- Phillies’ heroic second baseman was the subject of several love letters from Mac in It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
- The pair have since shared several games of catch together
- Utley reviews McElhenney’s skills in exclusive chat with Pubity
Chase Utley is many things; A World Series winner, A six time Major League Baseball All-Star, a four time Silver Slugger Award winner, a power hitting second baseman, an ambassador for MLB in Europe and, of course, the object of obsession for south Philadelphia’s most beloved ocular patdown enthusiast, Ronald ‘Mac’ McDonald.
Rob McElhenney’s ‘Mac’ character in It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia may be fictional, but the love he has for Utley, evidenced in the sticker adorned love letters he attempts to get into the hands of the “power hitting second baseman” in It’s Always Sunny… , is shared (perhaps not to a quite as obsessive degree) in real life.
Mac’s longstanding desire to have a game of catch with Chase has long since become a reality, first in 2019 ahead of a Phillies-Marlins game, then again at the 2022 World Series and, most recently, at the London Series in England this summer, where the pair included Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper in a double play.
Now based in the English capital, where he has resided with his family for the past two years as MLB’s ambassador in Europe, Utley shared with Pubity his analysis of McElhenney’s catching and pitching game.
The 2008 World Series winner is helping establish MLB in the UK market and was on hand at the London Stadium in June for the two games between his beloved Phillies and their east coast rivals, the New York Mets. In front of over 50,000 fans inside Premier League outfit West Ham United’s home ground, Utley, McElhenney and Harper hit a double play to the delight of the capacity crowd.
“Let’s just say he’s a better actor than he is a baseball player,” began Utley’s review of McElhenney’s catching and pitching, “But he’s OK. He caught ’em all, for the most part and he threw ’em all fairly well for the most part.
“He threw out the first pitch, well, we actually had a different situation this year at the London Games, where we turned a double play. So we rehearsed it five minutes before we went out and we were both nervous because he wasn’t really sure of the proper technique to field a ground ball and I told him not to worry about it. All he wanted to do was make sure he caught the ball and flip to me and he did, so I give him an A+ for that.”
However, when Utley’s name first came up in Always Sunny lore, during the season five episode ‘The World Series Defence’ the six time All-Star had never seen the show.
“So we’ve done a few different episodes over the course of the years. The first time was a number of years ago and this was when I was really focused on baseball so I wasn’t watching any television. I was just solely focused on baseball, so I didn’t know much about the show. So that was interesting to be part of.
“It’s a wild show, but it’s a great show, it’s still airing today, I think it’s one of the longest running comedy shows ever made, so hats off to Rob, he’s a bright guy, he knows what he’s doing and I’m happy that the show’s had so much success. And now he’s rolled that into a few different industries with his other shows and Wrexham. It’s been fun to watch his journey.”
Mac himself could not be happier with that glowing review from his hero.
The second part of our exclusive interview with Chase will be dropping later this weekend, where he discusses the ones to watch for the upcoming MLB post-season, World Series preparation, the best ballparks to take in a game and, of course, MLB’s growth in the United Kingdom.
The MLB Regular Season Finale is available to watch on BBC Sport and BBC iPlayer this Sunday 29th September, with coverage starting from 8pm GMT
