Joe Tipton
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Joe Hicks Tipton (February 18, 1922 - March 1, 1994) was a catcher in Major League Baseball. From 1948 through 1954, he played for the Cleveland Indians (1948, 1952[end], 1953[start]), Chicago White Sox (1949), Philadelphia Athletics (1950-1952[start]) and Washington Senators (1954). Tipton batted and threw right handed. He was born in McCaysville, Fannin Co., Georgia.
In 1940 and 1941, Tipton began his playing career in the Textile Industrial League with Brighton Mills in Shannon, GA. Shannon is located near Rome, Floyd Co., GA.
Tipton was basically a backup catcher who in a seven-season major-league career was sold or traded five times. A good defensive catcher with a strong arm, he displayed some slugging power but remained as a sustitute.
A World War II veteran, Tipton led the Eastern League with a .375 batting average in 1947. He debuted in the majors with the 1948 World Champions Cleveland Indians, hitting .289 in 47 games as a backup for All-Star catcher Jim Hegan. After the World Series, Tipton was sent to the Chicago White Sox.
Before the 1950 season, the White Sox made one of the best trades in franchise history when they sent Tipton to the Philadelphia Athletics for a young player named Nellie Fox. Athletics owner/manager/GM Connie Mack signed off on the deal, sending the future Hall of Fame second baseman to Chicago. Tipton supplied good backup to titular catcher Mike Guerra, batting .266 wit six home runs and 20 RBI in 64 games. A year later, he appeared in a career-best 72 games. Tipton returned to Cleveland in the 1952 midseason. That year, combined between the A's and Indians, he posted career-highs in home runs (nine) and RBI (30) in 66 games. After one more season with the Indians, he finished his career with the Washington Senators in 1954.
Tipton was a .236 hitter with 29 home runs 125 and RBI in 417 games.
He died in Birmingham, Alabama, at age 72.
