The story follows Stan Ross (Bernie Mac) who was a Milwaukee Brewersbaseball star with 3,000hits that earned him the nickname "Mr. 3000." However, years later, it was discovered that, due to a clerical error, he was three hits short, so Ross attempts to return to the game at the age of 47 to get three more hits and secure his place in the record books and keep his local marketing gimmick from being proven invalid.
After he recorded what had been believed to be his 3000th hit, Ross retired from Major League Baseball, which left the Brewers without one of their star players in the middle of the 1995 MLB playoffs. This, combined with years of hostility between Ross and the sports writers, created a tense environment for Ross' return in 2005. Ross struggles to regain his baseball form in the first few weeks of the season, despite his prior predictions to the contrary. Over time, he connects with two more hits, bringing his total to 2,999. In the process, Ross becomes a mentor to the younger players on the team, inspiring them to a late-season comeback. In the last at-bat of the last game of the season, Ross gives up his chance at hit number 3000 so that the team can finish 3rd in their division. Although Ross never got 3,000 hits, in the end, he is inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame.
Early advertising material said that Ross's total of 3,000 hits was a "record", in fact as seen above, one player (Clemente) had exactly 3,000 hits during his career and 25 players have a greater total. Later advertisements corrected this error. Every player since 1947 with 2,800 hits or more (or who should have reached that level but were prevented by career-ending injury or sudden death) is presently enshrined in the Hall of Fame, with the exception of current hit record-holder, Pete Rose, who was banned from baseball for life.
Most of the baseball game scenes were filmed at Miller Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Dane Cook made a slight cameo as the sausage mascot.
