John Oliver's Erie Moon Mammoths debut in front of a record crowd

ERIE, Pa. — Besides being a fan, John Oliver has had a certain affinity for minor league baseball.

On Saturday night, the comedian and host of HBO's ''Last Week Tonight'' saw his latest crazy creation set out into the world as the Erie Moon Mammoths made their debut in front of a record crowd of 7,070 at UPMC Park.

''We're sending our furry child out into the world and you are the custodian of it. Now, please be careful with our child,'' Oliver said a couple hours before the Moon Mammoths took the field against the Chesapeake Oyster Catchers.

Oliver spotlighted Minor League Baseball promotions and alternate nicknames during ''Last Week Tonight'' on May 4. At the end of the segment, Oliver invited teams to send in proposals why they should get rebranded by the show's staff.

Forty-seven teams sent in pitches, including the Erie SeaWolves, the Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.

Erie president Greg Coleman sent a list of 11 reasons why they were the perfect candidate, including: ''The SeaWolves play baseball nowhere near the sea.''

''To have so many teams expressing interest was really edifying. I think it kind of validates the fact that we thought there was something special about minor league baseball. We thought this would be a group of people that would respond to the ludicrous idea that we had,'' Oliver said.

Erie was announced as the winner on May 18. After six weeks of research by Oliver and his staff, the Moon Mammoths were unveiled on June 29. That included the mascot named Fuzz, a purple woolly mammoth wearing a space helmet.

''Erie did stand out to us as being, you know, uniquely eccentric. And I say that as both a compliment and an insult, which is the biggest compliment there is," Oliver said. ''There was something about the Moon Mammoth that spoke to us for being particularly odd. It felt like it could make a baseball team's theme. You could almost see the logo in your head and it felt like something to be extra surprising.''

The fact that this came together in less than three months is a minor miracle. It usually takes 16 months for a team to have an alternate identity approved and then take the field.

''I thought we had a good chance when I sent it in. And then when we were selected it was a little surreal,'' Coleman said. ''And since then working with the "Last Week Tonight" team, they've been wonderful and detail oriented.''

The Moon Mammoths name was inspired by George Moon, who found the bone of a prehistoric mammoth while scuba diving in 1991. The remains are housed at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg.

Moon has become a regional celebrity since the rebranding was announced. He was at the game and caught the ceremonial first pitch from Oliver.

''It's fun. I'm enjoying it,'' Moon said. ''From all those years ago to today, I would never have thought anything like this would've been possible. The newspaper did something on its 30th anniversary (in 2021). Other than that, I haven't heard much.''

Coleman said since the Moon Mammoths were unveiled, the team has done the equivalent of four years of online sales in three weeks. The line of people waiting to get into the team store, which was located in left field, stretched out to near home plate in the concourse area.

Karyn Drombosky and Sean Mizerski drove from Pittsburgh and were wearing homemade tusks as they waited to get into the team store.

''It's just great. We're big baseball fans. We see the Pirates all the time, and minor league games are fun. There's so much silliness,'' Drombosky said. ''We watch John Oliver pretty regularly. We were like surprised but excited when we saw he picked the Erie team to take over.''

In addition to throwing out the first pitch, Oliver was a batboy during one inning and also led the crowd in ''Take Me Out to the Ballgame'' during the seventh inning stretch. The cap and jersey that Oliver wore for the first pitch are going to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Erie trailed 6-3 going into the bottom of the ninth but got within one run on Kevin McGonigle's two-run double. Chesapeake's Yaqui Rivera struck out Josue Briceño with the bases loaded to end the game.

''The atmosphere was great. Everything worked smoothly. It doesn't happen very often in minor league baseball to be able to have an event like that. It was a fun night for everyone,'' Erie manager Andrew Graham said.

The Moon Mammoths will be back on Aug. 19 as well as Sept. 12 and 13. Coleman said there will be at least four Moon Mammoths games next season.

''I love minor league baseball. There is a special eccentricity to it,'' Oliver said. ''It felt like a nice fit with our show because minor league baseball, as you know, 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 objectively untrustworthy. That's a bad decision, and it's that kind of bad decision making that I love about minor league baseball.''

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