The Catcher Was a Spy Page #2

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[audience cheering]

[speaking in foreign language]

[audience cheering]

[speaking in foreign language]

[music continues]

[speaking in foreign language]

[music continues]

[speaking in foreign language]

[laughing]

Jesus Christ.

He know their languages.

That makes 12.

Welcome to Japan, Mr. Berg.

I'm sure you're going

to enjoy it here.

My name is Isao Kawabata.

It's such a pleasure

to meet you.

The pleasure is mutual.

[singing in foreign language]

Move it, move it!

[speaking in foreign language]

[audience cheering]

Don't they know

he only batted 235?

Right.

- Oh!

- Oh!

[audience applauding]

[bells tolling]

[ducks quacking]

Please, tell me

all about baseball.

It looked like

such as interesting game.

You don't know anything?

Nothing.

Well, baseball's a game

where people fail

a lot more often

than they succeed.

Sounds very much like life.

[laughs]

Yes, it does.

So, what do you do?

I am a professor of history.

Now that sounds interesting.

So why would a professor

who doesn't know anything

about baseball be at a game?

Maybe you don't fully

understand, Mr. Berg.

This visit is very important.

It goes beyond sport.

Our cultures are very different,

and growing further apart.

If we don't stop to learn

about one another, then..

Then what?

There'll be no more games.

[instrumental music]

You're happy here?

I am.

Why?

When I was growing up

my first baseball team

was a church team.

But I'm a Jew.

Now, I was never

a practicing Jew

but I was different

than the other boys.

I never even told them

my real name.

I tried to blend in.

I wanted to hide.

And it worked.

Do you like to hide, Mr. Berg?

I do.

[chuckles]

I don't fit.

Even now, I have no real home,

I have no wife.

Do you have a wife, Isao?

I do.

And six children.

She's very fertile.

I like to hide too.

[instrumental music]

[sighs]

Now, can I ask you

an important question?

Yes.

You're a professor of history.

Will there be a war

between our two countries?

[music continues]

Yes.

It has been progressing

step-by-step.

It is quite inevitable.

Everything will change.

And we'll all play our part.

I also think

after this visit..

...we will never

see each other again.

I hope you're wrong.

As do I.

[music continues]

[music continues]

[whirring]

The attack yesterday

on the Hawaiian Islands

has caused severe damage

to American naval

and military forces.

I regret to tell you

that very many American lives

have been lost.

[singing in foreign language]

[indistinct chatter]

[singing continues]

Hello, Jerry.

Moe, nice to see you.

Been a long time.

I was hoping you'd be here.

Oh, yeah? Why?

I understand you're working

in Washington.

Where'd you hear that?

One of the guys.

I can't remember who.

- State Department?

- Uh, yeah, sort of.

How'd you come to get the job?

There's room for people

with languages.

That's what I figured.

[speaking in foreign language]

- How are your knees?

- What do you mean?

I figure a professional

ballplayer's getting 4F.

Bad hinges.

My knees are as passable

as my Italian.

Have you heard

of Bill Donovan?

Yeah, sure. Yale, football.

Medal of Honor, 1918.

He's my boss.

We're setting up a small adjunct

to the State Department.

Here's the number.

- Give this man a call.

- Thanks.

First time I've seen you

at one of these things.

Well, first time

I've come to one.

Gentlemen, may I have

your attention please?

We are at war.

In light of what lies

before us

the challenges, the sacrifices

the losses.

I ask you,

gentlemen of Princeton

to join us in the singing of the

"Battle Hymn Of The Republic."

[choir humming]

Mine eyes have seen the glory

of the coming of the Lord..

Sorry for the song choice.

What?

Where the grapes

of wrath are stored

He hath loosed..

At least it's not

"Onward, Christian Soldiers."

Terrible swift sword..

That would have been fine too.

Marching on

Glory glory hallelujah

Glory glory

Hallelujah

Glory glory hallelujah

His truth is marching on

I have seen Him

in the watch-fires

Of a hundred

circling camps

They have builded Him

an altar

In the evening

dews and damps

I can read

his righteous sentence

By the dim

and flaring lamps

His day is marching on

[projector whirring]

Thank you, gentlemen.

[indistinct chatter]

Interesting film

you brought back, Mr. Berg.

What made you make it?

I happened to be in Japan.

A lot of people

happen to be in Japan.

Not all of them go to the top

of a building in Tokyo

and make home movies of the

harbor and naval shipyards.

I had the opportunity.

It seemed the sensible

thing to do.

How did you know then that

we would be at war with Japan?

"The Journal

Of Oriental Society"

was filled with articles

about going to war with Japan.

You read the "JOS?"

Ah, uh, well, that wasn't

apparent from what I just said?

Yes, yes, I suppose it was.

But no one in the government

or the army

asked you

to make the film?

No.

You did it

as a private citizen?

Yes.

[chuckles]

You're an unusual man,

Mr. Berg.

Yes, so I'm told.

Have a seat.

Not married, no children.

Odd for a man your age, no?

Never occurred to me.

May I ask you

a very personal question?

You may.

Are you queer?

I'm good at keeping secrets.

You're also good

at some other things.

You speak

seven languages fluently

another three or four

to a lesser degree.

In addition,

you're an athlete,

which means you're more than up

to the physical requirements

of the job.

What job?

Any job we might care

to give you

in the event that we

bring you into the fold.

Moe, Jerry Fredericks

speaks very highly of you.

We're looking for people

who can keep secrets

but not from us.

We're fighting a war here.

It's very serious business.

Now, personally,

I don't care who a man fucks

as long as he can help us

win this war.

If it comes down to it

I'm willing to die

for my country.

They say that patriotism

is the last refuge

of a scoundrel.

It isn't they.

It's Samuel Johnson.

And it's not the last,

it's the first.

Welcome to the OSS, Mr. Berg.

There were many new developments

today at home and abroad.

The headlines, Germans claim

victory in the Crimea.

The Russians report gains

around Moscow and Leningrad.

President Roosevelt signs

the Neutrality Law.

And then captive coal mine

strike ties up production.

And Congress prepares

anti-strike legislation.

And in France,

the Germans advanced

along the Saint-Michel salient

taking in the town

of Saint Ramelle and Toulon.

On the southern front

allied advances

continued in Sicily.

Great report on

the Serbian border unit.

Thank you.

[sighs]

I'm going crazy.

I am not made

for desk work, alright?

You got to get me

out onto the field.

- You're useful here.

- Well, I hate it, alright?

I'm used to being

on a ball field all day.

If I stay cooped up in here,

I'm going to kill somebody.

Maybe myself.

[instrumental music]

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