The New York Giants purchased the contracts of Tipton and Wayne Terwilliger on January 14, 1955, who sent them to the minor league Minneapolis 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.