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Morris Berg (March 2, 1902 – May 29, 1972) was an American professional baseball catcher and coach in Major League Baseball who later served as a spy for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. He played 15 seasons in the major leagues, almost entirely for four American League teams, though he was never more than an average player and was better known for being "the brainiest guy in baseball."[1] Casey Stengel once described Berg as "the strangest man ever to play baseball."[2]

Key Information

Berg was a graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School, spoke several languages, and regularly read ten newspapers a day. His reputation as an intellectual was fueled by his successful appearances as a contestant on the radio quiz show Information Please, in which he answered questions about the etymology of words and names from Greek and Latin, historical events in Europe and the Far East, and ongoing international conferences.[3]

As a spy working for the government of the United States, Berg traveled to Yugoslavia to gather intelligence on resistance groups which the U.S. government was considering supporting. He was sent on a mission to Italy, where he interviewed various physicists concerning the German nuclear weapons program. After the war, Berg was occasionally employed by the Central Intelligence Agency, successor to the Office of Strategic Services.

Early life and education

[edit]

Berg was born as Moses Berg on May 3, 1902. According to baseball records and all official documents during his lifetime, his date of birth appeared as March 2, 1902. The correct date was discovered in 2019 by filmmaker Aviva Kempner, who found his birth certificate while doing research for her movie The Spy Behind Home Plate.[4][5] Berg was the third and youngest child of Bernard Berg, a pharmacist who emigrated from Ukraine, and his wife Rose (née Tashker), a homemaker, both Jewish, who lived in the Harlem section of New York City, a few blocks from the Polo Grounds. When Berg was three and a half, he begged his mother to let him start school.[6]

In 1906, Bernard Berg bought a pharmacy in West Newark and the family moved there. In 1910 the Berg family moved again, to the Roseville section of Newark. Roseville offered Bernard Berg everything he wanted in a neighborhood—good schools, middle-class residents, and few Jews.[6]

Berg began playing baseball at the age of seven for the Roseville Methodist Episcopal Church baseball team under the pseudonym "Runt Wolfe". In 1918, at the age of 16, Berg graduated from Barringer High School. During his senior season, the Newark Star-Eagle selected a nine-man "dream team" for 1918 from the city's best prep and public high school baseball players, and Berg was named the team's third baseman. Barringer was the first of a series of institutions where Berg's religion made him unusual at the time. Most of the other students were East Side Italian Catholics or Protestants from the Forest Hill neighborhood. His father had wanted an environment with few Jews.[7]

After graduating from Barringer, Berg enrolled in New York University. He spent two semesters there and also played baseball and basketball. In 1919 he transferred to Princeton University and never again referred to having attended NYU for a year, presenting himself exclusively as a Princeton man.[8] Berg received a B.A., magna cum laude in modern languages. He studied seven languages: Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Sanskrit, studying with the philologist Harold H. Bender. His Jewish heritage and modest finances combined to keep him on the fringes of Princeton social life, where he never quite fit in.[9]

During his freshman year, Berg played first base on an undefeated team. Beginning in his sophomore year, he was the starting shortstop. He was not a great hitter and was a slow baserunner, but he had a strong, accurate throwing arm and sound baseball instincts. In his senior season, he was captain of the team and had a .337 batting average, batting .611 against Princeton's arch-rivals, Harvard and Yale. Berg and Crossan Cooper, Princeton's second baseman, communicated plays in Latin when there was an opposing player on second base.[10]

On June 26, 1923, Yale defeated Princeton 5–1 at Yankee Stadium to win the Big Three title. Berg had an outstanding day, getting two hits in four at bats (2–4) with a single and a double, and making several marvelous plays at shortstop. Both the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Robins (the team became known as the Brooklyn Dodgers starting in 1932) desired "Jewish blood" on their teams, to appeal to the large Jewish community in New York, and expressed interest in Berg. The Giants were especially interested, but they already had two shortstops, Dave "Beauty" Bancroft and Travis Jackson, who were future Hall of Famers. The Robins were a mediocre team, on which Berg would have a better chance to play. On June 27, 1923, Berg signed his first big league contract for $5,000 ($94,000 today) with the Robins.[11]

Major league career

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Early career (1923–1925)

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Berg's first game with the Robins was on June 27, 1923, against the Philadelphia Phillies at the Baker Bowl. Berg came in at the start of the seventh inning, replacing Ivy Olson at shortstop, when the Robins were winning 13–4. Berg handled five chances without an error, and caught a line drive to start a game-ending double play. He got a hit in two at bats, singling up the middle against Clarence Mitchell, and scoring a run.[12][13] For the season, Berg batted .187 and made 21 errors in 47 games, his only National League experience.[14]

Passport photo of Morris "Moe" Berg, 1923

After the season ended, Berg took his first trip abroad, sailing from New York to Paris. He settled in the Latin Quarter in an apartment that overlooked the Sorbonne, where he enrolled in 32 different classes.[15] In Paris he developed a habit he kept for the rest of his life: reading several newspapers daily.[16] Until Berg finished reading a paper, he considered it "alive" and refused to let anyone else touch it. When he was finished with it, he would consider the paper "dead" and anybody could read it.[2] In January 1924, instead of returning to New York and getting into shape for the upcoming baseball season, Berg toured Italy and Switzerland.[16]

