Day 4

So you're in Akron now?

Indeed I am.

...Thanks. Tell me more.

Akron is the fifth-largest city in Ohio. With a population of 190,000, Akron is the second biggest city I'll visit (behind Richmond). It's just south of Cleveland, only about forty-five minutes away, and it's also near Canton and Youngstown.

Akron is the "Rubber Capital of the World." Think of a brand of tires. Did you think of Goodyear? Firestone? General Tire? B.F. Goodrich? Doesn't matter, because each of those companies got their start in Akron. It was the world's leading rubber, tire, and airship manufacturer for most of the twentieth century. They even have this statue downtown:

Also, LeBron James is from Akron, which is primarily what I knew it for.

What can you do there?

One thing is the very lovely Akron Zoo.

I don't know about you, but I always like to see penguins at a zoo. Other favorites: gibbons, a tiger, lions who were eating lunch, a sleeping grizzly bear, a snow leopard (!), a jaguar, maras (which I didn't know existed), an electric eel, and a komodo dragon, some of which you can see below.

The zoo was not terribly busy on a drizzly Tuesday morning, so I had much of it to myself. But near the aviary, four zookeepers were standing around looking intently into some trees. Did... did they lose a bird? I didn't ask, but that's definitely what it looked like.

Later in the day, I went to Cummings Center for Psychology on the campus of the University of Akron, which hosts the National Museum of Psychology. I'm not exaggerating when I say this is one of the best small museums I've been to. It does an excellent job of telling the history of psychology as a discipline while mixing in several games and tests throughout the museum. I spent an excellent hour-and-a-half here. If you ever find yourself in Akron with a little extra time, I highly recommend this museum. It won't be busy -- I am nearly certain I was the only person who'd been there all day.

For lunch, I went to the Chameleon Cafe because of its central location. This was a good choice, as I had a delicious chicken panini and chicken tortilla soup.

While at the cafe, I had a nice chat with Denny, an eighty-four year old local who accurately identified that I wasn't from around there. We shared our similar interests in travel and literature, and he told me a little about the area. Importantly, he told me to go to a local peanut shop (called The Peanut Shop) where I got almonds and banana chips (plus a free ice cream sandwich with my order!), which served as my car snacks for the rest of my trip.

Afterward, I went back to the hotel and rested. I must say, I was wooed by the city of Akron in my full day there. It seems like a really nice place.

But now it's time for baseball.

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Who are the Akron RubberDucks?

The RubberDucks trace their history all the way back to 1923, when they were the Binghamton Triplets. After moving out of Binghamton in 1968, they were variously known as the Manchester Yankees, West Haven Yankees, Lynn (MA) Sailors/Pirates, and Vermont Reds/Mariners, before finally settling in northeast Ohio in 1989, coinciding with when they joined the Cleveland baseball organization. They were originally known as the Canton-Akron Indians, before changing to the Akron Aeros in 1997, and have been known as the RubberDucks since 2014.

Why are they called the RubberDucks?

We're in The Rubber Capital of the World, baby.

Additionally, Thomas Blylevin, the inventor of the rubber duck, was actually from Akron. Sometime in 1936, Thomas (a rubber manufacturer) heard his two young children complain that they got "lonely" in the bathtub. Within the week, Blylevin had designed his "rubbered goose," which he envisioned as a "bath-time companion for children and the mentally insane." After creating the rubbered goose prototype, he gave two geese to his children. They loved them and showed them to their friends, causing every child in Akron to clamor for their own bath time companion. When it went into production, Thomas and company opted to change it to a duck, as the neck is much shorter and easier to make. Thomas' invention quickly made him a millionaire and local celebrity, though he burned most of his money and goodwill in a failed 1942 mayoral campaign, when he claimed Akron was not the best city in the world, but only "about fourth or fifth. I think we're probably behind Toledo." After his untimely death at age 46, Thomas' friends, his family, and hundreds of rubber duck enthusiasts released 10,000 rubber ducks into the Pacific Ocean. The environmental toll was enormous. I made up every part of this story, but it sounds like it could be true, right?

Who are they playing?

The Altoona Curve, who I saw just two days ago.

Is the stadium nice?

It sure is. In what's becoming a theme, Canal Park was built in 1997 but certainly feels newer. It's very aesthetically pleasing from outside and inside -- there's a lot to like.

Honestly, it feels more like a Triple-A ballpark than some of the Double-A ones I've seen. It holds 7,600 people, which surprised me as it feels considerably bigger. No matter where in the park you are, you have good sightlines and easy access to concessions and bathrooms. This is a high-level minor league ballpark.

What do they have to eat there?

