Espionage and curveballs: 鈥楾he Spy Behind Home Plate鈥� has both
Morris 鈥淢oe鈥� Burg lived an almost unbelievable life as a polyglot spy and pro baseball player. 鈥楾he Spy Behind Home Plate鈥� tells his story perfectly.
Morris 鈥淢oe鈥� Burg lived an almost unbelievable life as a polyglot spy and pro baseball player. 鈥楾he Spy Behind Home Plate鈥� tells his story perfectly.
He was known as 鈥渢he brainiest man in baseball,鈥� but it was his exploits off the playing field that account for his one-of-a-kind life story. Morris 鈥淢oe鈥� Berg, the subject of the creditable Aviva Kempner documentary 鈥淭he Spy Behind Home Plate,鈥� was a standout ballplayer at Princeton, going on to play in the big leagues for 15 years.
Somewhere in there he also found time to attend Columbia Law School and become fluent in at least 10 languages, including Sanskrit. Here鈥檚 the most amazing part: During World War II and the lead-up to it, he was a spy for the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA. (His anti-Nazi spy-mastering overseas was particularly fraught, as he was Jewish.)聽
If this sounds familiar, it鈥檚 probably because it was also the basis for last year鈥檚 bland biopic 鈥淭he Catcher Was a Spy,鈥� starring Paul Rudd. Seeing the story played out with reams of interviews and archival footage is so much better. It makes the unbelievable believable. Grade: B+ (Unrated.)