Charlie Day Received Insider Info From Wade Boggs During His Always Sunny Episode

"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" is first and foremost about drinking, and perhaps no other episode showcases the gang's talents for knocking back cold ones quite like "The Gang Beats Boggs." In the season 10 premiere, the Paddy's Pub proprietors take a plane ride with the sole intention of beating the record for most beers consumed on a plane, a record set by former Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs. The actual number of beers he drank is the subject of much debate, as is touched upon in the episode, but the Hall-of-Famer revealed the real number to series co-creator and star Charlie Day.

The idea for the episode spawned from the real-life legend of Boggs' triumph, revealed co-creator and star Glenn Howerton. "I think somebody was talking about the legend of Wade Boggs and how he drank [a lot of] beers on a cross-country flight, and we realized it would be a great episode to try and break that record," he recounted to Vice.

Boggs actually makes a cameo in the episode as Charlie's hallucination, encouraging him to keep drinking. When they wrote the episode, they knew they wanted Boggs to appear in it, but were hesitant to reach out. If he disliked the idea, it would mean scrapping the episode altogether. Much to their surprise, the former third baseman more than approved.

"We reached out to him like, you know, 'Is he going to be okay with this?'" Day recalled on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. "And he was like, 'I'll do it.'"

Once he was on set, Boggs had the opportunity to settle the highly contested number once and for all.

When the episode was first written, the "It's Always Sunny" creators thought that this legendary beer tally stood at around fifty to seventy beers — an unmistakably huge feat of alcoholic consumption. However, Boggs set the record straight when he shot the episode with them.

"The story was, I think it was that he drank 55 beers on a cross-country flight, and you know, his teammates were coming out and it was more like 80," Day revealed on Hot Ones. "We wrote the episode about it, and he was like, 'Charlie, it was more like 107.' Now, how anyone remembers that they drank 107 beers, it's like, how do you remember that?"

It might seem impossible to drink that many beers in a single sitting, but Day believes he was telling the truth. "He has one of those hot dog-eating stomachs but for beer," the "Fool's Paradise" director continued.

Those who have enjoyed some drinks in the air before might be wondering how it was possible for Boggs to down so many beers on a single flight. Luckily for us, Boggs laid it all out for Day, who later relayed the story to Jimmy Fallon:

"So he would come to the airport about 12 deep, and then he'd be on the plane just firing 'em back, and then they'd have the layover, then they get there, and then they would go out that night, and then he'd hit third and hit two doubles and — yeah. So it makes for a good episode."

Of course, as Mac points out in the episode, the biggest part of the challenge is not just drinking on a plane — it's stepping off the plane and stepping up to the plate, pun fully intended.

Boggs wasn't just a fantastic athlete, he was also a ball to have on set. Despite being out of the game for several years, the former Red Sox player kept up his rebellious and beer-loving streak. He might not have been on an actual plane — just a set made to look like one — but muscle memory seems to have set in.

"He was great, although I'm pretty sure he was drinking actual beer when we were filming because we all had this sort of prop beer and I noticed at one point — he's drinking now," Day went on.

The World Series champ fit right into the debaucherous "Sunny" gang, but it's still a bit of a mystery why he agreed to appear on the show. Maybe it was his opportunity to relive his beer-guzzling glory days, but Howerton has his own theory.

"I don't remember exactly [how Boggs got involved]," he admitted to Vice. "But what usually happens is that Rob reaches out to these people, because he's just the most persuasive of us. He's just a good salesman. A lot of times, when something like that goes through it's because, like, Wade Boggs' kids were fans of the show. I feel like that's how it's been a lot for us. We can never get the person — but it's always their kid who's like, 'Dad, you have to do this.'"

Howerton's theory holds water — in fact, Danny DeVito joined the main cast for the very same reason. "Sunny" didn't have a lot of viewers at the time, and the actor had been a household name for decades, but his children "really encouraged" him to take the role, he told The Talks. The "Twins" star agreed to join the cast on one condition — that his character was "organic and not just tacked into the show."

Without the Wade Boggs episode of "Sunny," the world may never have known exactly how many beers he drank that fateful day. For that, fans of comedy, baseball, and drinking alike should tip their caps to the writers behind this stand-out episode, which Howerton named as one of his ten favorites of the series, per Vice.

Like most of the show, the idea for "The Gang Beats Boggs" was thought up initially by series creators and stars Howerton, Day, and Rob McElhenney. However, the rest of the episode can be credited to brother writing duo Dave and John Chernin.

"We break the stories as a writer's room, and then writers get assigned episodes or we go off and write it," Howerton said of the writing process. "Then the very final part of the process is that me, Rob, and Charlie punch up and rewrite the whole thing. Some require very little rewriting and some require a lot, and I don't remember where that one was. But I know Dave and John are f***ing brilliant, so my guess is we didn't rewrite that one all that much."

"Sunny" has held a captive audience for 16 seasons and counting, but not every episode manages to excite the series creators as much as their fans. However, the Boggs episode is an exception. "This episode is just so funny to me," Howerton continued. "It always makes me laugh. We were deep into the series at that point — I think it was season 10 — and this episode felt fresh. It felt new."

It's easy to see why Howerton ranks this episode among his favorites. Not only is it hilarious, but it also settled an age-old debate. By taking their crack at the Boggs challenge, the gang unlocked a mystery.