Thirty-five years past the prime of his legendary career, Ty Cobb summons Al Stump, the most successful freelance sports journalist of his era, to help him write his autobiography. As they travel together to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Stump dodges Cobb's drunkenly aimed bullets and withering verbal assaults and learns more than he ever wanted to know about Cobb--not only of his greatness, but of his egomania, bigotry, rage and basic contempt for all of mankind. Disturbed by the contrast he discovers between Cobb's stunning achievements and his contemptible personality, Stump struggles to decide on the direction his book should take: Should he write the real story of the man or maintain the myth?