John Oliver Renames Erie SeaWolves

Read Time:2 Minute, 9 Second

The Moon Mammoths have landed. Thanks to a promotion from HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”, the Erie SeaWolves will take on the identity of the Moon Mammoths for four games this season. The first of which occurs on July 19th, were John Oliver and George Moon will attend the game in person. However, the game for July 19th sold out within the first 24 hours.

The story of the Moon Mammoth comes from George Moon himself. In 1991, Moon found a massive fossilized bone while scuba diving in Lake Pleasant. The bone was sent to Gannon University and determined to be the shoulder blade of a mammoth. This sparked further diving expeditions, which resulted in 80% of the mammoth being recovered. An impressive feat, the specimen was then dubbed the Moon Mammoth.

While an important discovery, the story faded into obscurity. Local residents, as well as the SeaWolves organization itself, were not familiar with the Moon Mammoth. However, HBO’s researchers were able to bring it back to light.

John Oliver started the promotion on his show, encouraging teams to allow him to give them an alternative identity without any input from themselves. Erie sent in an application, which, two months prior, Oliver had made a joke about the city of Erie. He had restated the story of Continental Army General Anthony Wayne and how his body was boiled to separate the flesh from the bones when we had died. This likely led to Oliver choosing Erie for the alternative identity.

Fuzz E. Mammoth with John Oliver. Photo by LastWeekTonight.

Alternative identities are all too popular in minor league baseball, but alternative mascots are a rarer scene. On “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”, they revealed Erie’s new mascot, Fuzz E. Mammoth. Fuzz E. is a purple fuzzy mammoth donned with an astronaut helmet. He will be at all four games this season, including July 19th, August 19th, and September 12th and 13th. The game for July 19th sold out within the first 24 hours.

In other news, the Erie SeaWolves have successfully punched their ticket into the Double-A playoffs by winning the first half of the season with the best record. Other Double-A teams to qualify for the playoffs include the Binghampton Rumble Ponies, the Chattanooga Lookouts, the Biloxi Shuckers, the Springfield Cardinals, and the Midland Rockhounds.

If you are not able to see the Moon Mammoths in person, Erie is selling limited edition Moon Mammoth merch. The merch is available for pre-order at the SeaWolves store.