Last week, I wrote about a baseball umpire’s call I had witnessed. A batter was hit by a pitched ball that had hit the ground prior to hitting the batter.

Admitting ignorance about the covering rule, I looked it up the best I could on the internet. That research appeared to confirm the umpire’s decision.

An e-mail received from a high school fan in Oklahoma last week further reinforces what I had discovered. That individual in Oklahoma remarked that the ruling would be correct in Oklahoma, and that he had to ask in order to confirm the rule.

I am continually amazed that this column can attract the attention of so many people outside of Natchez. I recall hearing from readers as far away as Australia (about Aussie Rules Football) and other countries when I wrote about soccer.

A trip to Natchez last weekend refreshed some old memories and triggered a bit of nostalgia. My wife and I took the Saturday afternoon Pilgrimage Tour, as well as visiting Longwood. As long as I lived in Natchez, I had never taken a full tour.

It was the first time I had ever been in Montaigne, and I had not been inside Oakland since my parents sold the house in 1960. Hope Farm allowed me to renew acquaintance with owner Ethel Green Banta (with whom I had danced the Polka several years ago.)

Ethel’s brother, Walter, and I were high school friends and college roommates. Walter would have been an outstanding lineman for Coach Rexinger’s Natchez High Rebels in 1949 if he had not played behind High School All American Bill Zimmerman.

The tour of Oakland really triggered the nostalgia. My parents had bought the house in the summer of 1949, although we still lived in Knoxville. Jan Minor McDowell, the very elderly owner, had allowed the home to become quite dilapidated, and my parents spent the next year and a half restoring the home.

Until I returned from a trip following my graduation from Baylor School I had heard nothing of a move to Natchez. However, we had visited many times, as Natchez was my mother’s home. Present Oakland owner Kate Don Green has done a good job furnishing and decorating Oakland, and it really looks lovely for Pilgrimage.

I don’t know that my mother would agree with Kate Don’s touch, but different strokes for different folks. My younger brother (Chick) and sister (Sis Stowers) might not agree with my assessment, but they both spent more years living in Oakland.

I went away to college and then into the Air Force so I wasn’t around some of those years while my parents owned Oakland.

My parents insisted that I take a refresher year at Natchez High to augment my Baylor graduation and I spent most of that year living in the restored slave quarters behind the Oakland house.

I do recall a function at Oakland. My parents hosted my high school class with a late breakfast the morning after graduation from Natchez High. There were a few really good athletes in my class. Gene McGehee, who went on to play football at Co-Lin and later became a high school sports official, was probably the toughest little man I ever knew.

The late Paul O’Malley and the late Bo Stewart were also part of that class. O’Malley was a neighbor of mine for a while, and also a colleague on the Natchez Board of Aldermen.

There were many others, such as old friend and Natchez resident Albert Metcalfe, but to try to list more would leave some out, and I don’t want to hurt feelings. That was a long time ago.

And, That’s Official.

Al Graning is a former SEC official and former Natchez resident. He can be reached by e-mail at AlanWard39157@aol.com.