New Movie: The Catcher Was a Spy

[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.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Nobody's talking about the most mind boggling part of his story. He served as a spy in Germany prior to WWII, Aiding atomic scientists in escaping the Third Reich. Why is this the most incredible part of his story? Well, start with the fact that he was Jewish and also that he basically learned atomic physics specifically for this mission because he had to be able to make decisions in the field as to who was valuable. This was a linguist learning advanced physics in a matter of weeks!

[packs]

Isn't that what the movie is about?

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Seems like the thread was more focused on his surveillance work in Japan, which was cool, but a LOT less dangerous. Don't know what the focus of the movie will be.

[packs]

There is a trailer in the first post. The movie focuses on him determining if Germany has an atomic bomb or not.

[Buythatcard]

Originally Posted by Donscards

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

The movie will be released June 22, 2018.

[Jerry G]

Originally Posted by Buythatcard

The movie will be released June 22, 2018.

Thank you, Howard!

[CollectingAmericasPastime]

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.

[Bill Rayburn]

Actually just finished the book last night, was not aware of the upcoming movie until I saw this thread this morning. Looking forward to it. Berg was a very interesting guy.

[conor912]

Looks like they definitely took some liberties and added some Hollywood flare, but I'm excited nonetheless, particularly for the prewar Fenway scenes!