After playing in the 60 games, Tipton was suspended after an argument with Chickasaws manager Jack Cassini, and after the season ended he retired from the game to work at his service station. He returned to baseball in 1957 and spent a season with the Birmingham Barons, and partway through the 1958 season, he joined the Panama City Fliers as manager. He was fired a month later, and in protest the Fliers refused to play their next game. Tipton retired afterwards, and a year later was banned for life from the minor leagues after it came to light that he accepted payouts by acting as a liaison for Jesse Levan, who was intentionally fouling off balls in order for gamblers in the stands to take advantage of them.