LONDON — Rob McElhenney jumped Chase Utley’s fence last week in Los Angeles.
He needed to retrieve a ball his child had kicked into Utley’s yard.
Nearly 15 years ago, on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” McElhenney’s character Mac wrote Utley a love letter, hoping to one day play catch with him. The episode remains one of the show’s most popular and an iconic moment in Philadelphia pop culture — for its relatability (a grown man falling in love with a professional athlete he’d never met), its absurdity (Mac put a sticker on the bottom of the letter, hoping it would come in handy) and its unabashed love of the Phillies. The episode spawned a real-life friendship between McElhenney and Utley, which resurfaced Sunday afternoon during the London Series at the London Stadium.
“It’s amazing,” McElhenny told MLB.com on Sunday. “He moved into my neighborhood and now we’re neighbors. Everybody’s like, ‘Oh, he’s in your neighborhood,’ but no, he’s my neighbor.”
McElhenney, Utley and Bryce Harper recently appeared in a promotional appearance for the 2024 London Series, where Utley learns that McElhenney has been writing to Harper every day to try to play catch, a continuation of a storyline from the 2009 episode “World Series Defense.” McElhenney explains to Utley in the promo that not only is Harper a competitive player, but his beard is like the “golden fleece.”
(The Lambswool line was written by Matt Rute, who is head of creative at McElhenney’s production company, More Better.)
The commercial ends with Utley issuing an ultimatum to McElhenney.
In the end, Mack got both. Before Sunday’s game, McElhenney walked to the mound to throw the first pitch to Utley. But McElhenney’s wife, Kaitlin Olson, who also stars in “It’s Always Sunny,” jogged up to the mound to meet with Utley and her husband.
Harper then emerged from the dugout and ran to first base. Olson rolled the ball to McElhenny at shortstop, who threw it underhand to Utley at second base, who threw it to Harper at first base, completing what is known as the “first ceremonial 6-4-3 double play.”
“When I think about Chase and everything he’s done for this organization, obviously I would say yes, because it’s Chase Utley,” Harper said on The Phillies Show podcast last week.[It’s Always] “‘Sunny in Philadelphia’ is one of the best episodes. Everybody loves that episode. I just thought it was awesome to be a part of it.”
McElhenney said he was amazed at how perfectly Utley and Harper delivered their lines.
“You never know how the guys are going to play, but they both played great,” he said.
McElhenney and Utley first met in 2010 when Utley and Ryan Howard made a cameo appearance in an episode of “It’s Always Sunny.”
“When the writers approached me about it, I thought, ‘What an amazing opportunity to have one of my favorite players on the show,'” McElhenney said. “I didn’t know if he was going to be on it. You go to agents and they all say no, or they ask, ‘How much?’ because we’re a small show with no budget. I actually got in touch with John, [Powers] Middleton [Phillies managing partner John Middleton’s son]He connected me with Chase, and Chase got involved.
“When Chase and Ryan came to the set, Jen [Utley] Kaitlyn met Jen and we just hit it off. We went out to dinner with them. That’s when we realized, ‘Oh, they’re our people. They’re definitely our people.’ My wife’s from the Pacific Northwest, I’m from Philadelphia. They’re from California. I don’t know if this is going to work. But we went to a restaurant in Rittenhouse Square and we had a lot of fun.'”
Utley and his family have been living in London for nearly the past two years, and they plan to eventually return to Los Angeles.
Will the Harper, Utley and Mack story continue, or was Sunday the end?
“I don’t know,” McElhenney said with a smile. “I think it’s just the beginning.”