During spring training at the Robins facility in Clearwater, Florida, manager Wilbert Robinson could see that Berg's hitting had not improved, and optioned him to the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association. Berg did not take the demotion well and threatened to quit baseball, but by mid-April he reported to the Millers. Berg did very well once he became the Millers' regular third baseman, hitting close to .330, but in July his average plummeted and he was back on the bench. On August 19, 1924, Berg was lent to the Toledo Mud Hens, a poor team ravaged by injuries. Berg was inserted into the lineup at shortstop when Rabbit Helgeth refused to pay a $10 ($190 today) fine for poor play and was suspended. Major league scout Mike González sent a telegram to the Dodgers evaluating Berg with the curt, but now famous, line, "Good field, no hit." Berg finished the season with a .264 average.[17]

By April 1925, Berg was starting to show promise as a hitter with the Reading Keystones of the International League. Because of his .311 batting average and 124 runs batted in, the Chicago White Sox exercised their option with Reading, paying $6,000 ($110,000 today) for him, and moved Berg up to the big leagues the following year.[18]

Career as a catcher (1926–1934)

[edit]

The 1926 season began with Berg informing the White Sox that he would skip spring training and the first two months of the season in order to complete his first year at Columbia Law School. He did not join the White Sox until May 28. Bill Hunnefield was signed by the White Sox to take Berg's place at shortstop and was having a very good year, batting over .300. Berg played in only 41 games, batting .221.[19]

Berg returned to Columbia Law School after the season to continue studying for his law degree. Despite White Sox owner Charles Comiskey offering him more money to come to spring training, Berg declined, and informed the White Sox that he would report late for the 1927 season. Noel Dowling, a professor to whom Berg explained his situation, told Berg to take extra classes in the fall, and said that he would arrange with the dean a leave of absence from law school the following year, 1928.[20]

Because he reported late, Berg spent the first three months of the season on the bench. In August, a series of injuries to catchers Ray Schalk, Harry McCurdy, and Buck Crouse left the White Sox in need of somebody to play the position. Schalk, the White Sox player/manager, selected Berg, who did a fine job filling in. Schalk arranged for former Philadelphia Phillies catcher Frank Bruggy to meet the team at their next game, against the New York Yankees. Bruggy was so fat that pitcher Ted Lyons refused to pitch to him. When Schalk asked Lyons whom he wanted to catch, the pitcher selected Berg.[21]

In Berg's debut as a starting catcher, he had to worry not only about catching Lyons' knuckleball, but also about facing the Yankees' Murderers' Row lineup, which included Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Earle Combs. Lyons beat the Yankees 6–3, holding Ruth hitless. Berg made the defensive play of the game when he caught a poor throw from the outfield, spun and tagged out Joe Dugan at the plate. He caught eight more times during the final month and a half of the season.[22]

To prepare for the 1928 season, Berg went to work at a lumber camp in New York's Adirondack Mountains three weeks before reporting to the White Sox spring training facility in Shreveport, Louisiana. The hard labor did wonders for him, and he reported to spring training on March 2, 1928, in excellent shape. By the end of the season, Berg had established himself as the starting catcher.[23] In 1928, he led all AL catchers in caught-stealing percentage (60.9), was third in the AL in double plays by a catcher, with 8, and fifth in the American League in assists by a catcher, with 52.[24] At the plate, he batted .246 with a career-high 16 doubles.[24]

At law school, Berg failed Evidence and did not graduate with the class of 1929, but he passed the New York State bar exam. He repeated Evidence the following year, and on February 26, 1930, received his LL.B.[25] On April 6, during an exhibition game against the Little Rock Travelers, his spikes caught in the soil as he tried to change direction, and he tore a knee ligament.[26] In 1929, he was second in the American League in both double plays by a catcher (12) and assists by a catcher (86), caught the third-most attempted base stealers in the league (41), and was fourth in the league in caught-stealing percentage (47.7%).[24] He had perhaps his best season at bat, hitting .287 with 47 RBIs.[24]

He was back in the starting lineup on May 23, 1930, but was prevented from daily play because of his knee. He played in 20 games during the whole season and finished with a .115 batting average. During the winter, he took a job with the respected Wall Street law firm Satterlee and Canfield (now Satterlee, Stephens, Burke & Burke).

The Cleveland Indians picked him up on April 2, 1931, when Chicago put him on waivers, but he played in only 10 games, with 13 at-bats and only 1 hit for the entire season.[27]

"Yeah, I know, and he can't hit in any of them."[28]

— Dave Harris, Senators' outfielder, when told that Berg spoke seven languages

The Indians gave him his unconditional release in January 1932. With catchers hard to come by, Clark Griffith, owner of the Washington Senators, invited Berg to spring training in Biloxi, Mississippi. He made the team, playing in 75 games while not committing an error, and was second in the AL in double plays by a catcher, with 9, and in caught-stealing percentage, at 54.3%.[24] When starting catcher Roy Spencer went down with an injury, Berg stepped in, throwing out 35 baserunners while batting .236.[29]

First trip to Japan

[edit]

Retired ballplayer Herb Hunter arranged for three players, Berg, Lefty O'Doul, and Ted Lyons, to go to Japan to teach baseball seminars at Japanese universities during the winter of 1932. On October 22, 1932, the group of three players began their circuit of Meiji, Waseda, Rikkyo, Todai (Tokyo Imperial), Hosei, and Keio universities, the members of the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League. When the other Americans returned to the United States after their coaching assignments were over, Berg stayed behind to explore Japan. He then went on to tour Manchuria, Shanghai, and Peking, China; Indochina, Siam, India, Egypt, and Berlin, Germany.[30]

