APBA Fan Profile: Howie and Reese Mooney

APBA has its share of father-son bonds.  In the Illowa APBA League, my commissioner Mike Bunch has passed on his love of the game to his two sons, Marcus and Dan and they are now both in the league.  At the Chicagoland tournaments, I’ve met Joel Pike and his son Matthew as well as Larry and Clark Eichmann.   

This past Chicago tournament, I had the chance to meet Howie and Reese Mooney.  Not only are they father and son but they also hail from Ontario, Canada.  Both traveled all the way to Illinois to play some APBA.  While they were here in area, Doug Schuyler did his best to show them a good time. 

I had been in touch with Howie for quite a while and as usually the case, it was great to put a face to the name.  I asked both gentlemen if they were willing to answer a few questions for a Fan Profile and they graciously said “yes”. 

The APBA Blog:  Howie and Reese, I’ll start this interview like I do with every other one.  Tell us a little bit about yourselves outside of APBA.

Reese: Outside of APBA, I am an avid tennis player. I played tennis for my high school team this past year, and play in a league at a local tennis club. I played ice hockey for about 5 or 6 years, and briefly played basketball. I also enjoy playing golf.

Howie:  I’ve done a bunch of things in my life.  For the last 6 1/2 years, I have been a bus driver in Toronto.  The previous 16 years, I was a licensed lawn care guy.  That job took my ex-wife and me (and Reese) from Ottawa–where I grew up–to Seattle (where Reese was born) to Vancouver to Toronto.  In the decade of the 1990s, I did TV work where one of my positions was as the play-by-play and color guy for the Triple A Ottawa Lynx.  The Lynx were the affiliate of the Montreal Expos.  They won the 1995 International League championship and I was there.

Howie chats with Eric Berg at the latest Chicago tournament in July

The APBA Blog:  How did you both get started with APBA? Are you mostly solo players or do play in tournaments or leagues?  Any big projects currently going on?

Reese: I got started with APBA around the time when Dad got back into it in 2013. I am mostly a solo player. Right now, I am playing a 16-team single-elimination tournament.

Howie:  I got started when I was in Grade 8.  1973.  For some reason, I can’t exactly remember why, but about half our class was away and our History teacher brought his APBA game into the class.  I think it might have been a snow day that was called late and some of us ended up at school.  Anyway, Mr. Beaudet had the 1960 season and he divided up the teams among the people in the class.  I loved it right away.  I got my paper route money together, went to the bank and sent a money order to Lancaster, Pa.  I got the 1972 season and played it pretty steadily for a bunch of years.  Now I play pretty much solo.  I am trying to work on getting through my 1955 and 1968 replays. 

At the tourney, Reese is all business against opponent Shawn Baier

The APBA Blog:  In July, you both came down to Chicago to play in Doug Schuyler’s Chicagoland Summer Fantasy World Series.  First, how was your overall experience here in Chicago?  Was the APBA tournament all what you expected?

Reese:  We had a great time in Chicago, and the Chicagoland Summer Fantasy World Series was a great way to cap the trip off.

Howie: Reese is exactly right.  That week was our annual summer road trip.  We saw two Cubs games at Wrigley, a White Sox game at US Cellular and a Brewers game at Miller Park.  The tournament was the finishing touch to our week.  I went there to try to get a feel for the whole set up and basically to learn from so many other guys who are giants in our game.  It was a pretty amazing experience.

Rapid Fire questions with Reese and Howie!

The APBA Blog:  Reese, if you could advise the CEO of The APBA Company one thing about marketing the APBA game to younger sports fans, what would it be?  Also, if you could change anything about the game, what would it be?  (Howie, feel free to chime in)

Reese:  If I could advise the CEO of The APBA Company one thing about marketing to younger sports fans it would be to start advertising on MLB Network or put an ad in Sports Illustrated. I would not change anything about the game.

Howie: I agree with Reese.  I would love to see the game kind of mass marketed and the MLB Network would be a great place to show it off.  I remember seeing it on the back page of comic books (I think it was in comic books) when I was a kid.  Get it into the faces of the younger people in the places where they allow their minds to spend their time.

The APBA Blog:  As Canadian citizens, the law requires you to be hockey fans, right?  Have you tried the APBA Hockey game?  Any interest in other APBA games? 

Reese:  I have not yet tried the APBA hockey game. I have heard the football game is really fun.

Howie:  I have never tried the hockey game either.  But I have the football game as well.  My original football game is from 1979.  I also have the newer game but haven’t opened it up yet.

The APBA Blog:  Serious question, is baseball culture different in Canada on any level than in the U.S.?

Reese:  Baseball isn’t as popular as hockey here in Canada. However, baseball is growing in popularity.

Howie: It’s true that baseball isn’t as popular as hockey here, but it is definitely a lot more popular than when I was a kid and played in the 70s and 80s.  The opportunities for Canadian kids to do something in baseball are a lot more plentiful now than ever. 

As for the culture?  There are differences and there are similarities.  When I was Reese’s age, the guys I played ball with were the same guys I played hockey with.  Our baseball coach had played a bit in the Phillies system (and also played football in the CFL).  But he was also our hockey coach.  As I got older and grew to play more competitively, I saw that guys looked a little differently at baseball than I had when I was younger.  It was a more complex game when I played it competitively.

But in a way, that complexity made a lot of sense and made the game simpler.  In terms of being on a team, the dynamics of being with the guys are pretty much the same whether we were playing baseball or hockey or football.

Thanks to both Howie and Reese for participating in this discussion!  It was great seeing both of them in Chicago.  I’m hoping that our dice cross paths again someday!