Millers. While Terwilliger played for the Millers that year, Tipton had planned to retire from baseball, and never played a game for Minneapolis. Later that year, White Sox general manager Frank Lane wanted him to join the Memphis Chickasaws so that the young pitchers in the minor leagues could work with a veteran catcher; Tipton obliged and joined the team for the 1955 season. In 60 games for the Chickasaws that season, Tipton had a .277 batting average and seven home runs. After playing in the 60 games, Tipton was suspended after an argument with Chickasaws manager Jack Cassini, and after the season ended he retired from the game to work at his service station. He returned to baseball in 1957 and spent a season with the Birmingham Barons, and partway through the 1958 season, he joined the Panama City Fliers as manager. He was fired a month later, and in protest the Fliers refused to play their next game. Tipton retired afterwards, and a year later was banned for life from the minor leagues after it came to light that he accepted payouts by acting as a liaison for Jesse Levan, who was intentionally fouling off balls in order for gamblers in the stands to take advantage of them. His baseball career over, Tipton moved to Birmingham, Alabama with his wife and three children, where he ran automobile dealership. He was named to the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. In 1994, Tipton died in Birmingham at the age of 72. References External links Joe Tipton at Baseballbiography.com Joe Tipton at SABR (Baseball BioProject) 1922 births 1994 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Chicago White Sox players Cleveland Indians players Major League Baseball catchers Memphis Chickasaws players People from Fannin County, Georgia Philadelphia Athletics players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Wilkes-Barre Barons (baseball) players