Yes, it's that time again: Pretend we're in the future, explaining to our then grown children about what is now the recent but by then will be the distant past. Dizzying, no? Don't worry, it'll all make sense in a sec.

You see mythical older son/daughter, back when we were kids there was this thing called the Cold War. There was the Democratic, free US of A and the oppressive, Communist USSR. And make no mistake, those Commies were evil. EVIL. How evil? In 1984, there was a controversy when singer/songwriter Sting wrote that people in the USSR loved their children! And that was when relations were actually fairly friendly.

Back in the 50s, though, those dirty Reds most certainly did not love their children, and so they had to be watched at all times to protect the good, freedom loving folks, from their nefarious ways. How was this accomplished? Spies.

Anyone could be a spy. Your neighbor. Your boss. Your local professional baseball player... Yup, backup catcher Moe Berg was also secretly a US spy, doing most of his work during World War II, though he later stuck his nose in on the Soviets in the early Red Scare days.

Of course, Berg wasn't a very good spy. Then again he wasn't a very good ballplayer either. But it's such a unique, odd story that everyone remembers him anyway.

So there's a lesson for you mythical, older, inquisitive child: you don't have to be good at your job, so long as you're somewhat intriguing!

Now what were we talking about again...