Portal:Baseball/Selected biography/Week 10, 2007

Morris "Moe" Berg (March 2, 1902 – May 29, 1972) was an American Major League Baseball catcher who also served briefly as a spy for the United States. His is said to be the only baseball card on display at the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Berg spoke several languages and was sometimes called "the brainiest guy in baseball" by admiring newspaper sportswriters, who featured him in their columns far more than was called for by his sports prowess. His reputation was fueled when he did very well as a guest on the radio quiz show Information, Please! in 1938. Berg answered questions about the derivation of words and names from Greek and Latin, historical events in Europe and the Far East, and ongoing international conferences. Casey Stengel once described Berg as "the strangest man ever to play baseball." (...more) - Archive - Nominations -