A Minor League Baseball team was temporarily rebranded.
One summer 34 years ago, George Moon, a resident of Summit Township, was exploring Lake Pleasant when he discovered a three-foot-long bone that once belonged to an old creature.
“I thought it was a dinosaur bone. But we ended up getting a hold of [professor] Jude Kirkpatrick from Gannon University, and he set us straight that it would have been a mastodon or a mammoth scapula,” Moon said.
At UPMC Park on Saturday, comedian John Oliver brought the idea to rebrand the SeaWolves as the Moon Mammoths to life.
At the game, John Oliver threw the first pitch, which was caught by Moon. Erie lost 6 to 5 against the Chesapeake Baysox.
Midgame, new mascot Fuzz E. Mammoth raced Baysox mascot Louie. The jersey Oliver wore will be donated to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s collection.
The crowd at the stadium was sold out, with a stadium-record of 7,070 fans in attendance. Some lined up as early as seven hours before the first pitch just to win a giveaway for a Moon Mammoth squishy.
Purple cotton candy, Mammoth Balls made of deep-fried pepperoni topped with cheese and violet glitter, and Mammoth ears made from fried dough pastry topped with ice cream and purple sprinkles were some of the themed foods sold at the ballpark to celebrate the occasion.
“[Minor League Baseball] is one of the great things that America has. If you’re lucky enough to have a Minor League team anywhere near you, support it,” HBO star Oliver said.
Oliver used “Last Week Tonight” to request submissions from Minor League Baseball teams willing to participate in a rebrand, with the condition that Oliver’s crew would have full control over the name and logo. More than 40 clubs reached out to him.
“It felt like a nice fit with our show. Minor League Baseball is willing to try anything. That was proven by the fact that over half the league was willing to, sight-unseen, rebrand and put their trust in the hands of a group of people who are untrustworthy. That’s a bad decision. And it is that kind of bad decision-making that I love about Minor League Baseball,” Oliver said.
The producers of Last Week Tonight used inspiration from Erie to find the team’s new name and brand.
“Erie did stand out to us as being uniquely eccentric. I say that as both a compliment and an insult, which is the biggest compliment there is.”
The two stories Oliver and his team drew inspiration from were first, the Moon Mammoth story, and second, the Revolutionary War story of General “Mad” Anthony Wayne.
Twelve years after his 1796 death on Presque Isle, General Wayne’s coffin was opened, and his body was found to have not fully decomposed. To honor his daughter’s request that his body be moved to a family burial plot, a doctor boiled his body to separate the flesh from the bones for easier transport.
“We definitely looked at the fact that you boiled Mad Anthony. Full respect for that. It felt almost too easy at that point. [But] the mammoth felt like something that would be extra surprising,” Oliver said.
Moon has been enjoying reliving his discovery from 32 years ago with the popularity of the Minor League team rebrand.
“It’s unbelievable. When you see the superstars on the red carpet for the premiere of a movie, I’ve never put myself on any level with anybody like that. But now you’re the center of attention when people find out who you are. I’m gonna enjoy it for all it’s worth,” Moon said.
The Moon Mammoths will return on August 19th for a game against Harrisburg, and September 12th and 13th against Altoona.
