Have the Moon Mammoths conquered the Earth?
They've at least staked a claim on the world of Minor League Baseball. The team rebrand created by the late-night comedy show "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver" launched last weekend when the Erie SeaWolves debuted their Erie Moon Mammoths identity.
Oliver's show aired its coverage of the big night on Sunday, revealing -- among other things -- that the team sold four years' worth of merchandise in three weeks.
"Last Saturday, they played their first of four games this year as the Moon Mammoths in front of a record crowd. I was there, looking happier than I've ever been," Oliver said on Sunday's show. "And I cannot thank everyone at the SeaWolves and at this show enough for working incredibly hard to pull off this ridiculous idea in a stupidly short timeframe. But I'm so happy that they all did, because it really was an amazing evening."
The SeaWolves will again suit up as the Moon Mammoths on Aug. 19, as well as on Sept. 12 and 13.
The Double-A affiliate of the Tigers was chosen from a field of more than 40 Minor League clubs who reached out to the show when Oliver issued a challenge: let us rebrand your team without any input or feedback from you. The show created the Moon Mammoths brand based on a 1991 incident in which area man George Moon was scuba diving in nearby Lake Pleasant and discovered the shoulder blade of a wooly mammoth, and 80 percent of that mammoth's skeleton was recovered.
Oliver and his crew were in attendance for the big night last weekend, with Oliver fulfilling various roles --throwing out the first pitch, working concessions, joining the broadcast, singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," vending in the stands and more.
The footage his crew gathered was cut together for the concluding segment of Sunday's episode of "Last Week Tonight," complete with voiceover narration by Bob Costas. The video did offer some "both sides" coverage of the temporary rebrand, with a take by a fan bedecked in SeaWolves gear.
"We are the SeaWolves. We aren't the MoonDogs," he emphatically said. On-screen text identified him as "Richard 'Red' Laurie, Lifelong SeaWolves Fan."
As the segment continued, Costas described Oliver's game-opening toss -- which sailed high and wide to bounce off the mitt of George Moon behind the plate -- as "an absolute disgrace of an opening pitch." The comedian's trot onto the field during his stint as bot boy was also mocked, as Costas said he displayed "the running form of a weak, frightened animal."
Perhaps the most poetic moment of the show's latest love letter to Minor League Baseball came from the man whose discovery inspired the Moon Mammoths.
"You never know, when you stick your hand down in the mud and pull something up, what you're gonna find," George Moon said in the segment's closing moments.
Fans have three more chances to find the Moon Mammoths for themselves this season.