Despite his desire to return to Japan, Berg reported to the Senators training camp on February 26, 1933, in Biloxi. He played in 40 games during the season and batted a disappointing .185. The Senators won the pennant, but lost to the Giants in the World Series. Cliff Bolton, the Senators' starting catcher in 1933, demanded more money in 1934. When the Senators refused to pay him more, he sat out and Berg got the starting job. On April 22, Berg made an error, his first fielding mistake since 1932. He had an American League record of 117 consecutive errorless games. On July 25, the Senators gave Berg his unconditional release. He soon returned to the big leagues, however, after Cleveland Indians catcher Glenn Myatt broke his ankle on August 1. Indians manager Walter Johnson, who had managed Berg in 1932, offered Berg the reserve catching job. Berg played sporadically until Frankie Pytlak, Cleveland's starting catcher, injured himself, and Berg became the starting catcher.[31]

Second trip to Japan

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Main article: 1934 Japan Tour

Herb Hunter arranged for a group of All-Stars, including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Earl Averill, Charlie Gehringer, Jimmie Foxx, and Lefty Gomez, to tour Japan playing exhibitions against a Japanese all-star team. Although Berg was a mediocre, third-string catcher, he was invited at the last minute to make the trip. Berg had contracted with Movietone News, a New York City newsreel production company, to film sights from his trip; he took a 16-mm Bell & Howell movie camera and a letter from the company attesting to this. When the team arrived in Japan, Berg gave a welcome speech in Japanese; he also was invited to address the legislature.[32]

On November 29, 1934, while the rest of the team was playing in Omiya, Berg went to Saint Luke's Hospital in Tsukiji, ostensibly to visit the daughter of American Ambassador Joseph Grew. However, when Berg arrived he immediately went to the roof of the hospital which was one of the tallest buildings in Tokyo, and filmed the city and port with his movie camera. In 1942, Berg provided American intelligence with his photos of the city in case they were of use to plan bombing raids. He never did see the ambassador's daughter.[33] While Berg was in Japan, the Indians notified him of his unconditional release. Berg continued to travel to the Philippines, Korea, and Moscow of the Soviet Union.[34]

Late career and coaching (1935–1941)

[edit]

After his return to America, Berg was picked up by the Boston Red Sox. In his five seasons with the Red Sox, Berg averaged fewer than 30 games a season.[35]

On February 21, 1939, Berg made his first of three appearances on the radio quiz show Information, Please. Berg had a dazzling performance.[36] Of his appearance, Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis told him, "Berg, in just thirty minutes you did more for baseball than I've done the entire time I've been commissioner".[37] On his third appearance, Clifton Fadiman, the moderator, started asking Berg what the latter thought were too many personal questions. Berg did not answer any of them and never appeared on the show again.[37] Regular show guest and sportswriter John Kieran later said, "Moe was the most scholarly professional athlete (I) ever knew."[38]

After his playing career ended, Berg worked as a Red Sox coach in 1940 and 1941.[39] Berg punctuated his career in baseball with "Pitchers and Catchers," a widely admired valedictory essay on the meaning and playing of the game, published in the September 1941 issue of The Atlantic Monthly.[40] A 2018 profile of Berg in The New York Times described the essay as "still one of the most insightful works ever penned about the game."[41]

Post-baseball career

[edit]

Spying for the U.S. government

[edit]

With the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on December 7, 1941, the United States was thrust into World War II. To do his part for the war effort, Berg accepted a position with Nelson Rockefeller's Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (OIAA) on January 5, 1942. Nine days later, his father, Bernard, died.[42] During the summer of 1942, Berg screened the footage he had shot of Tokyo Bay for intelligence officers of the United States military. (At one time it was thought his film may have helped Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle plan his famous Doolittle Raid, but the raid was conducted well before the summer, on April 18, 1942.)[43]

From August 1942 to February 1943, Berg was on assignment in the Caribbean and South America. His job was to monitor the health and physical fitness of the American troops stationed there. Berg, along with several other OIAA agents, left in June 1943 because they thought South America posed little threat to the United States. They wanted to be assigned to locations where their talents would be put to better use.[44]

On August 2, 1943, Berg accepted a position with the Office of Strategic Services Special Operations Branch (SO) for a salary of $3,800 ($70,700 today) a year. He was a paramilitary operations officer in the part of the OSS that developed as the present-day CIA Special Activities Division. In September, he was assigned to the OSS Secret Intelligence branch (SI), and given a spot on the OSS SI Balkans desk. In this role, based in Washington, he remotely monitored the situation in Yugoslavia. He assisted and helped prepare Slavic-Americans recruited by the OSS to go on dangerous parachute drop missions into Yugoslavia.[45] His OSS code name was "Remus".[46]

In late 1943, Berg was assigned to Project Larson, an OSS operation set up by OSS Chief of Special Projects John Shaheen. The stated purpose of the project was to kidnap Italian rocket and missile specialists in Italy and bring them to the U.S. Another project hidden within Larson was called Project AZUSA, which had the goal of interviewing Italian physicists to learn what they knew about Werner Heisenberg and Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker. It was similar in scope and mission to the Alsos project.[47]

