Content area
Full Text
Wedged between Lou Berberet and Augie Bergamo in the Baseball Encyclopedia is the most unusual man ever to play major league baseball.
That Morris (Moe) Berg lasted as long as he did - 662 games over 15 seasons, the last 14 of which were continuous - is a fairly amazing story in itself, given that he spent his final 10 years as a third-string catcher who never participated in more than 75 games in a season. But there have been other seldom-used backup catchers of perceived value.
"Unusual" does not really begin to describe Moe Berg. For if he were merely unusual, or eccentric, there would be a few reference points. Not many, perhaps, but at least a few. No, this is a man unique in major-league baseball annals. This is a substitute player whose astonishing life has been the subject of two biographies, the latest of which, "The Catcher Was A Spy" (Pantheon Books), is so enthralling that I defy you to put it down once...