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OMAHA | Tim Climer settled into his seat just beyond the first-base line at Charles Schwab Field for Ole Miss’ opening game in the College World Series.

The seats were all taken around him, capacity crowds for the Rebels and Auburn, but someone was missing. Emotional twinges, that hit Climer often when baseball is involved, are magnified in Omaha.

Six hundred and fifty miles away in Ripley, Tennessee, Tommy Climer is in a nursing home, suffering from physical and mental ailments that often include dementia-like symptoms. A formal diagnosis hasn’t occurred, but his awareness is limited.

The father and son completed a decades-long commitment to a promise when the Rebels were here eight years ago, one rooted in the unfairness and wrong-mindedness of another generation.

And, today, Tim Climer is here, soaking up the atmosphere, cherishing the setting with his wife and family and acknowledging what’s special instead of dwelling on the large, obvious absence.

“Generations of parents and grandparents and fathers and sons and daughters, this place is special,” Climer said. “It’s the place to be if you remotely love baseball, the most family sport there is in the world.”

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Tommy Climer was a pitcher on Ole Miss teams in 1959 and 1960 that won the Southeastern Conference, but neither of those teams played in the postseason because the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning didn’t allow integrated activities.

Ole Miss went to the College World Series in 1956 without issue, but the selective enforcement prevented those two teams three and four years later from the District III Playoffs in Gastonia, North Carolina. The 1960 group was the most notable, ending their season prematurely following a 22-3 record and outscoring Florida 21-8 in the SEC Championship series.

It wasn’t just Mississippi, as LSU suffered the same fate after an SEC title in 1961, but the two rulings against the Rebels kept Climer and his teammates from playing with a chance for the College World Series.

Head coach Tom Swayze and university chancellor John Davis Williams lobbied the IHL in Jackson to no avail. Florida went to Gastonia in Ole Miss’ place in 1960 — four years after Ole Miss took the Gators’ spot because Florida’s exam schedule conflicted with the tournament dates.

“He had his dream snuffed in 1959 and 1960,” Climer said about his dad.

Ole Miss returned to Omaha in 1964, one year after the antiquated policy became permanently ignored when Mississippi State’s basketball team snuck out of the state to play Loyola in the NCAA Tournament.

Climer recalls sitting at his breakfast table in 1972 as an eight-year-old and reading the Memphis Commercial Appeal sports section. Ole Miss was in the College World Series, and his father made him a promise as the young Climer reacted to the Rebels losing in Omaha.

“He said, ‘Yeah we got beat, but I promise you the next time I’ll take you.’” Climer remembered from his father. ‘We go all the time, every few years’”

Ole Miss was only in three more regionals the rest of the century and wouldn’t return to the College World Series for 42 seasons.

When Ole Miss opened in Omaha in 2014, Climer was at TD Ameritrade with his father, on Father’s Day.

“I took him,” Climer said, “and that was as meaningful as you can imagine. To experience that. Baseball is in our blood, and we shared that together. I took him to the Rosenblatt Stadium site and put him on the mound. The place he should have been such a long time ago.”

Tommy Climer turns 82 in August. The 1960 team was supposed to have a reunion in Oxford in 2020, but the pandemic halted that plan. It was rescheduled for this past April, but Climer worsened around the first of the year.

“He almost made it,” Tim said. “I’ve seen his teammates, and they’ve asked about him. I tell him what’s going on, but I don’t know if he knows what I’m talking about.”

Two months later, after a regular season that featured an unlikely fall from the top 25 and a more unlikely turnaround to the NCAA Tournament, the Rebels will be one of last four teams remaining for the national title when they take the field on Wednesday. Ole Miss beat Arkansas, 13-5, on Monday and has won seven in a row.

Climer arrived in Omaha determined to make memories and watch the joy of first-timers throughout the week. He ate at famed steakhouse The Drover on Sunday, checking off the bucket-list whiskey-marinated menu.

That was a night after dining at Lo Sole Mio for a final time, taking pictures and chatting with the owners, Don and Maria Losole, and hearing stories of Paul Mainieri and Augie Garrdio. The Italian restaurant rooted in the fabric of the event and the city is closing for good on July 2.

Climer will be in Nebraska until the Rebels are eliminated or win it all. He’s focused on the present, thinking about the past and stockpiling memories for the future, very aware that plans aren’t promised.

“I’m excited to be here in every way,” Climer said. “Our people deserve this, to experience it in a big way and enjoy it. I’m thankful for it all. I’ve loved it all my life.”