Have you ever wondered what ballplayers did during the off-season back in the day when salaries were not exorbitant like they are now? What did Nashville Vols do in the offseason? In this episode, hear how players would be spending their winter once the 1952 Southern Association season ended! Want to stay in touch? Find me here: Twitter: Skip's Corner Instagram: @skipscorner Facebook: Skip Nipper Email me: 262downright@gmail.com All Skip’s Corner episodes © 2022-2024 by Skip Nipper. All Rights Reserved. Thanks to my podcast producer David Nipper, who also wrote and performs the backgroun ..read more

I have an unpublished personal “Circle of Honor,” which includes family members, teammates,  acquaintances, and friends, a unique list of many who have been meaningful to me in my life. One of them is Rick Brewer, who passed away a few days ago, and I could do no less than let listeners know how much he meant to me and hundreds of others. He was a giant of a man - not in stature, certainly - but those to whom his presence entered, the realization soon set in that he was bigger than a normal personality. His love for baseball, more importantly, the two-word “base ball,” took him to many i ..read more

Hugh Hill was born on July 21, 1879, in Ringgold, Georgia, and signed with Newt Fisher’s 1901 Nashville baseball club in the inaugural season of the Southern Association. As a pitcher, he won six games while losing five, playing in 51 games because he was also an outfielder. The ball club won the pennant that season, and when 1902 rolled around, Fisher had Hill on his ball club for another year. And what did he do in his second season? Hill hit for a .416 batting average. Depending on who you believe, it was a record that was never topped in the 61-year history of the Southern Association. In ..read more

Today, April 1st, marks a day of notoriety all its own. I have heard of pranks on April Fool’s Day that run the gamut, and if you have had fun with it, been the butt of a joke, or if you have made a family member mad, it is a fun day in most cases. Unless it is taken to an extreme, which I do not forgive. Some are funny. Others? Not so much. Baseball has a history on April 1, too, from games to player’s birthdates and deaths. In this episode, you will hear a few of my favorites in all those things - no foolin'! Want to stay in touch? Find me here: Twitter: Skip's Corner Instagram: @skipscorn ..read more

It was going to be the trip of a lifetime, and boy, was I excited about it. For most of my life, I had dreamed of visiting Cooperstown, and finally, it was going to happen. In this episode, I tell about a special visit that rivals two spring training trips, MLB World Series and All-Star games, and the birth of all four of my children. Well, maybe not the last part. But it I will cherish my first visit to the special place known as the National Baseball Hall of Fame! Want to stay in touch? Find me here: Twitter: Skip's Corner Instagram: @skipscorner Facebook: Skip Nipper Email me: 262downrig ..read more

Tennessean sports editor Dave Ammenheuser coordinated a spring training trip in 2016, and I tagged along with high school teammate Bart Leathers and everyone’s “Mr. Nashville Baseball”, Farrell Owens (both deceased).  Dave has moved on to various assignments, but eight years later, here we are to talk about that great six-games-in-five days “immaculate visitation!” It was a remarkable time with friends, and I hope you enjoy listening to us talk about our trip! Want to stay in touch? Find me here: Twitter: Skip's Corner Instagram: @skipscorner Facebook: Skip Nipper Email me: 262downrigh ..read more

Betty-Jane Taylor and I have known each other through her husband Larry, who not only played for the Nashville Vols, but was basketball and baseball coach at Berry College in Rome, Georgia. Larry passed away not quite two years ago, on April 21, 2022, at the age of 91. He was a good baseball friend and loyal member of the Nashville Old Timers Baseball Association. International Women’s Day was celebrated only a few days ago, but the month to recognize women is March and I was fortunate to be able to speak with Betty-Jane and hear her perspective about life in sports. It's a voice framed around ..read more

Tony Rankin loves the game of baseball as much as anybody, both as an autograph collector and with a passion for its purpose. A clinical therapist, speaker, and author, in this Skip’s Corner episode Tony explains how we like to remember things that take us back to a fun place in life that we don’t necessarily  have today when he says: “Baseball is the commonality a lot of people have that brings about hope, peace, and contentment.” Recently installed as president of the Old Timers Baseball Association of Nashville, he intends to press the importance of baseball to the Nashville basebal ..read more

As we bring Black History Month to an end, I want you to know about a special player with a special talent. Ray Dandridge never had the chance to play in the majors, but the record shows he was clearly one of the greatest third basemen of all time. And, he had a brief connection to Nashville baseball. Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987, Dandridge had glory on the field from his early days to the day he died, and Nashville had a small part in his legacy. Want to stay in touch? Find me here: Twitter: Skip's Corner Instagram: @skipscorner Facebook: Skip Nipper Email me: 262d ..read more

If you have never been to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, it is worth a few hours of your time. It honors athletes, teams, coaches, sportswriters, and sports executives for their contributions to sports in our state. In celebraton of Black History Month, it is important to highlight inductees who played Negro Leagues baseball, and to call attention to those who have been omitted. Maybe they do not all qualify for induction, but in my book, they certainly are worthy of consideration. In this episode, I tell about the inductees from the Negro Leagues! Want to stay in touch? Find me here: T ..read more