PHILADELPHIA — Months ago, the popular sitcom “Abbott Elementary” pitched an episode that would be staged inside Citizens Bank Park. They wanted a Philadelphia 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.
They set the filming for Aug. 28, a Thursday night. So, 53 minutes after becoming the 21st man to hit four homers in a Major League Baseball game, Schwarber stepped onto the field in full uniform. A crew member ran a microphone through Schwarber’s jersey. The director gave Schwarber and actress Quinta Brunson some notes. The Phanatic observed.
It was time to make TV magic. Again.
Schwarber had come one swing from doing something that had never been done in major-league history. Five homers in a single game. He was facing Atlanta Braves infielder Vidal Bruján, who was pitching in the eighth inning of a rout. Schwarber saw a 57 mph meatball. He could not drive it. The crowd cheered anyway because the mere possibility of a person hitting five home runs in a game is absurd. Schwarber put his head down, but he tipped his helmet to acknowledge everyone.
“I thought the record would have been cool and the RBI record was kind of in play for a second,” Phillies shortstop Trea Turner said. “Wish it would have happened. But, like, that’s the other thing. You almost feel let down, and he hit four homers. You know what I mean? You have to take a step back and appreciate what you saw.”
That is Schwarber; everything feels possible when he takes a mighty hack. This is why his chase for the franchise’s single-season home run record will captivate this city in September. Ryan Howard bashed 58 homers in 2006, a number that has always felt unreachable for Philadelphia. No one else in 143 years of Phillies baseball has even hit 50.
Schwarber is sitting at 49 homers now. His 119 RBIs are 11 more than the next-closest player this season. He set a franchise record with nine RBIs in Thursday’s 19-4 win. The Hall of Fame had already collected Schwarber’s bat from the All-Star Game when he broke a tie by hitting three homers in a never-before-seen swing-off. Now, his helmet from the four-homer game is headed for Cooperstown.
This helmet is history! @kschwarb12 is making another Cooperstown delivery after his four-homer night, joining @Phillies Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt, Chuck Klein and Ed Delahanty in the record books. pic.twitter.com/Ce8dWXPEAi
— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) August 29, 2025
“I mean, it is pretty cool,” Schwarber said. “It just cooperated, right? I’ve been saying you can do everything right and get out, and you can do everything wrong and get a hit. It just happened to cooperate. Got some pitches, put some good swings on it, and that was the result.
“It’s exciting. You can’t expect that you’re going to go up there and hit a home run every time, right? It’s just not the game.”
Schwarber entered Thursday hitless in his last 20 at-bats. He did not deliver a big swing during the club’s three-game sweep against the New York Mets. August has been his worst month.
But when he stood at the plate for two seconds in the seventh inning to admire his history-making swing, no one inside the ballpark was surprised by it. Schwarber hit a solo homer in the first inning, a two-run homer in the fourth inning, a three-run homer in the fifth inning, then capped it with another three-run homer in the seventh inning.
4 HR TONIGHT.
49 HR IN 2025.KYLE SCHWARBER IS UNREAL 🤯 pic.twitter.com/CbBnWBqCVS
— MLB (@MLB) August 29, 2025
Schwarber was the fourth Phillie to hit four homers in a game. Mike Schmidt did it in 1976, Chuck Klein in 1936 and Ed Delahanty in 1896.
The Phillies doused Schwarber with beers in the clubhouse afterward. John Middleton, the Phillies’ managing partner, entered the room to congratulate him. Middleton noted how four of the 21 four-homer games have involved Phillies — and there have been fewer four-homer games than perfect games.
After the third Schwarber homer, his teammates started dreaming in the dugout. Turner and Bryce Harper were removed in the middle of the blowout.
“We were talking about how perfect his swing is for it,” Turner said. “It’s simple, it’s short, it’s quick. It feels like any time they make a mistake, he’s ready to put the barrel on it. He doesn’t really hit it on the ground. He hits it in the air, and it’s just a perfect homer swing. That’s what makes him good. That’s a skill, and not many guys have that.”
But Turner had his doubts about a fifth homer; he knew Schwarber had struggled before when trying to hit a position player pitching. It’s not for everyone.
“I thought he was going to do it,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “I really did. That was no doubt in my mind.”
Kyle Schwarber leads the National League with 49 homers and MLB with 119 RBIs. (Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
Schwarber went into the underground cage to take some swings between the seventh and eighth innings. “I shouldn’t have even asked the question,” Schwarber said. “‘You know any guys who have hit five?’ And no one said anything.” He smiled. His question had been answered.
To Turner, it’s inside that cage where Schwarber, who will be a free agent after this season, has unlocked something else. He does have a swing tailored to hit home runs, but Schwarber has become much more than that. He is having an MVP-type season because he is a more complete hitter. It is a remarkable transformation a decade into Schwarber’s big-league life.
“If anybody saw the amount of work he puts into it in preparation, they would understand why,” Turner said. “We see it every day. Sometimes you have bad games and you strike out and this and that, but the routine and the effort is up there with anybody I’ve ever played with. And I would argue with anybody in the league. So, that’s why I don’t put anything past him.”
Late Thursday night, after five or six takes, the “Abbott Elementary” crew was satisfied. They had what they needed. It was 11:15 p.m. ET, and dozens of crew members cheered. A few chanted, “M-V-P!”
Then, the TV stars handed their phones to stagehands. They wanted photos with Schwarber.
(Top photo: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