During the mission, Berg had a heated run-in in Italy with Alsos chief Boris Pash, a controversial army officer who played a major role in the stripping of the security clearance of Robert Oppenheimer.[48]

From May to mid-December 1944, Berg hopped around Europe, interviewing physicists and trying to convince several to leave Europe and work in the United States. In November, news about Heisenberg giving a lecture in Zürich reached the OSS. Berg was assigned to attend the lecture, which took place on December 18, and determine "if anything Heisenberg said convinced him the Germans were close to a bomb." If Berg concluded that the Germans were close, he had orders to shoot Heisenberg; Berg determined that the Germans were not close.[49][50] On orders direct from President Franklin Roosevelt, Berg persuaded Antonio Ferri, who had served as the head of the supersonic research program in Italy, to relocate to the United States and take part in supersonic aircraft development here. When Berg returned with Ferri, Roosevelt commented "I see that Moe Berg is still catching very well".[51] During his time in Switzerland, Berg became close friends with physicist Paul Scherrer.[52] Berg resigned from the OSS after the war, in January 1946.

After World War II

[edit]

In 1951, Berg sought to convince the CIA (which replaced the OSS) to send him to the recently founded nation of Israel. "A Jew must do this", he wrote in his notebook. The CIA rejected Berg's request. But in 1952 Berg was hired by the CIA to use his old contacts from World War II to gather information about the Soviet atomic bomb project. For the $10,000 plus expenses that Berg received, the CIA received nothing. The CIA officer who spoke with Berg when he returned from Europe said that he was "flaky".[53]

For the next 20 years, Berg had no regular employment. He may have been involved in helping arrange export agreements for aerospace firms, and may have acted as an informal private investigator.[54] He relied on the generosity of friends and relatives who enjoyed his company. When they asked what he did for a living, he would reply by putting his finger to his lips, giving them the impression that he was still a spy.[55] He maintained friendly relationships with sports journalists, sometimes traveling with them, sharing their hotel rooms, and taking advantage of the food prepared for them at games.[56] He continued to attend scientific meetings and visit universities, as he had during WWII.[57] A lifelong bachelor, he lived with his brother Samuel for 17 years. According to Samuel, Berg became moody and snappish after the war, and did not seem to care for much in life besides his books. Samuel finally grew fed up with the arrangement and asked Moe to leave, even having eviction papers drawn up.[2] Berg next moved in with his sister Ethel in Belleville, New Jersey, where he resided for the rest of his life.[58]

He received a handful of votes in Baseball Hall of Fame voting (four in 1958, and five in 1960). When he was criticized for "wasting" his intellectual talent on the sport he loved, Berg replied, "I'd rather be a ballplayer than a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court".[59]

Berg received many requests to write his memoirs, but turned them down. He almost began work on them in 1960, but he quit after the co-writer assigned to work with him confused him with Moe Howard of the Three Stooges.[2]

Death

[edit]

Berg died on May 29, 1972, at the age of 70, from injuries sustained in a fall at home. A nurse at the Belleville, New Jersey, hospital where he died recalled his final words as: "How did the Mets do today?"[60] (They won.)[61] By his request, his remains were cremated and the urn buried on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem.[62]

Legacy

[edit]
Berg turned down the Medal of Freedom during his lifetime; it was awarded after his death, with his sister accepting on his behalf.
  • After the war, the OSS was disbanded. Berg was awarded the Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given to civilians during wartime, from President Harry S. Truman for his service. He declined to accept it without any public explanation. The citation read:

"Mr. Morris Berg, United States Civilian, rendered exceptionally meritorious service of high value to the war effort from April 1944 to January 1946. In a position of responsibility in the European Theater, he exhibited analytical abilities and a keen planning mind. He inspired both respect and constant high level of endeavor on the part of his subordinates which enabled his section to produce studies and analysis vital to the mounting of American operations."[63]

After his death, his sister, Ethel, requested and accepted the award on his behalf, later donating it to the Baseball Hall of Fame.[64][65][66]

See also

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References

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[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Moe Berg

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from Grokipedia

Morris "Moe" Berg (March 2, 1902 – May 29, 1972) was an American professional baseball catcher who played in from 1923 to 1939 and later served as an intelligence officer for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during .
Born in to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, Berg graduated from with a degree in modern languages and earned a from , though he never practiced law. A polyglot fluent in multiple languages including Japanese, German, and Spanish, he leveraged his linguistic skills both on the diamond and in . In baseball, Berg was known for his defensive prowess rather than offensive output, compiling a career batting average of .243 over 662 games while playing for teams including the Robins, , Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, and Boston Red Sox. He set an record with 117 consecutive errorless games at from 1931 to 1934 and was praised for his handling of pitchers and strong throwing arm. After retiring as a player in 1939, he briefly coached for the Red Sox before joining U.S. intelligence efforts. During , Berg's OSS assignments included secretly filming industrial sites in during a 1934 baseball tour and parachuting into occupied to evaluate Nazi atomic bomb development, particularly targeting physicist . His reports contributed to Allied assessments that Germany lagged in nuclear weapons production. For his wartime service, President awarded him the Medal of Freedom in 1946, America's highest civilian honor at the time, though Berg declined it during his lifetime; his sister accepted it posthumously. Berg lived reclusively after the war, residing with family and avoiding public disclosure of his spy work due to classification restrictions.

