In the puzzle yesterday, at 49A the clue for BUFFALO BILL was “Football player in upstate NY.” It opened a can of worms. Here’s Rex:

“No Buffalonian (I think that’s what they’re called?) (just kidding, folks), I say no resident of Buffalo would ever say they live in ‘upstate New York.’ That is some provincial NYC crap right there. I know, I know, anything north of 96th is ‘upstate’ to you all, but Buffalo is decidedly ‘western New York.’ It’s nowhere near, say, Poughkeepsie (also, don’t tell people from Poughkeepsie that they live ‘upstate,’ they hate it … well, my students from there hate it, anyway). I generally think ‘upstate’ is fine for most of non-NYC New York (including where I live, which is technically Central New York, or, more specifically, the Southern Tier), but Buffalo really is an entirely different ecosystem. It’s the heart of western New York. Just ask any Buffaloer (I think that’s what they’re called).”

First of all, commenters chimed in noting that folks from Buffalo are indeed called Buffalonians. The Urban Dictionary agrees. Several also took the position that all parts of the state, no matter how distant from NYC, constitute “upstate.” They maintained that breaking “western NY” off from “upstate” is a johnny-come-lately maneuver. Excuse me, personeuver.

According to Wikipedia, “Upstate New York is a geographic region of NY that lies north and northwest of the NYC metropolitan area. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, the Capital District, the Mohawk Valley region, Central NY, the Southern Tier, the Finger Lakes region, Western NY, and the North Country. Major cities across upstate NY from east to west include Albany, Utica, Binghamton, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo.”

We’ll also check with Owl Chatter friend Riverdale Joe on the matter and report back to you.

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Here’s a Tiny Love Story by Julianne Reid from yesterday’s NYT.

Until the spring of sixth grade, my daily routine included brushing my teeth and reminding my disabled younger sister that she and her all-consuming disease ruined my life: my parents’ limited attention, the missed trips, the way others stared. Then one day, the seizures wouldn’t stop and Olivia went into a coma. On nights in the I.C.U., I tried but couldn’t remember the last time I told her I loved her. Weeks passed until, one day, she woke up. And I had a second chance. I wonder how many sisters out there are given that. 

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The first Mets game yesterday was historic. It was game one of a doubleheader and the Mets had to win at least one to make it into the playoffs. But the Atlanta pitcher, a mouthful — Spencer Schwellenbach, whose name barely fit on his jersey, stymied them for 7 innings and it was 3-0 Braves going into the 8th. But suddenly the dead woke up and rallied for six big runs — amazing! They were up 6-3!

They called on their closer, Edwin Diaz, to shut the Braves down for the last two innings, so that should be that. But the roller coaster took another deep dive. Inexplicably, Diaz forgot to cover first on a grounder to the right side and the Braves were in business. Visibly rattled, Diaz yielded hit after hit until the lead was gone. The Mets limped into the ninth shocked and demoralized and down by a run.

The first batter flew out weakly to left. But Starling Marte hit a sharp grounder past the shortstop for a single. Gary Cohen remarked that it was Atlanta’s back-up shortstop, but Keith Hernandez said it would have been a hit no matter who was playing short. It was key because Francisco Lindor came up next and lofted a ball to deep right. It didn’t seem all that powerful a shot but you could watch the fielders drifting back, and then the ball sailed over the fence. With Marte on first, it was good for two runs and the Mets got the lead back.

With Diaz having imploded in the 8th, the Mets had another reliever, Stanek, warm. But they kept Diaz in. They later showed Diaz in the dugout after his bad inning. He was devastated. Nearly in tears. But once they got the lead back, he was determined to finish the job. He was raving that he was going back out on the mound no matter what anyone said. He was right. Mendoza left him in. He had regained his composure and finished up nicely.

Lindor’s HR earned him an indelible place in Mets history, no question.

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Taylor showed up in the puzzle today. At 62A, the clue was “Word repeated four times in the chorus of Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off.’” C’mon Swifties — that’s a gimme, right? It’s HATE. But doesn’t the word appear 5 times in the song? Is the clue wrong? Not at all — the clue says it’s “repeated” 4 times, not that it’s “said” 4 times. So calm down everybody.

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Well, we don’t have Pete Rose to kick around anymore. He died yesterday at the age of 83. Was there ever a more controversial ballplayer? In Bruce Weber’s obit in the NYT, he writes: “Had Shakespeare written about baseball, he might well have seized on the case of Rose.”

Rose finished with 4,256 hits — the most ever in baseball history. His 4,192nd put him past Ty Cobb. (It was off of Eric Show of the Padres, if you’re a trivia buff. And did you know Cobb’s total was later reduced to 4,189?) He also got on base more often (5,929 times), played in more big-league games (3,852) and came to bat more times (15,890) than anyone else. DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak is unsurpassed, of course, but Rose’s 44-game streak is the second-longest.

Rose came out of the womb ready to stroke a single to right. Get this — he was born on April 14, 1941 — Opening Day of the 1941 season. 

As a rookie, Rose didn’t kowtow to the older players as was the custom back then. It rubbed people the wrong way and he was not liked by his teammates. Except for the Blacks — they knew what it meant to be shunned and took him in. Rose had many negative qualities — he was a terrible husband, and his gambling addiction led to his downfall. But he was never a racist. He felt there was nothing dumber than to care about what color a person is — what the hell difference does that make?

Despite his place in baseball history, his autograph is not very valuable because he signed often to make money at autograph shows. But I do have a ball signed by him, and I just picked up a nice item on eBay to honor his memory. It only cost $20. I’ll share it with you when it comes in.

Rest in peace, Rose.

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See you tomorrow.