Akron RubberDucks
After a morning at Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, we head south through Cuyahoga Valley National Park to eat Extreme Foods while watching the Akron RubberDucks, the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Dad and I had one day remaining in the Cleveland area, completing a welcome three-night stay on our marathon road trip.We began with a drive into downtown, right up to the shores of Lake Erie, to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. The Hall was established in 1983, but the landmark building designed by Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei — a glass pyramid with a tower extending through its surface — was not complete until 1995.
The bulk of the museum is on the lower level, beginning with a featured exhibit space that was celebrating 50 years of hip hop. Next came displays chronicling the musical styles that influenced rock and roll — blues, gospel, folk, and rhythm and blues — before turning to the greats of rock music.
Larger rooms give plenty of space to the most iconic of rock and roll stars, including Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix.
Another section of displays showcased the wild array of concert costumes worn by decades of rock stars.
I made sure to find what memorabilia I could from my second-favorite band (after The Beatles), Talking Heads. I pictured myself at the Masonic in San Francisco — where I have seen several concerts in the past decade — witnessing Joe Jackson, The Ramones, and Talking Heads in an spectacular two-week span.
I then made my way to the upper levels of the pyramid to find additional treasures, including a wild representation of Pink Floyd’s The Wall. I finished my tour in the museum theater watching Jonathan Demme’s film, The Power of the Rock Experience, with clips of incredible performances during various Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. The greatest of these, and the grand finale of the film, is Prince’s rendition of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” backed by Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood, and Dhani Harrison. In those magical 6 minutes and 20 seconds, Prince delivered my favorite guitar performance of all time.
Just a bit further down the street from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is the Huntington Bank Field — home of the Cleveland Browns — and the Great Lakes Science Center. But we were ready for lunch, and we got plenty of it.
Slyman's Restaurant & Deli
It was a short drive to Slyman’s Restaurant and Deli, where there was already a line out the door before noon. Slyman’s was founded in 1964 in downtown Cleveland by Joseph Slyman, who died in December 2020 at the age of 83. His sons, Freddie and Moe, have continued the Slyman legacy, serving up massive corned beef sandwiches that claim to be “Cleveland’s biggest.”I can personally attest to the veracity of this claim. I ordered the corned beef Reuben, and it came insanely thick with more meat than a human should consume in one sitting. But I clamped my hands over it, pressed down like a vise, and went to work, enjoying every last bit of it.
Dad had a much more manageable (but no less delicious) pastrami with Swiss.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
When I planned out this day’s itinerary, I made sure to pick a route from Cleveland to Akron that would take us through Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Covering more than 51 square miles in northeastern Ohio, the park began as a National Recreation Area in 1974 and was redesignated as a National Park in 2000. It follows the winding river valleys of the Cuyahoga River — the name comes from the Mohawk word for “crooked river” — and the many creeks that flow into it. The park contains more than 100 waterfalls, with the 65-foot Brandywine Falls being the most popular.Akron RubberDucks
Soon we arrived in Akron, located about 40 minutes south of Cleveland. The city was founded in the 1820s during the development of the Ohio and Erie Canal, which connected Akron with the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie, and soon after linked to the Ohio River as well. The canal carried freight traffic until the Civil War, when railroads began to dominate the industry. It continued to be used as a water source until 1913, when severe flooding caused much of the canal to be abandoned. One exception is a strip of waterway lying just beyond left field at Canal Park, home of the Double-A Akron RubberDucks.Canal Park opened in 1997 for $32 million and has a capacity of 7,630. Designed by ballpark architecture king Populous, its brick exterior exudes a welcoming warmth, a hallmark of the old-ballpark revivalist period of the 1990s.
It was built for the arrival of the Akron Aeros, a club that relocated from Canton, Ohio, where they were known as the Canton-Akron Indians. But the franchise goes back much further than that, all the way to the Binghamton (NY) Triplets (1923-1968), who were followed by Manchester (NH) Yankees (1969-1971), West Haven (CT) Yankees (1972–1979), Lynn (MA) Sailors (1980–1982), Lynn Pirates (1983), Vermont Reds (1984–1987), and Vermont Mariners (1988) before moving 500 miles west to Canton. It has been a Minor League Baseball Double-A team since 1967 and has affiliated with the Cleveland Indians/Guardians since 1989.