Early Life and Education

Family Background and Childhood

Morris "Moe" Berg was born Morris Berg on March 2, 1902, in a cold-water on East 121st Street in , , to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents Bernard Berg, a , and Rose Tashker Berg, a homemaker. Bernard had emigrated from the Ukrainian village of Kippinya in 1894, establishing himself in the trade after arriving penniless, while Rose arrived from two years later. The couple had three children, with Moe as the youngest; his siblings included a sister, , and an older brother. The family soon relocated to , where Bernard acquired a pharmacy, enabling a modest middle-class existence amid the challenges faced by early 20th-century Jewish immigrants. Though observant of their Jewish heritage, the Bergs were not religiously practicing, prioritizing practical advancement over ritual. Bernard, who labored for over three decades in the pharmacy business, instilled a strong value on in his children, viewing it as the path to upward mobility—a determination rooted in his own immigrant hardships and uncommon for such families in that era. Moe's early childhood reflected this environment, fostering his intellectual curiosity from a young age, though he occasionally adopted pseudonyms like "Runt Wolfe" in school to downplay his amid prevailing . The family's emphasis on and learning shaped his formative years, setting the stage for his later multilingual and academic prowess.

Academic Pursuits and Linguistic Abilities

Berg initially attended for two semesters before transferring to , where he majored in modern languages and played on the team, serving as captain in his senior year. He graduated from Princeton in June 1923 with a degree magna cum laude. After entering professional baseball, Berg pursued legal studies at during off-seasons, often missing , and completed his degree around 1930. He supplemented his education with linguistics coursework at the Sorbonne in . Berg's academic focus on languages fostered remarkable proficiency as a polyglot; during Princeton, he mastered at least seven, including Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and . Contemporary accounts, such as his New York Times obituary, noted fluency in ten languages, aiding his later intelligence work, though exact counts varied by source.

Professional Baseball Career

Minor League Beginnings and Major League Entry (1923–1925)

Berg signed his first professional contract with the on June 27, 1923, the day after graduating from , for a reported $5,000 . He made his major league debut that same day as a against the at , recording one hit in four at-bats and scoring a run in a 6-4 Robins loss. Over the 1923 season, Berg appeared in 49 games for , primarily at , batting .186 with 24 hits in 129 at-bats, no home runs, and one RBI. His defensive play was noted as solid, but offensive struggles limited his role on a team managed by . Following the 1923 season, Berg was optioned to affiliates, beginning with the of the American Association in 1924 before being loaned to the in August. With Toledo, a team plagued by injuries, Berg took over at after the incumbent refused a fine for missing a game, finishing the season with a .264 . In 1925, he played for the Reading Keystones of the , where he batted .311 and drove in 124 runs, showcasing improved hitting power and helping solidify his reputation as a utility . These performances, particularly his strong season in Reading, positioned him for a return to the major leagues with the in 1926.

Establishment as a Catcher (1926–1934)


Following his early major league experience primarily as an infielder, Moe Berg transitioned to catcher upon joining the Chicago White Sox in 1926, a position he would hold for the remainder of his playing career. To complete his first year of law school at Columbia University, Berg skipped spring training and the initial two months of the season, debuting with the White Sox on June 23, 1926, and appearing in 41 games that year with a .221 batting average. His defensive capabilities quickly emerged as his primary asset, featuring a strong throwing arm that deterred base stealers effectively. Berg solidified his role as a backup catcher with the White Sox through 1930, posting career-high marks in games played (107) and batting average (.287) during the 1929 season, which earned him 30th place in American League Most Valuable Player voting. Fielding percentages reflected his reliability behind the plate, reaching .990 in 1928 and .982 in 1929. Injuries, including a knee issue in 1930, limited his appearances to 20 games that year, after which he was traded to the Cleveland Indians for the 1931 season, where he managed only 10 games with a .077 average. Acquired by the Washington Senators prior to the 1932 campaign, Berg served as a reserve , contributing in 75 games with a .236 average and perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. He maintained high defensive standards in 1933 (40 games, .185 average, 1.000 fielding) and split 1934 between the Senators and Indians (62 games, .251 average, .983 fielding). Throughout this period, Berg's value lay in his game-calling acumen and knowledge of opposing hitters, compensating for modest offensive output in a career spanning multiple teams as a defender.

Trips to Japan (1932 and 1934)

In 1932, Moe Berg joined fellow players and on an instructional tour to , where they conducted seminars and clinics on fundamentals at six Japanese universities. The trip, organized to promote the sport and foster goodwill, allowed Berg to immerse himself in Japanese culture and begin developing proficiency in the language through direct interaction. Berg played in exhibition games and observed local enthusiasm, which appealed to his and wanderlust, though the visit had no documented intelligence purpose at the time. The 1934 trip marked Berg's return to Japan as part of a larger All-American tour featuring stars such as , , and , organized by promoter Herb Hunter and spanning 12 cities from November to December. Selected as a backup despite his modest .238 career , Berg's inclusion stemmed partly from his linguistic skills and prior familiarity with , enabling him to serve as an informal translator. During the tour, which drew massive crowds and included 18 exhibition games against Japanese teams, Berg carried a 16-mm movie camera ostensibly for purposes, filming the skyline and strategic sites from the roof of , one of the city's tallest structures at the time. This footage, capturing industrial and military infrastructure, was later acquired by but provided valuable reconnaissance for U.S. forces during , though Berg's motivations during the trip appear to have been personal thrill-seeking rather than directed . While the team proceeded to other Asian stops, Berg remained in to complete his filming before rejoining.

