The Catcher Was a Spy

During the US/Japan All-star Game, Berg introduces himself to Japanese dignitaries in a humorous way and (in Japanese) starts by saying he can't speak Japanese. The movie does not tell us, but this was Moe Berg's second trip to Japan. In 1932, he and a couple other American players were recruited to come teach American-style baseball to the Japanese. Berg, who had a gift for languages, taught himself passable Japanese on the ship while on the way over. Early in the cruise, one of his fellow players asked if he could speak Japanese and Berg said "No". Once they got to Japan, they were astounded to find him speaking the language. One of them said "I thought you couldn't speak Japanese?" He replied, "That was two weeks ago."

The Roman numerals for the newsreel of the All-Americans trip to Japan read 1944; the correct year was 1934.

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