who was moe berg?

Question

catcher for detroit tigers

Answer 1

Actually Moe Berg never caught for the Tigers. He was normally a back up catcher for the Senators, Indians, White Sox, and Red Sox. He started as a very slow shortstop with good hands for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

In the early 1930's a group of major league stars went on a barnstorming tour of Japan; the biggest star was Babe Ruth. A last minute addition to the team was Moe Berg. This was odd because Berg was not even a starter, let alone a star. During this trip no one missed Berg when he disappeared for site seeing trips with his camera. He took pictrures from all over Tokyo, very hard to do because Tokyo was not as open to visitors as it is now. Those pictures were very important a decade later. US planes used those pictures to plan bombing missions during World War II.

Moe Berg was an incredibly bright man, he would be called and "Einstein" now for his genius. He read many newspapers everyday and spoke several languages fluently.

After his baseball career ended, people in Washington, D.C. remembered him for his intellect from his days with the Senators. He was asked to get involved with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the predecessor of the modern Central Intellegence Agency (CIA). He ultimately became a behind the lines spy in Europe on missions against Nazi Germany.

His cloak and dagger work during World War II was not commonly known until several years after the war. He tried without success to get into the new CIA. His remaining years were spent moving from one home to another of friends and relatives.

He was one of the most interesting people I have ever read about. I have included a link to the Baseball Library that has more books written about Moe Berg.

Answer 2

Although I love the fact that someone mentioned the Pursuit of Happiness, I'm sure he means the catcher.

I'm so happy to see that so many people know who he was. Moe played for 15 years and totaled 441 hits. He was a character that I believe should actually be in the HoF based on his life. Back in the 20's and 30's during double headers most regular catchers would catcher the first game while the backup did the second. Moe would complement the first string catcher throughout the first game and convince him that the team needed him in the lineup for the second game as well. He liked to hang out in the bullpen reading newspapers. On the trip to Japan the transportation was a boat. As they were getting on, Babe Ruth asked him if he spoke Japaneese. Moe said no. When they got off the boat, Moe greeted the Japaneese delegates and talked with them in Japaneese. Babe questioned Moe on this since he said that he couldn't speak Japaneese and Berg said that he learned it on the trip. He took the pictures of the skyline when he went to visit a friend in a Tokyo hospital. On his own, he got onto the roof and started taking pictures. When the war broke out, Moe contacted the US gov't saying that he had these pics and it got his foot in the door when it came to becoming a spy. He tracked nuclear scientist during WW2 and helped liberate a few. A lot of people thought that he wore the same clothes everyday, but he actually had something like a dozen of the same suit, shirt and tie.

In conclusion of my book report on the Catcher Was a Spy, I give the book three thumbs up.

Answer 3

He was a backup catcher for several teams in the 1920s and 1930s. Before and during World War 2, he also did a bit of espionage work for the OSS (which later became the CIA). A biography of him called "The Catcher Was a Spy" was released a few years ago and is probably the best source for info about him.

Answer 4

He's the lead singer for "The Pursuit of Happiness", a band based out of Toronto.

Answer 5

A Bo**ox

Answer 6

a spy

Answer 7

yeah

Answer 8

A jewish gangster.