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Seats in place for RubberDucks anniversary season



New seating at the Akron RubberDucks’ Canal Park stadium is pictured above. Photo: Craig Marks

DOWNTOWN AKRON — Not long after its 2021 season ended, the Akron RubberDucks posted a photo on social media of a gutted Canal Park. Above it was the caption “BREAKING NEWS! Canal Park will be a B.Y.O.S. (Bring Your Own Seat) ballpark in 2022.”
If you have attended one of the Ducks’ early season games, you are aware there is no need to lug your BarcaLounger to the ballpark. Canal Park, in its 25th year, has comfy new seats made by the company that built the original ones — Hussey Seating.
The winter weather caused some delays in the installation.
“It was January, and we still didn’t have seats and I was beginning to get nervous,” said RubberDucks General Manager Jim Pfander. “Oh, my gosh, maybe our fans would have to bring in their own seats.”
Two weeks before the Ducks April 12 home opener, all 7,630 seats were in place and any “B.Y.O.S.” fears were laid to rest.
“We had a lot of people very confused [by the social media post] — a lot of people thinking they would have to bring their own seat,” said Pfander. “The wacky RubberDucks were up to more of their promotional hijinks.”
It would not be completely out of character for a team that often thinks outside the box. For example, it prides itself on concocting extreme menu items, such as its new “Never Sausage a Thing” — a jumbo hot dog with coleslaw, green onions and BBQ sauce served in a baked potato.
“It’s by far my favorite,” said Pfander.
In other food-related news, the Ducks will temporarily rebrand the team as a side dish. The team will become the Akron JoJos July 28-29 in tribute to the area’s beloved potato wedges.
Pfander said the idea was hatched during one of the team’s weekly promotional meetings in the offseason.
“It’s an Akron thing, and we wanted to play off that,” said Pfander. “My first job in minor league baseball was in Spokane, Washington. I was looking at a menu and see they have fried chicken, and I say, ‘Can you toss in some JoJos?’ They looked at me like I was absolutely crazy.”
Pfander, an Archbishop Hoban High School graduate, was Ken Babby’s first hire when he bought the team in 2012. He is now in his 11th year as the team’s general manager, a job with different responsibilities than those of a big league general manager.
“What we can control in minor league baseball is everything outside the white lines,” said Pfander. “We have nothing to do with who’s playing first base or who’s the starting pitcher — that’s all left up to the Cleveland Guardians. It’s the food, it’s the promotions, it’s the mascots. It’s coming here and seeing a famous entertainer. If you forget what the final score is, that’s OK. You’re here to have fun.”
Last year, the Ducks won the Double-A Northeast title, the franchise’s sixth title since moving from Canton and becoming the Akron Aeros in 1997.
“When you have a team that wins championships, that’s just the icing on top of the cake,” said Pfander.
On May 14, in celebration of the team’s 25th anniversary, players will wear uniforms that are a hybrid of the current uniforms and those once worn by the Aeros. Throughout the season, the scoreboard will recall some of the players who once called Akron home, such as CC Sabathia, Bartolo Colon, Francisco Lindor and Corey Kluber.
The Ducks continue their home stand in a double header with the Reading Fightin Phils April 16 at 3:30 p.m.