Al Stump
Encyclopedia
Al Stump was an American author
and Sports writer
. Stump spent a great deal of time with Ty Cobb
before Cobb's death. Stump wrote one book with Cobb, one book on Cobb and a handful of magazine articles about the time the two men spent together. The books are titled My Life in Baseball: The True Record and Cobb: A Biography.
My Life in Baseball was ghostwritten by Stump. Cobb: A Biography was a follow up piece written after Cobb died. It was a reflection by Stump on his time with Cobb.
The Stump autobiography came out a few months after Cobb's death. Thirty years later, Stump wrote his own biography of Cobb.
During a visit to the Cobb family mausoleum in December 1960, Stump alleged that Cobb told him about the murder of his father, and pointed the finger at his mother. But at the time of the film
, Stump claimed that another man was responsible.
The Stump autobiography came out a few months after Cobb's death. The autobiography (My Life in Baseball by Ty Cobb) painted Ty in a sympathetic light. Thirty years later, however, Stump published a new book (Cobb: A Biography), which offered a very negative and unsympathic portrait of Cobb. In 1994 the writing of the book was used as the basis for a film
starring Tommy Lee Jones
as Cobb and Robert Wuhl
as Stump.
, accused Al Stump of extensive forgeries of Cobb-related documents and diaries and even of having falsely claimed to possess a shotgun used by Cobb's mother to kill his father (in a well-known incident officially ascribed to her having mistaken him for an intruder). The shotgun later came into the hands of noted memorabilia collector Barry Halper
, but in reality Cobb's father had been killed by a pistol. The article further accused Stump of numerous false statements about Cobb in his last years, most of which were sensationalistic in nature and intended to cast Cobb in an unflattering light.
American literature
American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
and Sports writer
Sports journalism
Sports journalism is a form of journalism that reports on sports topics and events.While the sports department within some newspapers has been mockingly called the toy department, because sports journalists do not concern themselves with the 'serious' topics covered by the news desk, sports...
. Stump spent a great deal of time with Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...
before Cobb's death. Stump wrote one book with Cobb, one book on Cobb and a handful of magazine articles about the time the two men spent together. The books are titled My Life in Baseball: The True Record and Cobb: A Biography.
My Life in Baseball was ghostwritten by Stump. Cobb: A Biography was a follow up piece written after Cobb died. It was a reflection by Stump on his time with Cobb.
The Stump autobiography came out a few months after Cobb's death. Thirty years later, Stump wrote his own biography of Cobb.
Work with Cobb
Stump said afterward that he found Cobb rather difficult to work with most of the time. Long after the publication of the book, he claimed that Cobb's editorial control over the autobiography resulted in the book not telling the truth about Cobb as Stump saw it.During a visit to the Cobb family mausoleum in December 1960, Stump alleged that Cobb told him about the murder of his father, and pointed the finger at his mother. But at the time of the film
Cobb (film)
Cobb is a 1994 biopic starring Tommy Lee Jones as the famed baseball player Ty Cobb. It was written and directed by Ron Shelton and was based on a book by Al Stump...
, Stump claimed that another man was responsible.
The Stump autobiography came out a few months after Cobb's death. The autobiography (My Life in Baseball by Ty Cobb) painted Ty in a sympathetic light. Thirty years later, however, Stump published a new book (Cobb: A Biography), which offered a very negative and unsympathic portrait of Cobb. In 1994 the writing of the book was used as the basis for a film
Cobb (film)
Cobb is a 1994 biopic starring Tommy Lee Jones as the famed baseball player Ty Cobb. It was written and directed by Ron Shelton and was based on a book by Al Stump...
starring Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
as Cobb and Robert Wuhl
Robert Wuhl
-Early life:Wuhl was born in Union, New Jersey to a Jewish family, including a father who worked as a produce distributor. After attending Union High School, Wuhl headed to the University of Houston, where he was active in the drama department and the Epsilon-Omicron Chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon...
as Stump.
Accusations of Forgery
In 2010, an article by William R. "Ron" Cobb (no relation to Ty) in The National Pastime, official publication of the Society for American Baseball ResearchSociety for American Baseball Research
The Society for American Baseball Research was established in Cooperstown, New York, in August 1971 by Bob Davids of Washington, D.C. The Society's mission is to foster the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball, while generating interest in the game...
, accused Al Stump of extensive forgeries of Cobb-related documents and diaries and even of having falsely claimed to possess a shotgun used by Cobb's mother to kill his father (in a well-known incident officially ascribed to her having mistaken him for an intruder). The shotgun later came into the hands of noted memorabilia collector Barry Halper
Barry Halper
Barry Halper was an extensive collector of baseball memorabilia who had been a limited partner owning about 1% of the New York Yankees...
, but in reality Cobb's father had been killed by a pistol. The article further accused Stump of numerous false statements about Cobb in his last years, most of which were sensationalistic in nature and intended to cast Cobb in an unflattering light.
Articles and books by Stump
- Al Stump, Cobb: A Biography (Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin, 1994).