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In Economics, we often say that the price of a good can depend on many factors. Along with things such as the cost of producing that good and the relative scarcity of that good, selling price may also depend on such things as location (think of the comment “location, location, location” used to explain why one piece of property might be more expensive than another, similar piece of property.) I found myself thinking of this when I learned that the baseball team from my former adopted town of Boston won the World Series this past Thursday night. Such an event never occurred in Boston when I lived there, and so I, now living in Cleveland, Ohio, must watch the celebrations from afar.
As a graduate student with very little money, I would occasionally venture out with friends to buy tickets in the “bleachers” section of Fenway Park. I have memories of sitting under the hot sun as I watched “my” team play baseball. They sometimes won, but also often lost. I remember once traveling on the “T” (the local form of transportation that went both above and below ground) and mentioning to a friend that I had grown up a Yankees fan, as that was the closest team to the part of Connecticut where I was from. My friend nudged me as she pointed out the several fellow riders who turned to glare at me. Whoops… that was not something good to say on the Boston T.
My first year in Cleveland, I vaguely heard from nurses and doctors working on the neurosurgery floor something along the lines of the “Reds” winning the World Series. In and out of consciousness, I immediately assumed that they were talking about the Red Sox. Of course, they were not, but were talking about the Cincinnati Reds instead. When I told friends left in Boston about my mistake, they laughed, and said that I must have been very sick to think that the Red Sox had won the World Series. I don’t know where most of those people are now, but I hope they are paying attention to what happened the other day.
I wish I could have been in Boston for the final triumph, but I admit that I have been in several other cities when championships were won. I was in Washington, D.C. when the Redskins won the Super bowl, and, of course, was at Georgetown University when we won the NCAA Men’s Basketball playoffs. I have vivid memories of those celebrations, and of how the city came out to cheer on local teams. Alas, such an evening has not occurred (yet) in Cleveland, since I have been living here. And so, I want to congratulate my former adopted city on their victory, even as I wait for a Cleveland team to bring such celebrations to my current location (go Cavs?!)
P.S. I would love to hear about the various costumes that my readers saw last night. Did anyone see anything really original? I did not dress up, although I considered for a moment pairing my academic gown with a witch’s hat, until I realized that the rain would put my gown at risk in the mud. What was the most unique costume that you saw this year?
