New Movie: The Catcher Was a Spy

[Jerry G]

I just found out about this today. They finally made a movie about the most interesting athlete of all time, Moe Berg! He spied on the Japanese while barnstorming with the Babe and other legends. After his 15 year baseball career, he spied on the Germans.

Can't wait! Here's the trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o3w8GsIDKk

[Jerry G]

An awesome card in the 1933 Goudey set.

[GoCubsGo32]

Movie title? Horrible. Movie itself? Looks very good!

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by GoCubsGo32

Movie title? Horrible. Movie itself? Looks very good!

They didn’t make the name up. It’s the name of the book that the screenplay was adapted from.

[Kawika]

This pretty much is going to be a must-see for me. I like a good period piece. And how many movies about vintage baseball are there? Not too many. I have a bad feeling though by the looks of the trailer that they are going to give Berg the Hollywood makeover and get a ton of things wrong. Right off the bat I don't think Berg was much of a ladies man. After reading the book you get the impression that he radiated a certain weirdness but he was comfortably ensconced inside the bell curve in the trailer. Looks like they're wearing double-knits instead of baggy flannels too.

[pclpads]

It's been noted that Moe spoke seven languages, but couldn't hit in any of them.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Many years ago, I always made it a point to ask Berg's living teammates about him when visiting with them or sending out autograph requests. Nearly every player would be inspired to reply with their take on him. From my recollection, the author of the biography claimed that most of Berg's baseball colleagues were too bumpkin/jock to understand or accept him. The replies I received from those who actually knew Berg and roomed with him painted a different picture. They might not have understood the man, but were definitely in absolute awe of him!

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by BillyCox3

Many years ago, I always made it a point to ask Berg's living teammates about him when visiting with them or sending out autograph requests. Nearly every player would be inspired to reply with their take on him. From my recollection, the author of the biography claimed that most of Berg's baseball colleagues were too bumpkin/jock to understand or accept him. The replies I received from those who actually knew Berg and roomed with him painted a different picture. They might not have understood the man, but were definitely in absolute awe of him!

Odd, my first exposure to Berg was an old paper back biography called "Athlete, Scholar, Spy" and it talked about how he was almost universally admired by his peers, especially Ruth. This had a lot to do with why such a mediocre player was invited on All-Star tours of Japan in the first place.

[ullmandds]

I read that book...the catcher was a spy...I really enjoyed it and I look forward to the movie!

[Donscards]

When does the movie open---Great Cast--cant wait.

[KMayUSA6060]

The irony in this movie is, although tons of people who are going to see this movie don't know who Berg is, the majority have seen his work come to fruition. If you've seen Pearl Harbor, you've seen the byproduct product of one of Berg's missions.

He traveled with the MLB All Stars on their barnstorming tour in Japan. Lots of eyebrows were raised when they found out Berg, a catcher with very limited abilities on the field, was traveling with the greats of his era. He ended up slipping away and photographing Tokyo from the top of a tall building. The photos he took would later be used by Lt. Doolittle in the Doolittle Raid, the bombing response to Pearl Harbor by the US on Tokyo.

His biggest mission, or at least another major mission of his is I believe what this movie documents.

GREAT cast. Big fan of Paul Rudd, although I'm interested to see him in a serious role as most of his roles in the past have had a sarcastic humor to them (FRIENDS, Ant Man, etc.).

[packs]

I'm looking forward to this one. There are a million independent theaters in NYC so I'm sure I'll have no shortage of opportunities. Curious to see if it gets a wide release.

[Exhibitman]

Looks like fun!

[Hankphenom]

Aviva Kempner, who made the wonderful documentary "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg," is working on a new one about Moe Berg. I was on a panel with her Sunday and saw a good chunk of her work, and it looks terrific, including a lot of really great footage of Berg and other baseball luminaries on the Japanese tour and elsewhere.

[G1911]

Awesome! The book is one of my favorite baseball reads

[AGuinness]

I enjoyed the book and will definitely check out the movie.
Picked this up after reading the book...

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[frankbmd]

One mo' Berg

[joshuanip]

Cool topical podcast on moe

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/...=1000347711326

[Jason19th]

If you give the book a close read it seems like there are a lot of questions as to what Berg really did and what the folklore is. For example there is a story that he basically picked up a few books on the boat ride to Japan and managed to be conversational by the time the boat docked. The book however suggests that in reality Berg could only say a few common phrases in Japanese. The book also hints towards some possible mental health issues that Moe may have had. I wonder to what extent the movie will deal with the less heroic possibilities

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by Jason19th

If you give the book a close read it seems like there are a lot of questions as to what Berg really did and what the folklore is. For example there is a story that he basically picked up a few books on the boat ride to Japan and managed to be conversational by the time the boat docked. The book however suggests that in reality Berg could only say a few common phrases in Japanese. The book also hints towards some possible mental health issues that Moe may have had. I wonder to what extent the movie will deal with the less heroic possibilities

Yes, you said it. I read the book a couple of months ago and it painted a picture of a (very?) intelligent guy, but most, if not all, of the spy stuff seemed anecdotal at best. Over and over again the author asserted that no one really knew what he was up to at any given time, so I came to the conclusion that his spycraft was possibly more incidental than anything else. Perhaps I am 'misremembering,' but when he made films of Tokyo during the baseball tour there, for instance, he wasn't sent to do that, right? Wasn't it years later, after Pearl Harbor, when he said something to the effect of, "Wait, I have some films from years ago showing the landscape of Tokyo that our guys might be able to use."???

[conor912]

Originally Posted by Jason19th

If you give the book a close read it seems like there are a lot of questions as to what Berg really did and what the folklore is. For example there is a story that he basically picked up a few books on the boat ride to Japan and managed to be conversational by the time the boat docked. The book however suggests that in reality Berg could only say a few common phrases in Japanese. The book also hints towards some possible mental health issues that Moe may have had. I wonder to what extent the movie will deal with the less heroic possibilities

Agreed. Never underestimate the powerful ambiguity of the term "based on a true story". People hear that and cling on to it, which is why history remembers a lot of things in a skewed way thanks to Hollywood.