The Akron RubberDucks found themselves under the bright lights Wednesday night — a day before Thursday’s home opener at Canal Park.
The team traveled north to Cleveland’s Progressive Field for batting practice and to give its parent club a chance to test out the new LED lights at the ballpark in anticipation of Tuesday’s home opener for the Indians.
Tribe spokesman Curtis Danburg said the new lights are part of the Indians’ effort to be environmentally friendly, adding that aside from being 20 to 30 percent brighter than the old lights, the new bulbs are expected to trim the cost of lighting the field by some 70 percent.
The Indians decided to invite the Akron minor-league team to have its final practice before its Thursday night opener, Danburg said, so the players could simulate game conditions under the 456 new 1,000-watt LED lights before the major leaguers arrive next week.
“We want to make sure we do not have any dead spots on the field,” he said.
The Akron club was more than happy to help out, RubberDucks spokesman Adam Liberman said.
“[Progressive Field] is where the players hope to be someday,” he said. “This is a chance for them to touch that dream.”
The Indians on Wednesday afternoon also rolled out a menu of new food, drink and amenity offerings.
In addition to free Wi-Fi throughout the park for fans to use, the team also announced the Market Garden Brewery, located near the West Side Market, will get its own stand in the park. It is the 13th local restaurant to set up shop inside the gates.
The brewer will be located in Section 133 and will have four of its beers on tap as well as food, including three different sliders; one is topped with spicy mayo, coleslaw, pickled onions, cheddar cheese, caramelized onions and poblanos.
“We are so pumped,” said Market Garden brand manager Branden Keis, adding that the brewery has been around for only about six years. “This is big for us.”
Fellow brewer Great Lakes is adding a Po’Man sandwich to its lineup. The sandwich, composed of smoked kielbasa, potato and cheese pierogis, sauerkraut and Dortmunder Gold Bertman’s Mustard, will be available at the Great Lakes stand in Section 107.
“We pride ourselves in making sure everything is locally sourced,” said Great Lakes chef Drew, who prefers to go by his first name only.
Dreaming up what to offer at the Cleveland Pickle sandwich stand at the stadium started around the time of the final out in Game 7 of the World Series.
After swallowing the disappointing loss, owner Josh Kabat said the effort to come up with a new dish or two began in earnest.
One will be the grilled pickle sandwich with three different cheeses, pickles and garlic oil. You can also get it with ham.
Kabat said he was considering concocting a chicken sandwich, but after walking around the ballpark he realized there was no place to buy a Reuben — a Cleveland favorite.
So the Cleveland Corned Beef sandwich was born, piled high with corned beef, homemade creamy coleslaw and Thousand Island dressing, with some of the shop’s signature pickles tossed in for good measure.
“How could they not have a Reuben on the menu?”
Craig Webb, who has gained 10 pounds this week covering new food offerings at Canal Park and Progressive Field, can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3547.