ABS quality control manager rates baseball’s best—and worst.

As the ABS quality control manager, Kevin Wilson is responsible for determining which incoming fasteners and hardware make the grade.   
   Kevin is also a huge baseball aficionado—he’s visited more than 30 major league baseball stadiums during his lifetime—and he offers these quality observations on the playgrounds of our national pastime.

Favorite ballpark:

It’s a tossup between Chicago’s Wrigley Field and Fenway Park in Boston. “You’ve got to love the ivy,” he says of Wrigley. “And watching the bleacher bums is almost as fun as watching the game.”
   Seeing Fenway’s fabled left-field wall up close was also a thrill. The Green Monster has hundreds of dimples in it—from all the baseballs that have been hit off of it. “That’s something you definitely can’t pick up on television,” Kevin says.

Least favorite ballpark:

The Montreal Expos are long gone to the nation’s capital, but Kevin says Olympic Stadium deserves a permanent plaque in the Hall of Shame.
   “They never finished doming the top—so they put an ugly tarp over it. There were hallways that led to nowhere. The seats weren’t lined up with the playing field—you always seemed to be sitting crooked. And you could never understand anything, because the games were announced in French.”
   Kevin also has no love lost for the San Francisco Giants’ former home, Candlestick Park, a ballyard he derides as “windy, cold and worthy of a wrecking ball.”

Best day at a ballgame:

October 2, 1977 at L.A.'s Dodger Stadium. Dusty Baker hit his 30th home run on the last day of the season, joining teammates Steve Garvey (33), Reggie Smith (32), and Ron Cey (30), making the Dodgers the first team to boast four 30-home-run hitters.
   “That was a better memory than the World Series. The Yankees beat us that year in six games.”

Worst day at a ballgame:

Attending a New York Mets game at Shea Stadium while the U.S. (tennis) Open was in progress next door at Flushing Meadows.
   “After the game, we were stuck in the parking lot for five hours. The cops doing traffic just shrugged as if to say, “Welcome to New York.’”

Best ballpark food:

Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
   “Boog’s Barbecue (run by former Oriole great Boog Powell) is worthy of a World Series ring. And the crab cakes are major league all the way.”

Best ballpark hot dog:

The Dodger Dog, mitts down.
   “They’re ice cold and terrible but they’re still the best.” Hmm… terrible and the best? This could be a sentimental favorite, since Los Angeles has been Kevin’s favorite team for 40 years, when his family moved west from Chicago.

#1 ballpark dream:

To go inside the scoreboard at Fenway Park.
   “I’d like to operate the big board when A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees) strikes out with the bases loaded.”

All-time favorite players:

Ernie Banks and Glenn Beckert, both of the Chicago Cubs. Kevin saw both of them play at Wrigley Field when he was 8 years old.
   “My dad took me to a doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds. I can’t tell you who won but I remember bringing home a blue Cubs pennant.”