Highlighted entries:
1989
Brewers centerfielder Robin Yount edges the Rangers Ruben Sierra to win his 2nd American League MVP Award. Yount, who won as a SS in 1982, hit .318 last season with 21 home runs and 103 RBI.
1934
Seventeen-year-old Eiji Sawamura gives up one hit, a home run to Lou Gehrig, as the touring American all-stars win in Japan 1–0. At one point Sawamura strikes out four in a row -- Charlie Gehringer, Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, and Gehrig. The all-stars easily win the other 15 games against high school and post-college players. College players in Japan are prohibited from playing against foreigners.
That is interesting. But, this is more interesting entry from 1934.
Catcher Moe Berg shoots movie film showing the roofs of Tokyo. The film will allegedly be used as a guide by U.S. bombers during WWII.
Berg was a backup catcher for many years in the 20's and 30's. He was also the subject of the book The Catcher Was a Spy. Here is part of an editorial review of the book from Amazon.com:
Baseball catcher, lawyer, and spy-Moe Berg was all of these, but first and foremost he was an enigma. All the ascertainable facts concerning Berg's life are presented here, including his 19 years as the most famous journeyman catcher in professional baseball; his stint at Columbia University and subsequent abortive legal career; his investigation of Germany's atomic bomb program for the Office of Strategic Services (a predecessor of the CIA) during World War II; and his postwar years, in which he lived off the kindness of friends.
Berg's wikipedia page is HERE. Fun facts from there:
On February 21, 1939, Berg made his first of three appearances on the radio quiz show, Information, Please!. After missing the first question, Berg put on a dazzling performance. Of his appearance, Kenesaw Mountain Landis told him, "Berg, in just thirty minutes you did more for baseball than I've done the entire time I've been commissioner." On his third appearance, Clifton Fadiman, the moderator, started asking Berg too many personal questions. Berg did not answer any more questions and never appeared on the show again.
and
On August 2, 1943, Berg accepted a position with the Office of Strategic Services for a salary of $3,800 a year. In September, he was assigned to the Secret Intelligence branch of the OSS and given a place at the OSS Balkans desk. In this role, he parachuted into Yugoslavia to evaluate the various resistance groups operating against the Nazis to determine which was the strongest.
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