By Brad Nellis
I’ve been to my fair share of Cleveland Guardians games and was even a member of a season ticket group awhile back. In all these years, I’ve resolutely avoided attending any games before May due to the coldish weather. Including this year.
But the Akron Rubber Ducks lured us out for their home opener on April 8. It was 33 degrees at first pitch and it felt every bit of 33 degrees at the game. But complimentary tickets are tough to pass up and we had a good time.
We started going to Ducks games more often a few years ago when one of our kids got us a set of vouchers for game tickets. It was a fun, different thing to do so we’ve bought ourselves a 10-ticket flex package for the past couple of years. Friday home games usually include fireworks; a ballgame, a beer or two, and a fireworks show makes a great finish to the week.
And since we bought a flex package, the Ducks kindly reached out with a nice offer of comp tickets for the home opener. Win-Win!
I’m not super well-schooled in minor league baseball but it seems like the AA level embraces quirkiness. And the Rubber Ducks are right there. Sure, they’ve got the silly, between innings games, but they’ve also made a genius move by leaning into local flavor and creating some pretty great merch and uniforms to go along with it. Think Luigi’s famous (cheese) salads, the “devil strip”, Swensen’s Galley Boys, White French dressing, and more.
So, if you’re looking for something interesting and a little different to do this year, check out the Rubber Ducks. You can even score some sweet stickers like I did!
By Brad Nellis