Late Career, Coaching, and Retirement (1935–1941)

In 1935, following his return from the tour of , Berg signed with the Red Sox as a backup , where he appeared in fewer than 50 games each season through 1939. His playing time dwindled due to age and defensive specialization, with 38 games in 1935 (batting .286), 39 in 1936 (.240), 47 in 1937 (.255), 10 in 1938 (.333), and 14 in 1939 (.273). During this period, Berg contributed behind the plate with his renowned handling of pitchers and game knowledge, though his offensive output remained modest, aligning with his career .243 average. Berg participated in the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame Game on June 12, 1939, at Cooperstown, playing for the Red Sox against a National League all-star team in an exhibition that drew significant attention. He retired as an active player after the 1939 season, concluding a 15-year major league tenure marked by reliability rather than stardom. Transitioning to coaching, Berg served as a Red Sox assistant under manager from 1940 to 1941, providing strategic input and player development support without resuming regular play. In this role, he leveraged his intellect and multilingual skills informally, though his contributions remained low-profile amid the team's focus on emerging talents. Berg departed baseball entirely on January 14, 1942, citing disinterest in prolonging a career he viewed as secondary to intellectual pursuits.

World War II Espionage Activities

Recruitment by the OSS

Following his departure from the Office of Inter-American Affairs in June 1943, where he had monitored radio broadcasts and sentiments in Latin America for pro-Axis activity since January 1942, Moe Berg was recruited into the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). The OSS, the wartime precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency, valued Berg's exceptional linguistic abilities—he was fluent in at least seven languages, including Japanese, German, French, and Spanish—along with his academic credentials from Princeton University and Columbia Law School, and his prior quasi-intelligence feats, such as smuggling a 16mm movie camera into a Tokyo stadium during the 1934 All-American baseball tour to film industrial sites and the city skyline, footage later used in planning the 1942 Doolittle Raid on Japan. On August 2, 1943, Berg formally accepted a position with the OSS, personally recruited by its director, General William "Wild Bill" , a veteran known for assembling unconventional talent for . sought individuals with discretion and adaptability, qualities Berg exemplified through his enigmatic personality and baseball-honed travel experience across and , which had exposed him to diverse cultures and potential intelligence networks. Berg's entry into the OSS was marked by an initially rocky adjustment, as his unconventional background clashed with the agency's structured protocols, though his skills quickly proved indispensable. By September 1943, he was assigned to the Secret Intelligence Branch at the OSS Balkans desk, under the code name "Remus," preparing for field operations assessing resistance groups in .

Intelligence Operations in Europe and the Balkans

In September 1943, Berg was assigned to the Secret Intelligence (SI) branch of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and placed on the Balkans desk at OSS headquarters in Washington, D.C., where his linguistic skills in Serbo-Croatian proved valuable. In this role, he evaluated intelligence reports from the region and assisted in preparing Slavic-American recruits for high-risk parachute insertion missions into German-occupied Yugoslavia, focusing on liaison with anti-Axis resistance forces. By early 1944, Berg transitioned to field operations in , receiving authorization in April as an intelligence agent in the Branch equipped with a .45-caliber for potential combat duties. He traveled covertly to , entering via an OSS-borrowed from the port of , after which he proceeded to to gather on-site intelligence amid ongoing Allied advances. These efforts supported broader OSS objectives in assessing Axis capabilities and resistance viability across . Berg's Balkans operations centered on Yugoslavia, where he parachuted into occupied territory—reportedly at age 41—to conduct interrogations and evaluate partisan factions for their military effectiveness and postwar alignment potential. He assessed groups including Josip Broz Tito's communist-led partisans, recommending U.S. support for them over the royalist led by due to the former's greater efficacy against German forces, influencing OSS resource allocation decisions. This fieldwork provided critical ground-level insights into Balkan power dynamics, though some accounts debate the extent of his direct insertions versus advisory roles.

The Heisenberg Mission and Atomic Intelligence

In December 1944, as Allied forces advanced into amid fears of a potential Nazi atomic weapon, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) assigned Moe Berg to , , to evaluate the progress of German physicist Werner Heisenberg's nuclear research. Berg, operating under the alias of a Swiss academic, carried a and explicit instructions from OSS chief William Donovan: assassinate Heisenberg if his lecture or subsequent interactions revealed that was on the verge of developing a fission bomb capable of deployment before Allied victory. This directive aligned with broader U.S. intelligence efforts, including Operation Alsos, which aimed to capture or neutralize key German scientists to prevent technological breakthroughs that could prolong the war. On December 18, 1944, Heisenberg delivered a public lecture on S-Matrix Theory at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH Zurich), attended by Berg who took detailed notes in multiple languages to assess any veiled references to atomic applications. The content focused on theoretical physics without indicating practical bomb development, leading Berg to shadow Heisenberg afterward and engage him briefly during a walk, where the physicist remarked that the war would likely conclude before any such weapon could be realized—a statement Berg interpreted as evidence of significant German delays in uranium enrichment and reactor technology. Deeming the threat insufficiently imminent, Berg refrained from executing the assassination, preserving Heisenberg's life and providing OSS with firsthand assessment that the Nazi program lagged far behind the Manhattan Project. Berg's intelligence contributed to confirmatory reports from other Alsos teams, which later verified through captured documents and interrogations that German efforts had stalled at experimental reactors without achieving criticality or weapons-grade . His linguistic skills enabled rapid translation and analysis of Heisenberg's materials, bolstering Allied confidence in their atomic monopoly. Throughout early 1945, Berg relayed additional atomic intelligence from European contacts, including evaluations of Italian physicists like Fermi's former collaborators, though these yielded no evidence of Axis collaboration on design. This work underscored the fragmented nature of Nazi nuclear pursuits, hampered by resource shortages and internal misprioritization.

