Moe Berg

: For the Canadian singer/songwriter Moe Berg, please see Moe Berg (musician).

Major league career

Early years

Bergs first game with the Robins came the very next day against the Philadelphia Phillies at the Baker Bowl. Berg came in at the start of the seventh inning, replacing Dutch Ruether, when the Robins were winning 13-4. Berg handled five chances without an errors and caught a line drive to start a game-ending double play. He ended up going 1-1, getting a single up the middle off of Clarence Mitchell, and scoring a run. For the season, Berg batted .186 and made 22 errors in 47 games.

Related Topics:
Philadelphia Phillies - Baker Bowl - Dutch Ruether - Errors - Double play - Clarence Mitchell

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After the season ended, Berg took his first trip abroad, sailing from New York to Paris. He settled in the Latin Quarter in an apartment that overlooked the Sorbonne, where he enrolled in 22 different classes. It was in Paris that he developed a habit he would keep for the rest of his life: reading multiple newspapers, as many as 10 a day. Until Berg finished reading a paper, he considered it "alive" and refused to let anyone else touch it. When he was finished with it, he would consider the paper "dead" and anybody could read it. In January 1924, instead of heading back to New York and getting himself into shape for the upcoming baseball season, Berg toured Italy and Switzerland.

Related Topics:
Paris - Latin Quarter - Sorbonne - 1924 - Italy - Switzerland

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During spring training at the Robins facility in Clearwater, Florida, Manager Wilbert Robinson could see that Berg's hitting had not improved, and optioned him to the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association. Berg did not take the demotion well and threatened to quit baseball, but by mid-April he reported to the Millers. Berg did very well once he became the Millers regular third baseman, hitting close to .330, but in July his average plummeted and he was back on the bench. On August 19, 1924 Berg was loaned to the Toledo Mud Hens, a poor team ravaged by injuries. Berg was immediately inserted into the lineup at shortstop when Rabbit Helgeth refused to pay a $10 fine for poor play and was suspended. Major league scout Mike Gonzalez sent a telegram to the Dodgers evaluating Berg with the curt, but now famous, line, "Good field, no hit." Berg finished the season with a .264 average.

Related Topics:
Spring training - Clearwater, Florida - Wilbert Robinson - Minneapolis Millers - American Association - August 19 - Toledo Mud Hens - Rabbit Helgeth - Mike Gonzalez

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By April 1925 he was starting to show promise as a hitter with the Reading Keystones of the International League. Because of his .311 batting average and 124 RBIs, the White Sox exercised their option they had with Reading, paying $6,000 for him, and moved Berg up to the big leagues the following year.

Related Topics:
1925 - Reading Keystones - International League - RBI - White Sox

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Back to the big leagues - as a catcher

The 1926 season began with Berg informing the White Sox that he would skip spring training and the first two months of the season to complete his first year of law school at Columbia University, and Berg did not join the White Sox until May 28. Bill Hunnefieeld was signed by the White Sox to take Berg's place at shortstop, and was having a very good year, batting over .300. Playing in only 41 games, Berg batted a lowly .221.

Related Topics:
1926 - Columbia University - May 28 - Bill Hunnefieeld

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Berg return to Columbia after the season to continue working on his law degree. Despite Charles Comiskey offering him more money to come to spring training, Berg declined, and informed the White Sox that he would be reporting late for the 1927 season. Noel Dowling, a professor to whom Berg explained his situation, told Berg to take extra classes in the fall, and said that he would arrange with the dean a leave of absence from law school the following year, 1928.

Related Topics:
Charles Comiskey - 1927 - Noel Dowling - 1928

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Because he reported late, Berg spent the first three months of the season on the bench. In August a series of injuries to catchers Ray Schalk, Harry McCurdy and Buck Crouse, left the White Sox in need of somebody to catch. Schalk, the White Sox player/manager, selected Berg, who did a fine job filling in. Schalk arranged for former Philadelphia Phillies catcher Frank Bruggy to meet the team at their next game, against the New York Yankees. Bruggy was so fat that pitcher Ted Lyons refused to pitch to him. When Schalk asked him who he wanted to catch, Lyons selected Berg.

Related Topics:
Ray Schalk - Harry McCurdy - Buck Crouse - Philadelphia Phillies - Frank Bruggy - New York Yankees - Ted Lyons

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In Berg's debut as a starting catcher, he not only had to worry about catching Lyons's knuckleball, but also about facing the Yankees' Murderers' Row lineup. Led by Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Earle Combs, the 1927 Yankees, lost only 44 games. One of them came that day, as Lyons beat the Yankees 6-3, holding Ruth hitless. Berg made the defensive play of the game when he caught a poor throw from the outfield, spun and tagged out Joe Dugan at the plate. Berg ended up catching eight more times during the final month and a half of the season.

Related Topics:
Knuckleball - Murderers' Row - Babe Ruth - Lou Gehrig - Earle Combs - 1927 - Joe Dugan

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To prepare for the 1928 season, Berg traveled to a lumber camp in New York's Adirondack Mountains three weeks prior to reporting to the White Sox spring training facility in Shreveport, Louisiana. The hard labor did wonders for him, as he reported to spring training on March 2, 1928 in excellent shape. By the end of the season, Berg had established himself as the starting catcher.

Related Topics:
1928 - Adirondack Mountains - Shreveport, Louisiana - March 2

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At law school, Berg failed Evidence and did not graduate with the Class of 1929, but he did pass the New York State bar exam. Berg repeated Evidence the following year and on February 26, 1930 he received his LL.B.. On April 6, 1930, during an exhibition game against the Little Rock Travelers, Berg's spikes caught in the soil as he tried to change directions, and he tore a knee ligament.

