It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Season 16 Almost Fulfills Mac's Lifelong Dream
This post contains spoilers for "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" season 16, episode 3 "The Gang Gets Cursed."
Mac's most defining quality, especially in these latest seasons of "Always Sunny," is his childlike nature. That famous "implication" scene in season 11's "The Gang Buys a Boat" works so well not just because of Dennis's barely-veiled psychopathy; it works because of Mac's earnest attempts to understand what Dennis is saying. Mac in that scene wants so badly to believe that he's misunderstanding what Dennis means, which only makes his gradual disillusionment even funnier.
This part of his personality was best utilized, however, in the season 5 episode "The World Series Defense," in which the rest of the gang finds out that Mac's been writing letters to beloved Phillies second baseman Chase Utley. "Dear Chase, I feel like I can call you Chase because you and I are so much alike," Dee reads from his letter. "I would love to meet you some day. It would be great to have a catch. I know I can't throw as fast as you but I think you'd be impressed with my speed. I love your hair. You run fast. Did you have a good relationship with your father? Me neither."
The letter keeps going, and it doesn't get any less embarrassing for Mac from there. The best part is when he explains his motivations to Dee afterward, saying he's hoping Chase can be like his older brother, only for Dee to point out, "That guy's like five years younger than you. You know that, right?" That may be true, but Mac's logic still holds up — emotionally speaking, Mac is very much the younger of the two.
Chase Utley's real-life response
In a fun case of TV and real life colliding, the actual Chase Utley ended up doing a bit where he read Mac's letter and read to us his own response. "I'm sorry your dad doesn't like you. Maybe you could become a better son," he wrote. That might sound harsh, but I'm sure Utley had the best of intentions. He finished off the letter by writing, "Meeting you and having a game of catch sounds like a lot of fun, but like I said, I'm really busy playing a lot of baseball for the Phillies. I hope you have a good life. Fans like you make my life a 'grand slam!'"
This was back in 2013, but Chase Utley's involvement with the show didn't stop there. In his 2019 retirement ceremony, Utley threw the ceremonial first ball to Rob McElhenney, who was introduced as Mac and stayed in character throughout the whole thing. Well, maybe he wasn't entirely in character — it's hard to believe the real Mac would've been this cool about everything.
For years after this event, "Always Sunny" fans wondered: was this moment canon? As far as the show itself was concerned, did our Mac actually get to play catch with his beloved hero, or was that just a bit, not meant to be taken seriously? In "The Gang Gets Cursed," the most recent episode of "Always Sunny," the answer is unfortunately a no. Mac has still been chasing in vain after that brotherly game of catch with Chase Utley. The good news is that thanks to a monkey's paw Mac found, he's finally on track to get his wish.
Still following his dream
Halfway through the new episode, Mac blindsides Chase Utley outside of his hotel. Mac introduces himself and, when Utley still doesn't know who he is, he shows him the actual 2013 Phillies Mailbag segment of Utley responding to his letter. "Wait, you're that Mac?" Utley says. "I thought Mac was a little kid." Mac quickly changes tactics, pretending to be the father of "Little Mac," a kid who's dying of cancer. It's a typical "Always Sunny" side plot, one where we get to watch a normal person interact with an increasingly deranged member of the gang.
Much like the poor baseball players of the '90s who were forced to interact with the wacky town of Springfield in "Homer at the Bat," Utley quickly realizes he's gotten more than he bargained for. Mac takes him to the grave of his fake kid, which is just a random animal's grave in a pet cemetery. Luckily for Utley, "Always Sunny" is a far sleazier sitcom than "The Simpsons" ever was. The moment Mac confesses his situation with the monkey's paw, Utley steals it and runs away, screaming "Hall of Fame, here I come!"
This might sound like a downer ending for poor Mac, who's only ever wanted a younger older brother to play catch with, but let's not give up hope for him yet. After all, anyone familiar with a monkey's paw knows that your wishes always have an unintended negative side effect. It's possible that Utley's Hall of Fame ambitions won't go as smoothly as he hopes, and he might be unfortunate enough to cross paths with Mac yet again. Mac might not have achieved his lifelong dream, but if he plays his cards right, he might still get another shot.