Assessments of Operational Impact and Criticisms

Berg's intelligence reports from interrogations of European scientists, including and Antonio Ferri, provided the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) with insights into Nazi Germany's nuclear research limitations, contributing to the Allies' understanding that the program lagged significantly behind the . In December 1944, during the mission, Berg attended Werner Heisenberg's lecture on December 18 and assessed that the German physicist showed no signs of advanced bomb development, relaying findings that reassured U.S. atomic leaders of their lead and obviated the need for assassination. His efforts also aided in recruiting figures like Ferri, who joined the U.S. in 1944, bolstering American technical expertise. Historians credit Berg's multilingual skills with facilitating these operations, though his overall impact on thwarting Nazi nuclear ambitions remains debated, as Allied intelligence from the had already indicated minimal German progress by mid-1944. Biographer Nicholas Dawidoff notes that Berg's assessments aligned with broader evidence of German disarray in production and reactor development, suggesting his role amplified rather than initiated key confirmations. Critics argue that Berg's exploits have been mythologized, with claims like his 1934 photography—allegedly aiding D.D. Doolittle's 1942 raid—stemming from his own initiative rather than OSS directives, and the images proving unusable for targeting. The Heisenberg assignment, while dramatic, rested on improbable assumptions that the would publicly divulge secrets, reflecting OSS "wishful thinking" amid late-war desperation rather than strategic precision. Berg's technical limitations, including rusty German proficiency and lack of physics expertise, undermined his lecture evaluation, per Dawidoff, while his disregard for orders and expenditure of nearly $20,000 in OSS funds led to his 1947 exclusion from the . Some analyses portray missions like as products of OSS fixation on atomic threats despite Germany's collapsing fronts in 1944, yielding marginal operational value.

Post-War Life and Death

Brief Government Roles and Retirement

Following the dissolution of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in 1945, Berg resigned from its successor organization, the Strategic Services Unit, in August of that year and briefly served on the staff of NATO's Advisory Group for Aeronautical Research and Development (AGARD) in . He was dismissed from AGARD in 1951 after failing to complete any substantive work. In 1952, the (CIA) hired Berg on a short-term contract to interview European contacts from his wartime network about Soviet progress in atomic science, but the assignment produced minimal actionable intelligence and ended soon after. Earlier that year, Berg had unsuccessfully petitioned the CIA for an assignment to the newly established State of Israel, citing his Jewish heritage as motivation. Post-1952, Berg held no further government positions, declining offers to coach in and rejecting the awarded in recognition of his wartime service. He retired to a reclusive life, residing with relatives in , supported by family and savings, while pursuing solitary hobbies like watching games on television and voracious reading; he refused to disclose details of his intelligence career or author memoirs despite interest from publishers.

Personal Habits and Family Relations

Berg never married and maintained close but strained ties with his siblings after World War II, residing primarily with them in due to his lack of steady employment or permanent residence. From approximately 1947 until 1964, he lived with his brother, Dr. Samuel Berg, a physician, in their home, relying on familial support for housing and sustenance. Samuel later noted that Berg's post-war demeanor shifted markedly, describing him as increasingly moody, snappish, and detached, evincing little interest in life beyond his personal reading materials. After tensions escalated—culminating in Samuel asking him to leave—Berg relocated to the home of his sister, Ethel Berg, where he remained until his death in 1972. In his personal habits, Berg embodied a reclusive and nomadic eccentricity, eschewing conventional routines in favor of intellectual pursuits and minimal material needs. He sustained a lifelong practice, initiated during his time in , of consuming multiple daily newspapers to stay abreast of global affairs, a habit that persisted into his later years amid his otherwise unstructured days. , his lifestyle grew increasingly rootless, characterized by dependence on relatives and sporadic connections for travel and lodging, often leveraging charm to secure free accommodations like train rides from sympathetic conductors. Berg showed scant regard for or social engagements beyond family, prioritizing solitude, books, and selective wanderings over gainful work or public involvement, which further isolated him from broader societal norms.

Final Years and Cause of Death

After , Berg resigned from the Office of Strategic Services successor organization in August 1945 and briefly served on the staff of NATO's Advisory Group for . He declined multiple offers to coach in and other professional opportunities, opting instead for a reclusive lifestyle supported financially by his brother Samuel, with whom he lived for approximately 17 years in . In 1952, the CIA contracted him to leverage wartime contacts for intelligence on Soviet atomic programs, but the effort produced negligible results. Berg occasionally contributed to periodicals on baseball and international affairs but avoided steady employment, maintaining a low profile marked by eccentricity and moodiness, as noted by family. In his final years, Berg relocated to live with his sister . He sustained an avid interest in , frequently attending games and tracking scores obsessively. On May 29, 1972, at age 70, Berg fell at his home in , suffering severe injuries. He refused medical treatment, including surgery, which led to fatal complications from the fall. His last words to a nurse were reportedly, "How did the Mets do today?" Berg never married and had no children; his sister Ethel arranged for his ashes to be scattered on in .

