Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber is on the precipice of being as synonymous to franchise history as 2025 Wall of Fame inductee Jimmy Rollins. After the slugger's historic four-home run game last week, news broke that he would be guest starring in an episode of Abbott Elementary, according to MLB.com's Paul Casella.
The Athletic's Matt Gelb began his recap of that historic game by summarizing exactly what the veteran "Schwarbomb" machine means to the city of Philadelphia (subscription required) in the four seasons he's played in the City of Brotherly Love, both on the field and in the community, that's done the same thing for the city as Abbott Elementary has done on prime time television.
"Months ago, the popular sitcom 'Abbott Elementary' pitched an episode that would be staged inside Citizens Bank Park," Gelb reported. "They wanted a Phillies player to guest star, and Kyle Schwarber agreed to do it because whenever anyone here needs something, they go to Schwarber. He is dependable. He is steady. And, at 32, he is having a career year."
The Kyle Schwarber Game™️ pic.twitter.com/Gqb8wOjt7D
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Kyle Schwarber not the only Philadelphia icon to appear on Abbott Elementary
While Gelb's reporting on Schwarber's career season, especially last Thursday's 19-4 victory over the rival Atlanta Braves, is worthy of its own article, what many should get excited about is how Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary's creator and lead writer, will weave the episode's narrative around Schwarber's guest appearance and historic showing at the plate.
Now that he's on his way to franchise history, it'll be exciting to see how Brunson plans to bring her "Abbott" humor and sharp wit to a game that has already meant so much to many Phillies fans, simply because her cast was there appreciating the historic night with their humor, for national television, outside of baseball season. The episode, which will feature footage from Thursday's game, will give Brunson, who is familiar with the city's passion for its sports teams, the opportunity to shape a fantastic episode.
Schwarber, while not performing in a weekly sitcom to sing the city's praises, has essentially done for Philadelphia in the baseball community what Brunson is seeking to do for the city in mainstream television. Regardless of how Schwarber's 2025 free agency pans out, the fact that within the four years he's been with the Phillies, he has been so adamant about getting involved in the community means more to the fans than he will ever probably realize.
As Casella notes, Schwarber is joining a long list of Philadelphia icons who have guested on the show, including Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty and Philadelphia Eagles players Jalen Hurts, Jason Kelce, Jordan Mailata and Brandon Graham.
From his partnership with a local brewery to his collaboration with Wawa, and now this guest appearance, which has the potential to top Super Bowl MVP and fellow fan favorite Hurts' guest appearance alongside some of his teammates in the show's season 3 premiere, which spanned two episodes. Brunson tries to educate those who aren't familiar with the star power from the area, as she also got Philadelphia native Bradley Cooper to guest star.
The Schwarber episode will air at some point during season 5 of the Emmy Award-winning comedy, which premieres on ABC on Oct. 1. With the entire cast photographed alongside the Phillie Phanatic, there's no telling what antics the Abbott crew and the reigning 2025 All-Star Game MVP get into, all while Schwarber culturally puts the tail end of this portion of his career on the map as he battles Shohei Ohtani for the National League MVP.