Rob McElhenney and Kaitlin Olson Made Baseball History in London

Mac and Dee made America proud when they appeared on the field during the MLB London Series between their Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets this past weekend. It’’s a damn shame Wade Boggs wasn’t alive to see it.

Thanks to his ongoing ownership of the Welsh football team A.F.C., Rob McElhenney is already a minor figure in U.K. sports culture, and the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator is hopeful that his star will continue to rise across the pond as Major League Baseball seeks to establish a foothold in the home of cricket. McElhenney’s Phillies played two games against the Mets at London Stadium on June 8th and 9th, splitting the series and delivering a taste of freedom to our former masters in the form of our national pastime. 

Rock, flag and eagle!

But the highlight of the weekend derby for British It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia fans likely wasn’t Bryce Harper ripping a monster home run and then hitting a celebratory soccer slide on his way back to the dugout. No, the much more historic event of the weekend came at the beginning of the second game of the series, when, instead of throwing a ceremonial first pitch, as is a celebrity guest’s traditional role, McElhenney had his longtime hero Chase Utley and his new flame Bryce Harper help him turn the world’s first ceremonial 6-4-3 double play with his wife and co-star Kaitlin Olson rolling the ground ball. 

Even in London, Dee always gets the short end of the stick.

Baseball’s first ceremonial double play came after McElhenney, Harper and Utley collaborated to produce a promotional sketch in advance of the London series that featured Harper showing Utley a series of disturbing fan letters he’s received, which were identical to the ones that Mac has been sending Utley since at least 2008 on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. A wounded Utley confronted McElhenney about his apparent choice of a new Philly sports stalking target and stormed off in a huff at the end of the scene.

Thankfully, the three Philadelphia legends put their differences aside to deliver a historic moment that London’s baseball fans will never forget. However, it’s a shame that the Phillies couldn’t manage to arrange a ceremonial first kick of some kind, otherwise Dee’s size 13 stompers would have given those Limeys a real show.