Did the Phillies Just Tease a Major Abbott Elementary Spoiler Ahead of Season 5?

The countdown has officially begun. Just one month to go until the highly anticipated Season 5 of Abbott Elementary premieres! MLB Studios collaborated with Warner Bros. and the Philadelphia Phillies to bring the show directly to Citizens Bank Park. In an inexplicable way, the Phillies have potentially dropped an intriguing spoiler.

The collaboration allowed the Abbott Elementary cast to film a special on-location episode at a live Phillies game. On August 28th, the cast led by creator and star Quinta Brunson filmed an upcoming season 5 episode at a live Philadelphia Phillies game when the team went up against the Atlanta Braves.

Pictures of the cast, along with the Phillies’ mascot, were posted on Instagram by @philliephanatic. The pictures confirmed what fans had long been speculating since the San Diego Comic-Con.

That time, Quinta Brunson had casually teased, “You can expect us to be filming at a live event. You can do with that information what you will, because I can’t give you more information. But I do think that Philly sports fans will be very happy.” Since then, the fans were eager to know how the show would incorporate a baseball game. Interestingly, this isn’t the first time the Philadelphia-set classroom comedy has featured Philly sports.

Back in season 2, the show featured Gritty, the Philadelphia Flyers mascot. In fact, even in season 3, appearances by three Philadelphia Eagles players—Jalen Hurts, Jason Kelce and Brandon Graham were included.

This time, it was nothing short of remarkable to witness the actors from the ABC sitcom sitting together at the game. With multiple cameras and a big production crew, it was a spectacle never seen before at Citizens Bank Park.

A Production Like No Other at the Phillies Ballpark

The Abbott Elementary shoot took place on the same night when the Philadelphia Phillies star Kyle Schwarber made MLB history by hitting four home runs and driving in nine RBIs. It made him the 21st player ever to hit four homers in a single game. It ignited loud cheers for Schwarber.

All the attendees sitting in Section 114 along the first-base line were part of the filming setup. While they were serving as extras, it didn’t stop them from cheering for Schwarber with “M-V-P” chants.

Manager of the Citizens Bank Park, Kevin Tedesco, was just as amazed by the mood of the ballpark. “It’s like we’re talking about the World Series right now—the amount of production, TV trucks, the compound, all the staff that’s here, all the extras that are here,” he said.

Tedesco also mentioned that this perhaps was the biggest production the ballpark had from a TV show on site in the 20-plus years. Nearly 100 Phillies staff members were on site to make sure everything ran smoothly. This included security, the grounds crew, union workers, PhanaVision staff, and housekeeping. And of course, the Phanatic was there too. In essence, the Citizens Bank Park’s energy that night was phenomenal.