Tippie, William

William Tippie – (2006)

 

Bill Tippie has made a lasting impression on the Lorain sports scene for over forty-seven years as a player, umpire, Manager/Coach, and as a team sponsor.

The athletic career of Bill Tippie at Lorain High School was marked with excellence and versatility. His track participation consisted of running the half-mile and the high-hurdles. During his senior year, he quarterbacked the 1960 team to the co-championship of the tough Buckeye Conference with an impressive 8-2 record. He also excelled on defense at the safety position, receiving high school All-American honors from The Sporting News. As the ace of the LHS pitching staff, he pitched his team to a 13-inning victory in the Regional Semi-Finals. The next day he pitched an additional seven innings in the finals before he had to leave the game.

Continuing with football at Findlay College, Bill made an immediate impact as a freshman quarterback, by leading his team to a Conference Championship.

Following his college experience, Bill Tippie devoted thousands of hours of service to baseball, and, the young men who played the game. Bill’s umpiring career has spanned more than forty-five years. Beginning at the age of seventeen, he umpired at virtually every age-level. In 1992 he was honored by being selected to umpire the “Home Run Derby” and the “Celebrity All-Star Game”, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, prior to the Major League All-Star Game. Bill served as an umpire for high school baseball for 17 years.

For twenty-three years, Bill’s company, Tippie Insurance, provided sponsorship of local baseball teams which provided the opportunity for Lorain’s youth to play baseball. Those teams produced a long history of successes.

Bill’s dedication to leadership on the baseball diamond continued, as he served as a manager and coach for twenty-five consecutive years. Some of the remarkable accomplishments of his teams are as follows:

•The American Legion Team won the District Championship 5 times.
•The Connie Mack Team (Tippie Insurance) won the 1990 AABC State Tournament.
•The Sandy Koufax Team (ages 17-18) placed 3rd in the nation at a tournament in Wyoming.
•The Mickey Mantle Team (ages 16-17) won the State Championship a total of 18 times,
including 15 consecutive years.

In 1996, he was named an advisor for Buckeye Baseball in Lorain; and coordinated the training and scheduling of umpires for the leagues in the city of Lorain.

Bill Tippie’s long and successful service to baseball and the Lorain community can easily be measured. What is immeasurable, is the positive and inspiring impact that he has had on the lives of his players, and those who witnessed his amazing body of work…. a legacy that, probably, will never be surpassed.

*WELCOME, BILL TIPPIE,
INTO THE LORAIN SPORTS HALL OF FAME*