A 1994 American biographical sports drama film written and directed by Ron Shelton that shows the partnership of Hall of Fame Major League Baseball player Ty Cobb (Tommy Lee Jones) and sportswriter Al Stump (Robert Wuhl) as they work together on Cobb's official autobiography in 1960.
The movie also stars Lolita Davidovich, Lou Myers, William Utay, J. Kenneth Campbell, Rhoda Griffis, Roger Clemens, Stephen Mendillo, Tommy Bush, Stacy Keach Sr., Crash Davis, and Bradley Whitford.
It was released on December 2, 1994.
Tropes for the film:
- Alliterative Name: Charlie Chaplin.
- Based on a Great Big Lie: The movie is about the last days of controversial baseball legend Ty Cobb. It's based on the account of sportswriter Al Stump, who ghostwrote Cobb's memoir and later wrote a magazine article about Cobb's final months. As a coup de grace, Stump wrote another, much, much less complimentary biography, titled, Cobb: The Life and Times of the Meanest Man Who Ever Played Baseball. In the years since, Stump's writing about Cobb has been debunked. While Cobb was not a nice person by any means, Stump describes events that never happened.
- Blood from the Mouth: After discovering Al Stump's stash of personal-draft for the book, stopping himself from capping him in his sleep and finally proceeding to shoot himself in the mouth, old age starts catching up with Ty as he runs off to cough a bunch up all over the bathroom sink. Unable to clean it up, he leaves Al a note there ("You lying son of a bitch") saying he'd gone off to the hospital.
- Brick Joke: When Stump first meets Cobb, the older man is talking to his stockbroker. Stump jokingly asks for a hot tip, to which Cobb replies "Buy Coke, we're gonna come out in cans." An incredulous Stump says that will never happen, but Cobb simply snarks that he wanted a tip, he got a tip. Toward the end of the film, Stump's narration mentions that Coke began being sold in cans just like Cobb said it would.
- The Cameo: Jimmy Buffett as the armless heckler who's beat up by Cobb.
- Character Title: Cobb.
- The Film of the Book: Based on Al Stump's Cobb: The Life and Times of the Meanest Man in Baseball.
- Ghostwriter: Al Stump is working as this for Cobb's autobiography.
- Historical Domain Character:
- Ty Cobb, Baseball center fielder.
- Al Stump, author and sports writer.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: A retroactive example. Based mainly on Stump's later books, Cobb gained a reputation as a violent man with a short temper, who abused his family and constantly espoused racist views. While he had always been a highly aggressive player, such accusations were almost entirely unfounded, as he maintained a good relationship with four of his five children. His views on race changed as he got older, when he spoke favorably of Blacks being treated as equals not only in the Major Leagues, but in all walks of life. During the early 2010s, it was discovered that many of the negative claims about Cobb were made up out of whole cloth by Al Stump after previous books about Cobb had failed to sell.
- I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: Jones and Davidovich previously worked together on JFK and The Big Town.
- Mononymous Biopic Title: Cobb.
- Newscaster Cameo: Then-Tigers broadcaster (and fellow Georgia native) Ernie Harwell appears as the MC at a Cooperstown awards banquet.
- One-Word Title: Cobb.
- Tagline: "Everyone hated this baseball legend. And he loved it".
