Thornton John Kipper (September 27, 1928 – March 29, 2006) was an American

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

who played from 1953 through 1955 for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

. Listed at , , Kipper batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Bagley, Wisconsin and attended Bagley High School. A standout pitcher in college, Kipper spent one year (1946) at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

before joining the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

during

peacetime Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such a ...

. After being discharged in 1948, he returned to school and played for the UW team from 1949 to 1950. In that last season he posted an 11–1 record, and later went 5–0 in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. He also recorded two victories during the

1950 College World Series The College World Series was the fourth NCAA-sanctioned baseball tournament that determined a national champion. The tournament was held as the conclusion of the 1950 NCAA baseball season and was played at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Ne ...

and made the All-Star team. Together with catcher Bob Wilson, Kipper formed one of the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

Conference's top batteries. Dynie Mansfield was Kipper's college coach and mentor. After graduating in 1951, Kipper was signed by the Phillies. In a three-season career, he went 3–4 with 35

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s and a 5.27

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

in 55 appearances, including three starts, one save, and 99.0

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

of work. Following his majors career, Kipper pitched in the

Kansas City Athletics The Kansas City Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Kansas City, Missouri, from 1955 to 1967, having previously played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the Philadelphia Athletics. After moving in 1967, the team became the ...

minor league system. He also played for the Magallanes team of the Venezuelan Winter League (1953–54) and in the 1954 Caribbean Series. After retirement from baseball, he ran a pizza business out of

Scottsdale, Arizona Scottsdale is a city in eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott (chaplain), Winfield Scott, a retired Chaplain Corps (United States ...

. Kipper died in Scottadale at age 77.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
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East Valley Tribune - Paying tribute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kipper, Thornton 1928 births 2006 deaths Baseball players from Grant County, Wisconsin Lácteos de Pastora players Lewiston Broncs players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Miami Marlins (International League) players Philadelphia Phillies players Schenectady Blue Jays players Syracuse Chiefs players Terre Haute Phillies players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Utica Blue Sox players Wisconsin Badgers baseball players United States Navy sailors 20th-century American sportsmen