
The Erie SeaWolves are receiving a new name — at least for certain games later this season. The team is being rebranded as the Moon Mammoths after winning a contest held by comedian John Oliver.
The host of “Last Week Tonight” on HBO announced in May that he was looking to rebrand a Minor League Baseball team. On Sunday, he announced the Erie SeaWolves will be rebranded as the Moon Mammoths.
“I have a very special offer. We are willing to use all of our resources and stupidity to give one Minor League Baseball team a total rebrand,” John Oliver said in May. “We will give you a new team name. A new mascot. We will even throw you a theme night. It will be personalized and it will be bespoke.”
According to the AP, 47 teams submitted bids to be rebranded and the Erie SeaWolves — the Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers — were chosen.
The Moon Mammoths will make their debut during a game on July 19 against the Chesapeake Baysox. John Oliver is set to attend the game. The AP reports that other Moon Mammoth games will take place on Aug. 19, Sept. 12 and Sept. 13.
Teams that entered the contest gave John Oliver and the staff of his show full autonomy to rebrand the team however it chose to.
Greg Coleman, who is the president of the Erie SeaWolves, told MLB.com that he felt like Erie had a strong case. As it turns out, he was right.
“Clearly we have a sense of humor, and we’re also not afraid to go to a place that’s right up to the edge a little bit,” he said. “We’re a team that will take a look and say, ‘Is this still in good fun, is the spirit of this right, can we tell a story that is fair and balanced?’ And we felt we did that.”
So how was the Moon Mammoth name chosen? According to the Erie County Historical Society at the Hagen History Center, “in 1991, scuba diver George Moon found a very large bone while diving. Over time, more were brought to the surface. Moon asked Gannon professor and anthropologist M. Jude Kirkpatrick for help in identification, and the bones were found to be that of a woolly mammoth. This ancient relative of a modern elephant roamed Erie County between 9,000 – 13,000 years ago, eating vegetation and was hunted by people living here at the time. Scratches on the bones indicated that perhaps the mammoth was killed and placed in the cool, spring-fed water for preservation. The bones are currently housed at the State Museum in Harrisburg for further study.”
The George Moon and woolly mammoth story inspired John Oliver and his staff to form the Moon Mammoths.
George Moon has also reportedly been invited to attend the Moon Mammoths’ debut game on July 19.
The mascot for the Moon Mammoths is Fuzz E. Mammoth, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver announced in a promotional video.
The AP reports that the “team will wear jerseys with a rising moon with the team’s name across the chest, a moon on sleeves and a patch with a woolly mammoth wearing a space helmet.”
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