If you're looking for unique food options, Canal Park is a great destination. They have street corn, perogies, kielbasa, a footlong hot dog covered in pulled pork, and a cheesesteak that looked way better than what I ate in Richmond. I opted to go for something called Not Your Routine Poutine, an elevated form of the Canadian dish.

In addition to the classic French fries, gravy, and cheese curds, the folks at Canal Park added pulled pork, bacon, and green onions. They verdict is:

It was okay. It felt more like an assemblage of ingredients rather than one whole thing. I think they forgot to put any gravy on it, and that's a key part. Also, as you can probably see, this could comfortably feed a family of six. I ate so much of it my stomach hurt, and I barely got through half of it. I kind of regret not going for one of Akron's other options.

Miscellaneous Notes

• Canal Park is right downtown. I had a good view of the city from my seat.

• Another free item!

Apparently, when they changed their name to the RubberDucks, they considered changing it to the Vulcans. They didn't, but I still got this shirt.

• After months of 90+ degrees in DC, it's nearly chilly now. At first pitch, it was 64 degrees.

• Overall this was a light crowd. It was a rainy September day on a school night, which is not a prime minor league baseball environment. They announced attendance of 2,261, which I think was a vast overestimation.

• Speaking of a small crowd, Canal Park has something called the "Close to Home Seats," which are two recliners right behind home plate. I don't know if these cost more or what, but these are ideally the best seats in the house. Between the second and third innings, the PA announcer asked "Who's in the Close to Home Seats?" With perfect comedic timing, the camera panned to two completely empty seats, prompting the announcer to go "No one! That's unfortunate."

• After the third inning, there was a transportation themed mascot race between an inflatable school bus, an ambulance, and a pickup truck. I don't remember who won.

• Despite the mascot race, there were fewer mini-games/shenanigans in this game than in others. I don't think they had a dedicated hype guy, as they didn't have much of a reason to. Instead, they kept showing clips of sitcoms on the video board, including a nearly two-minute Seinfeld clip (it was this one, which is a great choice). Kinda strange, but it was quiet crowd.

Game Notes

Altoona: 29-32, 4th in ELSW (7 GB)

Akron: 28-35, 5th in ELSW (9 GB)

ALT starting pitcher: Justin Meis AKR starting pitcher: Shane Bieber

Top 1st: If you're a casual baseball fan, you may recognize Bieber's name. He's been a major part of Cleveland's starting rotation for years and he won the AL Cy Young Award in 2020. He's making a rehab start; this is his first time pitching since being put on the injured list in July.

Top 1st: Bieber misses a pitch and hits Carter Bins in the head, but he's okay. Bins later steals 2nd, gets to 3rd on a Matt Fraizer grounder, and scores after an error on a throw to 1st. Altoona leads 1-0 early.

Bot 1st: Chase DeLauter, one of the Guardians' top prospects takes his first Double-A plate appearance today. He walked. No one scored, however.

Top 4th: Shane Bieber is pulled after 3.2 innings. He pitched pretty well, giving up zero hits and zero earned runs, but did hit two batters.

Top 4th: Immediately after Bieber leaves, Altoona's Connor Scott hits an RBI double to the wall, giving the Curve a 2-0 advantage.

Bot 4th: After 2 two-out walks, Akron's Jose Naranjo hits a hard grounder to left field, driving in Milan Tolentino. It's now 2-1, Akron.

Bot 4th: The scoring's not done. Still with two outs, Connor Kokx hits a line drive to right field and Micael Ramirez scores from second base. After getting two outs in the inning, the Curve gave up 2 walks, 2 hits, and 2 runs. It's 2-2.

Bot 5th: DeLauter gets his first Double-A hit, a grounder past the shortstop.

Bot 6th: With one out and a man on third, Altoona's Chavez Young makes an incredible running catch to save a run. The next batter strikes out, and the Curve get out of the inning.

Top 8th: Carter Bins, the hero on Sunday, hits a sacrifice fly to bring in Jackson Glenn. The Curve retake the lead, 3-2.

Bot 8th: The RubberDucks get an early single, but an inning-ending double play ends a promising chance.

Bot 9th: Down by one run, Petey Halpin hits a deep fly ball to right field, but he's out. Next, Juan Brito hits a deep fly ball to right field, but he's also out. A Chase DeLauter groundout ends it, and Altoona wins 3-2. This is the first time I've seen a home team lose.

Win: Geronimo Franzua

Loss: Ross Carver

Player of the Game: Ross Carver - He's credited with the loss, but he struck out 6 batters in 5.1 innings while only giving up 1 earned run.

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Click HERE for Day 5, in which Will goes back to Pennsylvania, wonders if he would have liked being a lighthouse keeper, sees more of downtown Erie than he meant, and has an uneasy experience with a sheep.