(AKRON, OHIO) March 31, 2023Ā ā As the Akron RubberDucks open the 2023 Eastern League season and prepare to take the field at Canal Park on Thursday, April 6, their games will return to their radio home,Ā 640 WHLO, continuing a longstanding partnership with iHeartMedia Akron/Canton. RubberDucks games will also be available to stream on more platforms than ever before.
For a fourth straight season, broadcastersĀ Marco LaNaveĀ andĀ Jim Clark, a 2019 Greater Akron Baseball Hall of Famer in his 30th season with the franchise, return to call the play-by-play from theĀ Audio-TechnicaĀ Broadcast Booth. Each called a Cleveland Guardians game at Spring Training this year.
āWe are excited to again have Marco and Jim ā with his amazing milestone of 30 seasons with our club ā calling the action, and to continue our great partnership with iHeartMedia,ā said RubberDucks President and General ManagerĀ Jim Pfander. āThe powerful signal of 640 WHLO brings RubberDucks baseball to fans across the region, who can follow the future Cleveland Guardians at home and on the road this spring and summer.ā
āBaseball fans continue to make radio their first and most popular choice to follow their favorite team. We look forward to another summer of evenings on the back deck, in the garage or on a smart speaker in the kitchen listening to RubberDucks Baseball.ā said iHeartMedia Cleveland Regional Senior Vice President of ProgrammingĀ Keith Kennedy.
In addition to radio, live home and road broadcasts will be available for free on the following platforms:
- 640 WHLO on the iHeartRadio App
- 640whlo.com
- akronrubberducks.com
- MiLB First Pitch App
- MLB AppĀ (with MLB.TV or MLB At Bat subscription; select Guardians as favorite team on At Bat or MLB.TV)
The freeĀ iHeartRadio AppĀ also carries on-demand interviews and game highlights on theĀ Akron RubberDucks podcast.
RubberDucks home broadcasts on 640 WHLO can also be heard onĀ MiLB.TVĀ ā the platform carrying home broadcasts from every Eastern League ballpark and more than 7,000 games across Minor League Baseball. New this season, anĀ MiLB.TVĀ subscription is included with a subscription toĀ MLB.TVĀ ($149.99 annually) orĀ MLB At BatĀ ($29.99 annually). Subscribers who select the Guardians as their favorite team can watch Clevelandās minor league affiliates onĀ MLB.TV, in theĀ MLB appĀ or on connected devices.
The āRubberDucks Warmupā pregame show airs 15 minutes or more before each game and will open the 2023 broadcast season live from Canal Park on Thursday, April 6, at 6:15 p.m. before the scheduled 6:35 p.m. first pitch.
The Akron RubberDucks are the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. The RubberDucks season at Canal Park begins on Thursday, April 6 against the Erie SeaWolves at 6:35 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets by calling 330-253-5151 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, or visitĀ akronrubberducks.com/. For more information about the team, please call 330-253-5151, visit the website atĀ akronrubberducks.com, Facebook pageĀ facebook.com/AkronRubberDucks, or on TwitterĀ @AkronRubberDuck, and InstagramĀ @akronrubberducks.
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CONTACT:
Jimmy Farmer
Coordinator, Media Relations
(330) 375-1730