Virgil Nipper Sr., a longtime sports figure in Nashville, died Saturday after a brief illness. He was 88.
Local baseball enthusiast Virgil Nipper died Saturday.
Nipper was a graduate of North High, where he was an outstanding football, basketball and baseball player. He was selected to play in the Scarlet All-Star Football Game in 1946.
In basketball Nipper was a teammate of Joe Casey, who later became chief of the Metro Police Department, and helped form one of the best teams in Nashville.
But Nipper was best known for baseball. He played catcher and was one of the best hitters in town. He made the All Nashville Interscholastic League Baseball First Team as a senior.
After high school Nipper signed a pro contact with the Boston Red Sox, but never played. He spent many years playing in the city leagues, however, while also enjoying a successful career in sporting goods sales.
In 1961, Nipper joined his father-in-law’s sales agency, Jack Waddell & Sons. In 1976, Nipper and his son Skip formed Virgil Nipper Co., a manufacturer’s representative agency in sporting goods.
Nipper retired in 2000. He was inducted into the Nashville Old Timer’s Baseball Association Hall of Fame in 2008 and spent several years as a board member.
Visitation will be at Hermitage Funeral Home from 3-6 p.m. Monday and at St. John’s Lutheran Church at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday until the funeral at 11 a.m.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 and on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
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