A right-handed pitcher, he appeared in 144 Major League games over seven seasons for the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians.

He started 26 games for the 1986 Red Sox, posting a mediocre 10–12 win–loss record and 5.38 earned run average as Boston won the American League East Division title.

He retired only one batter and allowed three hits, including a lead-off home run to Darryl Strawberry and a run-scoring single to opposing pitcher Jesse Orosco, enabling the Mets to pad their lead to an insurmountable 8–5;[2] they won the world championship one inning later.

On June 27, 1988, Nipper recorded the only save of his MLB career, retiring the final out of the game to preserve a 2-1 Cubs victory over the Phillies.

[3] He signed as a free agent with Cleveland in 1990; in a season spent mostly with the Triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox, Nipper won his final two MLB games in mid-season.

In his only postseason action, in the 1986 World Series, Nipper posted an 0–1 (7.11) record, allowing five runs, ten hits and two bases on balls in two games and 61⁄3 innings of work.