Related Topics:
1929 - Bar exam - February 26 - 1930 - LL.B. - April 6 - 1930 - Little Rock Travelers

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Berg was back in the starting lineup on May 23, 1930, but his knee would not allow him to play every day. He ended up getting into only 20 games the whole season and finished with a .115 batting average. During the winter he took a job with the respected Wall Street law firm, Satterlee and Canfield (now Satterlee, Stephens, Burke & Burke). The Cleveland Indians picked up Berg on April 2, 1931 when Chicago put him on waivers, but he only played in 10 games, and had 13 at bats and only 1 hit for the entire season.

Related Topics:
May 23 - Wall Street - Cleveland Indians - April 2 - 1931

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The Indians gave Berg his unconditional release in January 1932, but with catchers hard to come by, Clark Griffith, owner of the Washington Senators, invited him to spring training in Biloxi, Mississippi. When told that Berg spoke seven languages, Senators' outfielder Dave Harris replied, "Yeah. I know, and he can't hit in any of them." Berg made the team, and ended up playing in 75 games and making no errors. When starting catcher Roy Spencer went down with an injury, Berg stepped in, throwing out 35 base runners, while batting .236.

Related Topics:
1932 - Clark Griffith - Washington Senators - Biloxi, Mississippi - Dave Harris - Roy Spencer

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First trip to Japan

Herb Hunter arranged for three players, Berg, Lefty O'Doul, and Ted Lyons, to go to Japan to teach baseball seminars at Japanese universities during the Winter of 1932. On October 22, 1932, the group of three players began their circuit of Meiji, Waseda, Rikkyo, Teidai (Tokyo Imperial), Hosei, and Keio universities, the members of the Tokyo Big Six University League. When the other Americans returned to the United States after their coaching assignments were over, Berg stayed behind to explore Japan. He went on to tour Manchuria, Shanghai, Peking, Indochina, Siam, India, Egypt and Berlin.

Related Topics:
Herb Hunter - Lefty O'Doul - Ted Lyons - Japan - October 22 - Meiji - Waseda - Rikkyo - Teidai (Tokyo Imperial) - Hosei - Keio - United States - Manchuria - Shanghai - Peking - Indochina - Siam - India - Egypt - Berlin

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Despite his desire to go back to Japan, Berg reported to the Senators training camp on February 26, 1933 in Biloxi, Mississippi. He played in 40 games during the season, and only batted .185. The Senators won the pennant, but lost to the Giants in World Series. Cliff Bolton, the Senators starting catcher in 1933 demanded more money in 1934. When the Senators refused to pay him more, he sat out and Berg got the starting job. On April 22, 1934, Berg made an error, his first fielding mistake since 1932 - an American League record of 117 consecutive errorless games. On July 25, the Senators gave Berg his unconditional release. He soon returned to the big leagues, however, after Cleveland Indians catcher Glenn Mayatt broke his ankle on August 1. Indians manager Walter Johnson, who had managed Berg in 1932, offered Berg the reserve catching job. Berg played sporadically until Frankie Pytlak, Cleveland's starting catcher, injured himself, and Berg became the starting catcher.

Related Topics:
February 26 - 1933 - Biloxi, Mississippi - World Series - Cliff Bolton - 1934 - April 22 - July 25 - Cleveland Indians - Glenn Mayatt - Walter Johnson - Frankie Pytlak

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Second trip to Japan

Herb Hunter arranged for a group of All-Stars, including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Earl Averill, Charlie Gehringer, Jimmie Foxx and Lefty Gomez, to tour Japan playing exhibitions against a Japanese all-star team. Despite the fact that Berg was a mediocre, third-string catcher, he was invited at the last minute to make the trip. Among the items Berg took with him to Japan were a 16-mm Bell and Howell movie camera and a letter from MovietoneNews, a New York City newsreel production company that Berg had contracted to film the sights of his trip. When the team arrived in Japan, he gave a welcome speech in Japanese and also addressed the legislature.

Related Topics:
Herb Hunter - Babe Ruth - Lou Gehrig - Earl Averill - Charlie Gehringer - Jimmie Foxx - Lefty Gomez - 16-mm - Bell and Howell - MovietoneNews

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On November 29, 1934, while the rest of the team was playing in Omiya, Berg went to Saint Luke's Hospital in Tsukiji, ostensibly to visit the daughter of American ambassador Joseph Grew. Instead, Berg snuck onto the roof of the hospital, one of the tallest buildings in Tokyo, and filmed the city and harbor with his movie camera. He never did see the ambassador's daughter. Back at home, the Indians gave him his unconditional release. Berg continued on to the Philippines, Korea and Moscow.

Related Topics:
November 29 - Omiya - Tsukiji - Philippines - Korea - Moscow

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Later Career

After his return to America, Berg was picked up by the Boston Red Sox. In his five seasons with the Red Sox, Berg averaged less than 30 games a season. After retiring as a player, Berg spent one year as the bullpen coach for the Red Sox in 1940.

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On February 21, 1939, Berg made his first of three appearances on the radio quiz show, Information, Please!. After missing the first question, Berg put on a dazzling performance. Of his appearance, Kenesaw Mountain Landis told him, "Berg, in just thirty minutes you did more for baseball than I've done the entire time I've been commissioner." On his third appearance, Clifton Fadiman, the moderator, started asking Berg too many personal questions. Berg did not answer any more questions and never appeared on the show again. Regular show guest John Kiernan later said that "Moe wasted his time in baseball. He could have become a Supreme Court justice with that rare brain he possessed."

Related Topics:
February 21 - 1939 - Quiz show - Information, Please! - Kenesaw Mountain Landis - Clifton Fadiman - John Kiernan

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