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Chicago Tribune
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
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 of 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 on 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.' 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 that 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 led the crowd in 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' 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.'
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
John Oliver Reacts To ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' Cancelation: 'Terrible News For The World Of Comedy'
John Oliver was in Erie, Pennsylvania over the weekend to rebrand the city's minor league baseball to the Moon Mammoths. The Last Week Tonight host revealed in May that he would help bring a new look to the Detroit Tigers Double-A affiliate team, which was previously known as the Erie SeaWolves. More from Deadline Late-Night TV Is On The Precipice After CBS Axes Stephen Colbert; Insiders Lament 'End Of An Era' Stephen Colbert Riffs On Paramount's 'Big Fat Bribe' To Settle Donald Trump's CBS '60 Minutes' Lawsuit Former 'Late Show' EP Rob Burnett Reflects On Stephen Colbert Cancellation: "Never Threaten A Corporate Merger" While he was in Erie, he paid tribute to his old friend Stephen Colbert, whose Late Show was axed earlier this week by CBS. 'I love Stephen, I love his staff. I love that show. It's incredibly sad. I am partly excited to see what they're going to do for the next 10 months,' he reportedly said, per local news. 'It's terrible, terrible news for the world of comedy. Late-night shows mean a lot to me, not just because I work in them, but because even growing up in England, I would watch [David] Letterman's show, which of course was Stephen's show, and think about what a glamorous world that was. So, to have got to be on Letterman's show and Stephen's show has been always one of the most fun things, so it's very, very, very sad news. I look forward to seeing what he's going to do next because that man will not stop,' he added. Oliver has appeared multiple times on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as well as the earlier iteration with David Letterman in 2015. He is the latest comedian and television host to offer his support following comments from other late-night peers including Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and Andy Cohen as well as the likes of Anderson Cooper. Best of Deadline Streamer Subscription Prices And Tiers – Everything To Know As Costs Rise And Ads Abound (Hello, Peacock) - Update 'Stick' Release Guide: When Do New Episodes Come Out? 'Stick' Soundtrack: All The Songs You'll Hear In The Apple TV+ Golf Series
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Erie Moon Mammoths take the field for special theme night after rebrand by comedian John Oliver
The Moon Mammoths were welcomed to Minor League Baseball on Saturday night with the Erie, Pennsylvania Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers rebranding for four games this season. The Erie Seawolves were chosen by comedian John Oliver and the staff of his HBO program "Last Week Tonight" from among 47 teams who submitted pitches after the late-night talk show host praised the goofy spirit of minor league baseball and wanted to contribute in some manner. Oliver threw out the first pitch for Saturday's game versus the Chesapeake Baysox. He was also a celebrity bat boy and PA announcer, sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and sat in with the broadcast team. Additionally, Oliver presented a race between mascots Fuzz E. Mammoth and Louie, the green Baysox mascot, and also worked as a Moon Pie vendor during the game. The Moon Mammoths lost to the Baysox, 6-5, in front of a record crowd of 7,070 at UPMC Park. (By the way, the Baysox have their own alternate brand identity as the Oyster Catchers.) Erie was chosen after an email listing 11 reasons why the team should be chosen, including "The SeaWolves play baseball nowhere near the sea" and "We have the least creatively named mascot in MiLB. His name is C. Wolf. Seriously." Per Oliver's conditions, the Seawolves had to unconditionally accept the rebranding proposal, with no input in the name, mascot or theme night to be created. "Minor league baseball is clearly both incredibly special and inescapably stupid in the very best way," Oliver said on the May 4, 2025 episode of his show. "I love all of this," he added. "The way the world is now, I'd argue that we all badly, badly need this." Why the "Moon Mammoths"? Oliver and his staff wanted to create a brand identity that somehow told some of Erie's history to set it apart from other minor league baseball cities. '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, via the Associated Press. The Seawolves have previously held humorous theme nights including "Alternative Facts Night" in 2017, during which the team celebrated the 2016 championship that it never actually won. The Moon Mammoths were inspired by George Moon, who found a bone measuring three feet long while scuba diving in Erie County's Lake Pleasant in 1991. The bone was discovered to be the shoulder blade of a prehistoric mammoth. Subsequent dives after Moon's find recovered 80 percent of the creature's skeleton, including both of its tusks. Moon caught the ceremonial first pitch from Oliver on Saturday. "If you had bet me 34 years ago on something like this, I would have not taken the money, I would have lost," Moon told Pittsburgh's KDKA. "This is great. I love it for Erie. It is great for the community, for the ballpark, for everybody around." The Seawolves will play three more games as the Moon Mammoths on Aug. 19, Sept. 12 and Sept. 13. After that, it's up to the team to decide whether or not to keep the mascot that Oliver referred to as "our furry child."
