Courtesy of Linda McCarthy
- Morris "Moe" Berg spent 15 years playing major league baseball.
- His record on the field was middling, but Berg was distinguished by his pursuits off it — namely, his time as a US spy during World War II.
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Morris "Moe" Berg's dying words — "How did the Mets do today?" — were on brand for the 70-year-old New York native who enjoyed a 15-year career in Major League Baseball before America entered World War II.
Sports columnist John Kieran called Berg "The Professor" on account of his reputation as an Ivy League-educated linguist and lawyer, a mentor and coach to younger MLB players, and a newspaper-devouring raconteur who earned fanfare as a repeat contestant on the NBC radio quiz show "Information Please."
His 1972 New York Times obituary eulogized, first and foremost, the "catcher in majors who spoke 10 languages."
But the brainy 6-foot-1-inch bullpen catcher with an unspectacular batting average had another career entirely: He was a World War II secret agent who gathered intelligence on three continents for the US government.
"We often think about athletes just playing ball and going in for records. But Moe, Ted Williams twice, Joe DiMaggio — they went off and risked their lives and their careers to serve," said filmmaker Aviva Kempner, who illuminates Berg's life and legacy in her 2019 documentary, "The Spy Behind Home Plate."
Berg's particular line of work during the war — he ultimately served as a spy for the Manhattan Project while working for the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the CIA — further differentiated him. Who else would sit in the dugout talking about whether Mussolini would win or not?" Kempner said.
As the surviving members of the Greatest Generation dwindle and tensions rise among 21st-century nuclear-armed powers, Kempner emphasizes the need to learn about veterans and remember their contributions and sacrifices.
"It's important to know who our unknown heroes are and what they did," she said.
Here's a window into Berg's life and transition from multilingual ballplayer to World War II nuclear spy. He was the son of immigrants.
Courtesy of Irwin Berg
Moe Berg was born in Harlem in 1902. He was the third child of Bernard Berg and Rose Taschker, Jewish immigrants from Ukraine, who came to the US seeking economic opportunity and religious freedom.
The Bergs moved to Newark, New Jersey, where Bernard opened a pharmacy. Education was paramount, and Bernard in particular expected his kids to pursue one of three professions: lawyer, doctor, or teacher.
From his early days, Moe had a rocket arm and a photographic memory.
As a 7-year-old, he played baseball on a church team using the pseudonym "Runt Wolfe." He excelled on the field and in the classroom, initially studying at New York University. He transferred to Princeton University, where he was a star on the baseball team and in the modern languages department.
The popular, idiosyncratic scholar-athlete turned down an offer to join one of Princeton's exclusive eating clubs, purportedly after being told that while he'd be more than welcome, he shouldn't think of bringing other Jews around.
He spent off-seasons studying law at Columbia University and traveling the world.
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After Berg graduated college, the Brooklyn Robins (now the Los Angeles Dodgers) and the New York Giants were interested in recruiting him, in part because they thought he'd help draw the city's relatively large Jewish population.
He joined the Robins and played in the minor leagues. His technical skills and lack of offensive power inspired the phrase "good field, no hit." He went on to play for the Chicago White Sox.
At the time, major leaguers worked in the spring and summer and were off the rest of the year. Berg used his baseball earnings to travel. He studied Sanskrit at the Sorbonne in Paris and wrote of how much he enjoyed French "wine, women, and song."
Largely to appease his father, Berg also enrolled at Columbia Law School and arrived late to spring training while finishing his first year. The following year, the White Sox owner denied Berg's request to arrive late again, so Berg arranged to leave school early and make up his courses. He'd go on to pass the bar and join the firm Satterlee and Canfield.
But baseball was his priority and ultimately how he made his living throughout the 1930s. He said he would rather be a baseball player than a Supreme Court justice.
He became a catcher by accident.
Courtesy of Irwin Berg
In 1927, White Sox catcher turned manager Ray Schalk, in a pinch during a game, called out to the bench asking if anyone could catch. Berg tried to volunteer the player next to him. But Schalk thought Berg, a shortstop, was volunteering and put him in without being corrected.
"If it doesn't turn out well, please send the body to Newark," Berg reportedly told his teammates. He took to catching. He and his second baseman communicated about the opposing team's base runners in Latin.
If the runner trying to steal understood Latin, Berg said they'd switch to Sanskrit.
See the rest of the story at Business InsiderSee Also: SEE ALSO: 3 unsung World War II female spies who helped make D-Day a victory |