Earlier this year, comedian John Oliver announced that he and the Last Week Tonight staff were seeking a minor league baseball team that would be willing to let them get creative with some branding. The Erie SeaWolves, a Detroit Tigers' Double-A affiliate bravely decided to play ball despite the stipulation that they'd be kept in the dark while Oliver tinkered around with the brand identity. If this all sounds slightly strange, just keep in mind that it's minor league baseball and there are absolutely no bad ideas in any of their brainstorms.
Oliver unveiled what he and his team came up with on Sunday night and there's not a single person on the world—including Erie—that could have predicted it.
The SeaWolves will henceforth be playing as the Erie Moon Mammoths for select games.
MLB.com
In the summer of 1991, a scuba diver named George Moon was combing the depths of Lake Pleasant in Erie County, Pa. When he broke the surface, he was carrying with him an almost three-foot long bone. Moon had no idea then that what he’d stumbled across was the shoulder blade of a creature that had walked the land in Erie something like 12 millennia ago. He also had no idea that this prehistoric discovery would one day somehow become a part of baseball history.
It turned out what Moon had found was just a small part of a very large mammoth, and on further dives that Moon and others made into that part of Lake Pleasant, about 80 percent of the massive mammal’s remains were found, including both its tusks.
One need not know or appreciate the backstory here to like the merchandise, which features a top-notch logo.
This merch? Astronomical.
— Erie SeaWolves (@erie_seawolves) June 30, 2025
Order your Moon Mammoth gear NOW! ➡ https://t.co/yiZeIWXiFc pic.twitter.com/7I6RrNjNil
The Moon Mammoths take the field for the first time on July 19.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as John Oliver Unveils Unusual New Identity for Tigers' Minor League Team.