The Aeros name celebrated the aerospace industry in northeast Ohio, with companies like Lockheed Martin, NMG Aerospace, and Howmet Aerospace. The team went in a very different direction by adopting the name of a bathtub toy in 2014. But it makes sense: Rubber and tire manufacturing gave Akron the nickname "Rubber Capital of the World," and B.F. Goodrich, Goodyear, Firestone, and General Tire have had headquarters in town. One of the first rubber ducks was made in Akron, and plenty of real-life ducks — mallards, wood ducks, and more — still ply the waters near the ballpark.
Since moving to Akron, the franchise has won six league titles, two as the RubberDucks. They averaged 3,841 fans per game in 2024, eighth-best in the 12-team Eastern League. We had seen the Guardians High-A affiliate, the Lake County Captains, the day before, and it was fun to think about these two parks being connected for more than 20 years on the road to The Show. Both showcased future Cleveland greats like Shane Bieber, Francisco Lindor, José Ramírez, and CC Sabathia.
Despite being 28 years old, Canal Park still looks great and feels relatively modern and comfortable, with pleasant views of buildings in downtown Akron.
When Dad and I enter a ballpark, we want nothing more than to see a sign that says, “Team Shop This Way,” and the staff at Canal Park did a great job jumpstarting our pre-game process.
The RubberDucks offer an astonishing variety of excellent hats. The primary logo depicts the head of an angry duck, with tire treads trailing away from it. The team has a healthy collection of locally relevant alternate identities as well, including the Sauerkraut Balls (an Akron staple), Barberton Fried Chicken and Hot Rice (celebrating a dish from the “Fried Chicken Capital of the World” in nearby Barberton, Ohio), White French (a local salad-dressing favorite), and the team’s Copa de la Diversión identity, Perros Calientes de Akron.
I had decided well before our road trip that I would get the blue hat with the bathtub rubber duck. It’s important to have caps for every occasion — a Lake Erie Crushers hat at a winery, a Lansing Lugnuts cap when you’re at the mechanic, a Beloit Sky Carp hat when you’re around geese at a golf course, and so on. At last, I have the correct attire for the bathtub.
There was plenty of RubberDucks branding on display on the concourse, including one particularly bold golf shirt and mascot Rubberta, who seemed to be missing her companions, Webster, Homer, and Orbit.
Akron had played well in the first half, finishing just two games behind the Erie SeaWolves — their opponent on the night — in the Eastern League’s Southwest division. They were heating up as summer arrived and would win the division in the second half, besting Erie by 3 and 1/2 games.
When the playoffs arrived, however, Erie would get the last word, beating Akron 2-1 in a best-of-three series before sweeping the Somerset Patriots and winning the Eastern League championship for the second year in a row.
Aaron Davenport
RubberDucks right-handed starting pitcher Aaron Davenport toed the rubber at the top of the bill and got the game underway with a squeaky-clean first inning. A sixth-round draft pick of the Guardians in 2021, Davenport would finish his first Double-A season with a 2.85 ERA in 142 1/3 innings after a much rougher 2023 (5.73 ERA) with the Captains.
SeaWolves starter Garrett Burhenn had a clean first inning but gave up a single and three walks in the second. Akron took a 1-0 lead.
We were soon joined by Dean Packer, a man who knows his Midwest baseball. As we began planning this journey, Dean sent me suggestions for sights and dining in each city, plus tips on every ballpark he had visited (nearly all of them). His emails alerted me to things I had missed and helped me prepare so I could make the most of this colossal road trip with Dad.
In the top of the third, Davenport drilled SeaWolves right fielder Carlos Mendoza on a 3-0 count with a runner aboard. It took a couple of minutes for Mendoza to shake it off. After a groundout that advanced the runners, Davenport threw a wild pitch, and it was tied, 1-1.