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
John Oliver-Branded Minor League Baseball Team the Erie Moon Mammoths Play First Game
The Erie Moon Mammoths, a minor league baseball team rebranded by John Oliver and his Last Week Tonight staff, made their debut Saturday to a record-setting crowd that included Oliver in attendance. Back in May, during a segment about minor league baseball teams and their frequent crowd-drawing promotions, Oliver invited teams to send in proposals about why they deserved a rebrand; nearly 50 teams sent in proposals, with Oliver ultimately opting for the Erie SeaWolves, as that Pennsylvania team and Detroit Tigers affiliate played nowhere near a sea. More from Rolling Stone How to Watch the 2025 MLB All-Star Game Online How to Watch Yankees vs. Mets Subway Series Games Online How to Watch the LSU vs. Coastal Carolina College World Series Final Online '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 Saturday during a pregame press conference (via The Associated Press) before serving as the game's bat boy and 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' singer. '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.' Just over two months later, the Erie Moon Mammoths — named after George Moon, an Erie man who discovered mammoth bones while scuba diving in nearby Lake Pleasant in 1991 — played their first game Saturday to an attendance of 7,070 people, the largest crowd in UPMC Park's history. George Moon was also on hand to catch Oliver's ceremonial first pitch. '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.' SeaWolves president Greg Coleman told the AP that, in the three weeks since the Moon Mammoths' rebrand was announced, the team has sold four years' worth of merchandise in their online store, and lines formed at the on-site team store. Despite their popularity, the Moon Mammoths will revert back to the SeaWolves for most games — this is just a minor league promotion, after all — but the Oliver-branded team will play three more times this season, Aug. 19 and Sept. 12 and 13. Moon Mammoths games are also planned for the 2026 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.' Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Best 'Saturday Night Live' Characters of All Time Denzel Washington's Movies Ranked, From Worst to Best 70 Greatest Comedies of the 21st Century
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
John Oliver's Moon Mammoth rebrand of Erie's minor league baseball team draws record-sized crowd
A minor league baseball team in Western Pennsylvania drew big crowds and lots of attention on Saturday night. The Erie SeaWolves, a Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, became the Erie Moon Mammoths for one day only. This quirky rebrand comes after the team was selected by comedian John Oliver and his team at HBO's Last Week Tonight for the surprise transformation. Mayor Joe Schember even issued a proclamation, declaring July 19, 2025, Moon Mammoth Day, to celebrate the occasion, NBC News affiliate WICU reports. "The inherent eccentricity of minor league baseball is something that we felt a real affinity with," Oliver said. "The more we looked into it the more we thought there might be fun to have. And, once we put out the request for 'who would be down for rebranding,' it was not surprising but edifying to see just how many teams went 'yeah we'd be down for that.'" The SeaWolves had no say on their rebrand name or logo. The Last Week Tonight team dug into Erie's history to pick Moon Mammoths, a name inspired by the 1991 discovery of woolly mammoth remains in a local lake. Oliver threw out the first pitch at the game, which drew a record-setting crowd of more than 7,000 fans. The SeaWolves will don the Mammoths' branding three more times throughout the summer. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
