The premise of this film is rather simple. Stan Ross (Bernie Mac) was a rather arrogant, obnoxious baseball player who left baseball as soon as he got his 3000th hit - leaving his Brewers teammates right in the middle of a clutch drive to the playoffs. Reporters and sports talking heads have no use for him at all (for good reason), but the fans still seem to like him. He does well for himself after baseball, opening up all sorts of "3000" stores, building his whole life around his Mr. 3000 persona. Nine years after retiring, he still hasn't made it into the Hall of Fame, though (and when he boasts that 3000 hits should basically guarantee you a place in Cooperstown, he's telling the truth); he's close, though, having come up only four votes short the year before. Then disaster strikes in the form of a fact check of his records; it turns out that one of his three-hit games was actually counted twice. In an instant, Mr. 3000 has suddenly become Mr. 2997. Thus, at age 47, Ross dons the uniform again and sets out to get the three hits that will reestablish himself as Mr. 3000 and hopefully win him that long overdue invitation to Cooperstown.

At first, it's all about Ross' ego. Never a team player, Ross insults his new teammates before he even suits up, and then he proceeds to go 0-for-everything at the plate. As time goes on, though, Ross begins to change - although his ego is never far away and keeps returning from time to time. He finally gets a hit, and the Brewers start to actually win some games. Naturally, both Ross' personal and professional paths converge on the final game of the season. Sure, the ending is a little predictable, but there's nothing wrong with an ending that makes you feel good.