Legacy and Depictions

Contributions to Baseball History

Morris "Moe" Berg played for 15 seasons in (MLB) from 1923 to 1939, primarily as a for teams including the , Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, and Boston Red Sox, with a brief stint as a for the Robins in the National League. Over 663 games, he compiled a with 441 hits, six home runs, and 206 runs batted in, reflecting his role as a light-hitting, defensive specialist rather than a standout offensive contributor. Berg appeared in fewer than 50 games in 12 of those seasons, underscoring his longevity as a reliable and . Berg's most notable contribution to baseball came through his defensive prowess behind the plate. Transitioning from shortstop to catcher, he established himself as a slick-fielding backstop known for managing pitchers effectively. Between 1931 and 1934 with the Washington Senators, Berg set an American League record by catching in 117 consecutive games without committing an error, a mark that stood for 12 years until surpassed. This streak highlighted his exceptional handling of the demanding position, where errors could disrupt games and pitcher confidence, contributing to the era's emphasis on defensive reliability among catchers. Though never an or award winner, Berg's career exemplified the value of catchers in sustaining team pitching staffs during the and , a period when the position prioritized durability and game-calling over power hitting. His ability to remain in the majors despite modest statistics influenced perceptions of the catcher's role, prioritizing strategic acumen and error-free play over prolific offense.

Role in Intelligence and Espionage Lore

Morris "Moe" Berg holds an enduring place in lore as the erudite catcher transformed into an OSS operative, embodying the agency's penchant for recruiting unconventional talent with linguistic and analytical acumen during . Recruited on August 2, 1943, as a operations officer, Berg leveraged his fluency in multiple languages—including German, Italian, and ese—to infiltrate scientific circles and evaluate Axis technological threats, particularly in atomic research. His pre-war exploits, such as filming Tokyo's industrial and military sites during a 1934 all-star tour at the behest of U.S. officials, foreshadowed this role and contributed to early aerial on . Central to Berg's espionage legend is his participation in the Alsos Mission's Project Larson, aimed at gauging Nazi Germany's nuclear capabilities. In December 1944, disguised as a Swiss student, Berg attended a lecture by physicist in on December 18, armed with orders to assassinate the scientist—and ingest a capsule himself—if evidence emerged of an imminent German atomic bomb. Interpreting Heisenberg's remarks and audience reactions as indicative of a stalled program—lacking aggressive weaponization—Berg refrained, a judgment later corroborated by Allied intelligence showing Germany's atomic efforts lagged far behind the . This episode, drawn from declassified accounts, has mythologized Berg as a lone assessor whose averted a high-stakes and strategic , though his physics knowledge was rudimentary and the mission's counterfactual impact remains speculative given the Nazis' actual technical hurdles. Earlier, Berg interrogated Italian physicists in 1944, confirming minimal German atomic collaboration and estimating a would take a decade, bolstering Allied confidence in their nuclear monopoly. In broader lore, he exemplifies OSS chief William Donovan's vision of versatile agents blending cover identities with fieldwork, providing "incredibly helpful " on enemy despite a rocky initial tenure. President awarded him the in 1946 for meritorious service, the era's highest civilian wartime honor, though Berg declined the ceremony, accepting only posthumously via his sister—a reticence that amplified his enigmatic aura in annals. While some assessments note his outputs were more evaluative than groundbreaking, Berg's narrative persists as a testament to human-source 's role in strategic pivots, distinct from signals or scientific intercepts.

Books, Films, and Cultural Portrayals

The principal of Moe Berg is : The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg by Nicholas Dawidoff, published in 1994 by , which chronicles his career, linguistic abilities, , and covert operations for of Strategic Services during . The book drew on interviews with Berg's associates, declassified documents, and archival materials to reconstruct his enigmatic persona, achieving national bestseller status and appearing on multiple 1994 best-of lists. Subsequent works include Moe Berg: Spy Catcher by Jeri Cipriano, a 2018 children's emphasizing Berg's —proficiency in at least seven languages—and his transition from major league to wartime operative. A more recent title, Moe Berg Story Book: Baseball, Spies, and Big Adventures (2024), targets young readers with accounts of his seven-language fluency and exploits, though it relies on popularized narratives rather than primary sources. Berg's life inspired the 2018 feature film , directed by Ben Lewin, with portraying Berg in a dramatization of his 1944 mission to evaluate Nazi Germany's atomic program, including the potential assassination of physicist . Adapted from Dawidoff's , the film depicts Berg's recruitment by the OSS and his travels in neutral , though critics noted its subdued pacing and fidelity to historical ambiguities over thriller elements. A companion documentary, The Spy Behind Home Plate (2019), directed by Aviva Kempner, utilizes home movies filmed by Berg in (1934), OSS records, and interviews with family and colleagues to examine his Jewish heritage, tenure across 15 seasons (batting .243 lifetime), and intelligence contributions, premiering at the Jewish Film Festival. In broader cultural depictions, Berg features in historiography and narratives, such as a 2018 exhibit at the National Baseball Hall of Fame titled "Big League Spy," which showcased artifacts from his career with teams including the Brooklyn Robins, , and Boston Red Sox, alongside his OSS service. His appearances on the 1940s radio quiz show , where he fielded questions on diverse topics from to , underscored his reputation in period media.

References

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