won the American League pennant and faced the Boston Braves in the World Series. So in Joe’s first year in the Majors, he appeared in the World Series. During the next seven years Tipton would play for the Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Athletics and Washington Senators, in addition to the Indians. He announced his retirement from baseball after the 1954 season. He returned to play with the Memphis Chicks of the Southern Association in 1955 at the request of General Manager Frank Lane of the Chicago White Sox. Lane wanted a veteran with Joe’s experience to work with the young pitchers and catchers at Memphis, a White Sox farm club. Joe was out of baseball during the 1956 season. He purchased a service station in McCaysville and settled down to run that business and to spend a lot of time at his favorite activity, hunting in the mountains in the Fannin/Basin area. The lure of baseball was strong, however, and Joe returned to play with the Birmingham Barons of the Southern Association in 1957. He then managed Panama City of the Alabama-Florida League in 1958 before retiring for good. Joe Tipton was respected as one of the finest defensive catchers in the Major Leagues. He was valued for his leadership and his ability to work with pitchers. He was very savvy, always in tune with the situation on the field, knowledgeable about the weaknesses of hitters, and his pitchers relied on him heavily for guidance during game situations. Joe was perhaps most famous, however, for his constant chatter during games. He was truly a funny man and distracted more than one hitter with his repartee. He was particularly distracting to the great Ted Williams, who was very intense in his approach to hitting. Williams was reported as saying to Joe: “If I’m in Boston again next year, I’m going to ask Joe Cronin to buy you to get you out of my hair”. After retiring from baseball, Joe moved his family to the Birmingham, Alabama area where he lived the remainder of his life. Joe Tipton died in Birmingham on March 1, 1994. Joe Tipton lived the dream of every young man growing up in his generation. He caught a fastball from Bob Feller, was managed by the great Connie Mack, toured Japan with Lefty O’Doul as an ambassador for American baseball, was behind the plate with Joe DiMaggio batting and smelled the freshly mown grass at Yankee Stadium. It was pretty heady stuff for a kid from Fannin County. The Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame is honored to include Joe Tipton in the inaugural class of 2013.