MOE BERG: THE SPY BEHIND HOME PLATE

Moe Berg Jewish-American Hall of Fame Medal

In May, Kempner released her latest one-of-a-kind story, The Spy Behind Home Plate. The movie tells the true tale of catcher and American patriot Moe Berg, nicknamed "the brainiest guy in baseball." The gloveman played for several teams between 1923-39, most notably the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox. He also held a law degree, spoke multiple languages, and worked for a time on Wall Street between seasons.

But it's his career after baseball that captivated Kempner. In 1943, Berg joined the U.S. government's nascent wartime intelligence service, the Office of Secret Services (OSS). This was the predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency. Before long, the polymath patriot, ballplayer, attorney, and linguist would prove to be an MVP of espionage, interviewing prominent Italian physicists who had inside knowledge of Hitler's atom bomb program.

"The players loved Moe," Kempner says. "The fans loved Moe. But it's what he did out of the limelight that helped us defeat Hitler at a critical moment in history. That was his biggest hit: a grand slam for America."

In fact, Kempner was blessed to gain access to 18 unseen interviews stored in a Princeton University archive. The footage had long ago been recorded for an unproduced film on Berg. Kempner uses the clips to great effect and offers a fascinating look at this athlete who spoke several languages and wrote a classicAtlantic essay on the catcher/pitcher pas de deux.

Humor is central to much of the work coming from this writer/director/producer. In one sequence, Kempner reveals how Berg, as a catcher playing for Princeton in 1919 (no easy feat for a Jew), gave audible signals to his pitchers in Latin. When asked to describe his plan B, should the opposition decode his calls, the catcher answered, "We'll switch to Sanskrit."

The Spy Behind Home Plate, inspired and financed by executive producer William Levine, opened in theaters nationwide in late May. For tour dates visit thespybehindhomeplate.org .

To read the complete article, see:
A most valuable player (https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2019/06/13/a-most-valuable-player/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
MOE BERG'S PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM (http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v19n35a33.html)
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: SEPTEMBER 11, 2016 : Moe Berg Jewish-American Hall of Fame Medal (http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v19n37a12.html)
WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: MAY 13, 2018 (http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n19a27.html)
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: JUNE 17, 2018 : Moe Berg Film Opens June 22, 2018 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n24a10.html)

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