Ty Cobb

Ty Cobb's last lonely, bitter years are the subject of the dark 1995 film Cobb. Cobb is less a traditional baseball movie than a compelling character study of a man who happened to be both the greatest baseball player in history and a monster of epic proportions. Its story describes the experiences of young Al Stump (portrayed by Robert Wuhl), a writer hired by Cobb to put his autobiography onto paper. Expecting to encounter a great old ballplayer when he arrives at Cobb's Nevada home, Stump finds a angry alcoholic with a dangerous penchant for shooting the pistol ever at his side whenever he gets upset. On a long drive from Nevada to Cooperstown, Stump confronts the man and the legend, and must decide how he will eventually tell Cobb's story—the sugar-coated success story or the ugly truth. The film was directed and written by Ron Shelton, who had earlier made another excellent baseball movie, Bull Durham. Tommy Lee Jones as Cobb gives the performance of his career, which left many reviewers wondering how he could have been passed over for an Oscar nomination.