Moe was born Miroslav Drabowski in Ozanna, a village in southern Poland, located near Leżajsk, and was Jewish. His Jewish mother was an American citizen, and the two fled to the U.S. in 1938 when Adolf Hitler began mobilizing in Eastern Europe. His father joined them a year later, and the family settled in Wilson, Connecticut, a village in the town of Windsor, Connecticut, just north of Hartford.\n', '

Drabowsky went to the Loomis Prep School, now Loomis Chaffee School, in Windsor where he was 8-0 with a no-hitter his senior year, and later attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, playing on their varsity baseball team. He played summers in Canada, in the Halifax and District League, for Truro. He pitched a no-hitter for Trinity in which he struck out 16, and shortly thereafter accepted a $75,000 ($691,000 today) bonus to sign with the Cubs.\n', '

Drabowsky was scouted for the Chicago Cubs by former Cubs shortstop Lenny Merullo in 1956. He made his major league debut that season, having just turned 21 years of age. He joined the Cubs\' starting rotation in 1957 and posted a 13–15 record. His 170 strikeouts placed him second in the National League behind another rookie, Jack Sanford of the Philadelphia Phillies, who had 188. His 33 games started were 4th in the league, his 239​2⁄3 innings pitched were 6th in the league, and his 12 complete games were 8th in the league.\n', '

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