Chapter 1 The Call to Action The year was 1934 The place was Tokyo Japan A man stood on the roof of a hospital He was taking pictures of the buildings all around him The Japanese were making war bombs in those buildings The man was an American ball player Years later Japan would bomb the United States America would be at war with Japan The man’s photos would help the war effort Who was this man Why did people call him the smartest baseball player of all time The man’s name was Moe Berg He played baseball for 15 years in the major leagues He was a star catcher Later he would be a spy for the United States during World War II SPOT ART Head shoulders chest shot of Moe Berg in base ball uniform holding a bat over his shoulder 4
Baseball Code Moe Berg had two loves baseball and languages In all he knew twelve languages including Greek and Latin During games Berg would call to his second baseman in Latin The other team could never figure out his code Visiting Japan In 1934 Berg was on a goodwill tour in Japan American ball players had come to teach Japanese players how to play a better game of baseball Berg traveled with an American All-Star team that included baseball greats such as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig Berg loved languages almost as much as he loved baseball Before the visit he learned Japanese He was able to speak to Japanese players in their own language 6
In Japan the U S team members stayed close together Not Berg He would often change his baseball uniform for a gray suit white shirt and black tie and slip away from the others One day he heard that the daughter of a U S ambassador had given birth in a Japanese hospital He quickly changed his clothes for a Japanese kimono a Japanese robe and bought a bouquet of flowers Berg went to the hospital pretending to visit the new mother Once inside Berg threw away the flowers and climbed the stairs to the roof 7
