Joseph Henry "Joe" Tanner (November 16, 1931[1] – April 1, 2020[1]) was an American professional baseball player, coach, and farm system instructor spanning over 50 years.
[2][3] Tanner signed with the Boston Red Sox in 1953, playing just 25 games for the Red Sox Triple-A Louisville Colonels, before he spent the next two years in the US Army as an infantryman, returning to baseball for spring training in 1955.
[4] In 1969, Tanner entered coaching, as a bunting and baserunning coach for the brand new Kansas City Royals Baseball Academy, which produced major leaguers Ron Washington, U L Washington, and Frank White.
[1][5][6] After four years at the Royals Academy, Tanner was the Chicago White Sox roving baserunning coach for two seasons.
[8] After two seasons with Pittsburgh, Tanner returned to the White Sox as a baserunning and bunting instructor, where he would invent a baseball practice tool that can now be found at every MLB Spring Training facility, the Tanner Tee, a metal batting tee with a soft rubber top.