He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Boston Red Sox (1962–67), New York Yankees (1967), and Atlanta Braves (1968–70).

[5] He spent the first four months of the Red Sox' pennant-winning 1967 season on the Boston roster, getting into 30 games, before he was sold to the Yankees on August 8.

He later helped the 1969 Braves win the National League West Division title, appearing in 69 games, 52 as starting catcher.

Tillman was dealt from the Braves to the Milwaukee Brewers for Hank Allen and minor-league infielder John Ryan at the Winter Meetings on December 2, 1970.

[6] In nine seasons he played in 775 games and had 2,329 at-bats, 189 runs, 540 hits, 68 doubles, 10 triples, 79 home runs, 282 RBI, 1 stolen base, 228 walks, a .232 batting average, a .300 on-base percentage, a .371 slugging percentage, 865 total bases, 9 sacrifice hits, 14 sacrifice flies, and 33 intentional walks.