Mel Ostrov's Reviews > The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg

The Catcher Was a Spy
By
N. Dawidoff

This book, first published in 1994, is not just about a brilliant, secular Jewish baseball star who also went on to become a U.S. spy for the OSS during WW II. More so, it is an in-depth biography of a strange but lovable character who proves to be just one of a family with similar traits of eccentricity. Here are some examples: “The younger reporters, in turn, were baffled by Berg. They wondered what he did with his time, snickered that he was a ‘freeloader’ and behind his back referred to him as ‘the world’s greatest guest.’“ The Chicago baseball writer, Jerome Holtzman, said, “People used to call him Mysterious Moe… I told him after five years, Moe, the only mystery about you is that you don’t work, and nobody knows it.”
At the end of the story there is a trenchant analysis of Moe’s relationships with his siblings and his father, confirming how dysfunctional the family really was. Considering Moe’s exceptional talents, strange personality and ritualistic behavior, it makes you wonder if he may have had a mild form of Aspberger’s Syndrome.