Phillies-themed episode of ‘Abbott Elementary’ earns Emmy nomination

Kyle Schwarber’s performance in the “Abbott Elementary” episode “Ballgame” was a no-doubt home run. The Television Academy certainly agrees, as Randall Einhorn earned an Emmy Award nomination for directing the episode. The show also earned six other nominations.

The comedy on ABC pulled off the extraordinary by filming an episode about the cast taking part in a “Teacher Appreciation Day” on Aug. 28, 2025, at Citizens Bank Park with Schwarber as a guest star. Philadelphia’s slugger then made it a night, and an episode, to remember by belting four home runs, just the 21st time in MLB history the feat was achieved.

“I think this episode has gained a little bit more recognition and some acknowledgement because I think it's, well, a great episode; it was at a phenomenal live sporting event, and it was a great night for baseball, and I think it was certainly a great night for Kyle Schwarber,” Einhorn told MLB.com. “But it's also a great night for us on 'Abbott Elementary.'”

With the help of MLB and MLB Studios, Einhorn and Co. filmed just under 14 pages of dialogue in one day, then shot more on game day with over 70 pans to the game and 400 extras, including a postgame cameo with Schwarber after his magnificent performance.

Einhorn has directed plenty of television episodes, including 14 episodes of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” 15 of “The Office” and many more noteworthy selections you’ve likely seen. Yet the 62-year-old says this was his most difficult task.

“I've never had to prep for an episode of television in my career like I had to prep for this one,” Einhorn said. “... It was incredible to work with MLB and MLB Studios. Without them, we just simply couldn't have done it. We had complete cooperation, and all the limitations were very clear and understood.”

Some of those limitations made the task even more difficult. The crew had to film the episode's dialogue the day before the game because the crowd noise would be too much to edit out. Additionally, to keep the cast in consistent lighting and the shade, Einhorn put up silks to block the sun. The silks couldn’t be used because it was too windy, and Einhorn debated moving the set, with the 400 extras, to a shaded area.

He decided to embrace the sun, using it expertly to showcase the passing of time during a ballgame. They started in the shade, moved into bright sunlight and ended at night.

Then came the easy part. The show's creator and lead actor Quinta Brunson knows the energy of Philadelphia sports fans better than most. She grew up in the city and attended Temple University before heading to Los Angeles. As her character, Janine Teagues, takes on the fandom in the show and is even hilariously struck in the head by a toss-up from Schwarber, Sheryl Lee Ralph’s character, Barbara Howard, attempts to give Schwarber batting tips. The left-handed power hitter certainly didn’t need them. His homers weren't scripted.

“You can't fake energy like that. The stadium was going absolutely crazy for Kyle. Kyle's just performing incredibly, and you could see the reality of that on our cast’s face,” Einhorn said. “... We're always trying to anchor our show in Philadelphia. We want Philadelphia to be a character within our show. It's not just a place.”

As the story evolved to incorporate Schwarber, Einhorn wasn’t sure what he’d get from the designated hitter. He knew Schwarber would be either really tired or really energized, and they rehearsed in the dugout before the game.

Schwarber admittedly said he didn’t know what he was doing. Einhorn kept his instructions simple, telling the slugger to, “Do what Kyle Schwarber would do.” The crew was on a time crunch postgame, with Schwarber’s monumental evening gaining national notoriety and the sprinklers about to come on postgame. Then it began to rain.

Schwarber needed just three takes, and the show was headed for a wrap.

“It's an honor to be nominated. I just hope the viewers recognize the degree of difficulty in this episode, but also the sheer joy that our characters got by going to a real baseball game,” Einhorn said. “I think this is a great episode of television. It's certainly one of my favorites in my career, if not my absolute favorite, because it's just that everything works, and you feel the energy in it.”