It was time to make some dinner decisions, and we had an embarrassment of rich ballpark food from which to choose. The RubberDucks concessions menu not only features a good variety of classic ballpark fare — hot dogs, bratwurst, kielbasa, Italian sausage, and more — it is also famous for its annual slate of Extreme Foods. In 2024, that included:
Emmett’s Pit Boss: pulled chicken, smoked brisket, two hot dogs, and a ¼ rack of ribs served over coleslaw with a cherry on top.
The HomeRocker: a half-pound foot-long, buffalo chicken mac and cheese, hot honey sauce, and ranch
Three Dog Night: a hot dog stuffed inside of a bratwurst, then wrapped inside of a kielbasa topped with sauerkraut and Stadium Mustard on a hoagie roll
Chicken & Waffle Sandwich: a “double decker” with chicken tenders, bacon, onion rings, pimento cheese spread, and a bacon habanero jam on toasted waffles, topped with powdered sugar and maple syrup
Not Your Routine Poutine: 10 ounces of french fries topped with gravy, cheese curds, pulled pork, green onions, and bacon bits
The Screamer: a massive, five-pound sundae served in a keepsake batting helmet, featuring 21 scoops of ice cream, a pound of brownie or apple pie, four bananas, hot fudge, and sprinkles
There were several other intriguing options on the concourse, including Johnny Lóte's Latin Street Corn. I caught a glimpse of their jumbo item, the Lóte's Nachos with sweet corn, cotija cheese, sour cream, bacon, and jalapeños.
Walking away from Pineapple Under the Sea was a happy customer hefting a Pineapple Teriyakron Bowl — a half-pineapple hollowed out and filled with grilled chicken, pineapple, rice, Thai chili garlic sauce, and a teriyaki glaze.
It was imperative that I get one of Akron’s Extreme Foods, and I chose the Chicken and Waffle Sandwich. Calling it a sandwich was a colossal stretch — it was much more of a kebab — but it was a fun thing to order and eat, and that’s what this is all about.
Between-inning ballpark fun included trivia; a race between a plastic fork, a plastic cup, and a chip bag; a woman attempting to toss a table tennis ball into a water cup; and a race around the infield between a truck, a school bus, and an ambulance. (Watch the episode!)
Throughout the night, bubbles wafted through the stands, emanating from rubber duck Bubble Blaster toys sold in the team store.
Erie took the lead in the fourth inning when first baseman Chris Meyers led off with a homer to right. Akron responded in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out rally to tie the game, 2-2.
I offered to pick up some ice cream for Dad. He chose the Buckeye Blast — chocolate with chocolate chunks — from Godfather’s On Ice. It came in a Cleveland Guardians helmet. I was hoping for a RubberDucks helmet and said so on Twitter. Jason Jennings, who I had met the day before at the Captains game, immediately offered to send me one of his — a testament to the quality of the baseball community in one pleasant corner of what was once Twitter.
Both bullpens stepped up to the moment in a tight contest, and the score remained tied through the late innings and on into extra innings.
The day before, we saw 22 runs scored in three and a half hours of baseball. Two nights earlier, we had experienced our third doubleheader in five days, with two of those games going into extra innings. Now, our baseball slot machine had hit once again, and our payout was more bonus baseball.
And it wasn’t just one extra inning.
These days, with a runner starting the 10th inning on second base, extras typically last just a single inning. In fact, 73 percent of Minor League extra-inning games in 2024 were finished in the 10th. But neither team scored in the 10th.
In the 11th, the SeaWolves managed a single to drive their runner home. In the bottom half, with two outs and the game on the line, Akron catcher Kody Huff singled to center, tying the score, 3-3. The next batter struck out, and we went on to the 12th inning.
RubberDucks reliever Alaska Abney remained in the game and shut down the SeaWolves in the top of the 12th. Akron came to bat and demonstrated the power of sacrifice, dropping a bunt and hitting a fly ball far enough to bring home the winning run.
Another long day, another close game, another late night under the lights. Exhausted and happy, we began the drive back to Cleveland.