From MLB career spanning 16 years to US WWII spy: Story of Moe Berg's covert mission to stop Nazi's nuclear ambitions

The history of MLB is filled with some wild stories and true heroes, and Moe Berg is arguable chief among them. He played in the major leagues for 16 years, making stops at some of the league's most historic teams. He was scouted for the major leagues out of college, then attended Columbia Law Schoo; during his playing career, as one does.

Berg also spent an extensive amount of time in Japan, touring with a baseball team to help grow the sport. With him was Ted Williams, another player known for his baseball and military careers. When World War II began, Berg retired from the Boston Red Sox to work for an anti-propaganda unit in the Office of Inter-American Affairs. His immense knowledge of languages made him a natural fit.

Smithsonian Magazine covered Moe Berg's incredible life story in this article shared to Twitter.

"During World War II, the OSS sent Moe Berg to Europe, where he gathered intel on Germany’s efforts to build an atomic bomb" - Smithsonian Magazine

This included a radio transmission directly to Japan, trying to convince them they were on the wrong side. He was then recruited to the OSS, a precursor to the CIA in 1943 and assigned to help with the Manhatten Project. This project eventually led to the invention of the atomic bomb. Using this information, he was then sent to find intelligence about Germany's nuclear progam.

In this role, Berg was sent to attend a lecture being given by German nuclear physicist Werner Heisenberg. If Heisenberg were to make any mention of working on a German atomic bomb, Moe Berg's orders were to immediately eliminate him. Even if it cost him his life. Just a few years before this, he was focused on getting hits for the Boston Red Sox.

Moe Berg is one of the most interesting baseball players to ever live, and his story deserves more recognition.

Why is Moe Berg's story not as well known as compatriots like Ted Williams?

Berg's story has everything, from baseball to literal nuclear espionage. He played for the Chicago White Sox, Washington Nationals, Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox. However, he was not nearly as good a baseball player as Ted Williams, whose story seems to have outshone Berg's.

His story has been told well in the past, like in this documentary from ESPN.

Berg's contributions to American sports and the war effort make him a once in a lifetime kind of human.