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1. In 1941, Edward Weeks—editor of @TheAtlantic—sent a letter to Moe Berg, a catcher working for @RedSox as a coach, asking him to write an essay on what it takes "to be better than average.”
@TheAtlantic @RedSox 2. Berg—whose remarkable like is chronicled in Aviva Kempner’s “The Spy Behind Home Plate”—was not your run-of-the-mill major league veteran. He had degrees from Princeton and Columbia Law; he worked for the OSS in WWII.
3. What he turned in was more than Weeks had contemplated—an essay on the intricate relationship between pitchers and catchers. He cites Montaigne comparing Socrates and Alexander to explain how Lefty Grove’s pitching evolved as he lost some speed but gained cunning.
4. Here, for your reading pleasure, is Moe Berg’s 1941 gem, “Pitchers and Catchers,” as first published in @TheAtlantic. It’s remarkable how well it holds up as an account of the American game. theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
