The Baseball Player Who Was A Spy
Moe Berg was not just any ordinary baseball player. He was a man of many talents who played baseball professionally for 15 seasons, but his contributions to the sport went far beyond the field. Berg was also a scholar, a linguist, and a spy. Berg's baseball career began in the 1920s, and he played for several teams, including the Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators, and Boston Red Sox. He was known for his intelligence on the field and his ability to speak multiple languages, including Japanese, which he learned during a trip to Japan with a group of All-Stars in 1934. But Berg never advanced beyond playing backup catcher and substitute shortstop, and he always sat on the bench more than he played. He was regarded as the brainiest ballplayer of all time. It has been said that he read around 10 newspapers every day. Casey Stengel once described Berg as "the strangest man ever to play baseball" During World War II, Berg worked for the Office of Strategic Services, ...