PHILADELPHIA — The Erie SeaWolves have a new alternate identity, thanks to the help of HBO’s "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver." After extensive research, say hello to the Erie Moon Mammoths — a tribute to a local fossil excavation that occurred in 1991.

The rebrand for the Minor League team, which serves as the Detroit Tigers’ Double-A affiliate and has played in Erie since 1995, was part of a recurring segment on the late-night show.

Here’s what we know.

How did we get here: Oliver encourages MiLB teams to email him

Last month, Oliver implored Minor League Baseball teams to email his show if they’d be open to a rebrand. The MiLB is known for its often-zany, sometimes completely unhinged team names and alternate names, branding, and theme nights, celebrating teams like the Rocket City Trash Pandas, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, and the Montgomery Biscuits. Its teams’ alternate identities typically also lean into the fun of it all (like the Phillies’ Single-A Clearwater Threshers swapping to the Clearwater Beach Dogs as its alternate identity).

On "Last Week Tonight," Oliver praised the minors’ wild themes and offered to help one team champion “the glorious eccentricity of the magnificent league they belong to.”

“That is where we come in,” Oliver said. “We are willing to use all of our resources and stupidity to give one Minor League Baseball team a total rebrand. We will give you a new team name. A new mascot. We will even throw you a theme night. It will be personalized and it will be bespoke.”

Oliver promised the rebrand would honor the selected team’s spirit, with a hard-line caveat: no questions and no take backs. “You can’t ask us any questions, give us any notes, and you have to do what we come up with,” he said. Teams flocked to social media and the "Last Week Tonight" inboxes asking for consideration.

Oliver announces SeaWolves selection following enticing email

Two weeks after Oliver’s initial pitch, he announced on "Last Week Tonight" that his crew had selected the SeaWolves as its rebrand project after having received more than 40 submissions.

“Congratulations to the SeaWolves, you’re about to be called something else,” Oliver said on air. “We are going to research your area and come up with a new name, mascot, and theme night for you that nobody else in the league has and that can only come from Erie. As per our original offer, you will get no input into this … You will take what we have and you will like it. All you have to do is sign your contract. I promise this is going to be great.”

The Moon Mammoths make their debut

Rocking his own new jersey and stepping onto a fake home plate, Oliver announced the SeaWolves’ new alternate identity on Sunday’s episode. He was joined by a Moon Mammoth mascot, Fuzz E. Mammoth, an electric purple take on the prehistoric creature wearing an astronaut helmet.

“As it turns out, you can’t keep a good mammoth down,” the show’s heavily produced cinematic trailer for the new team name said.

According to Oliver’s team, the name draws inspiration from Summit Township resident George Moon’s discovery of woolly mammoth remains while scuba diving in Lake Pleasant in 1991. Moon worked with a local anthropologist to identify the remains, which became known as the “Moon Mammoth” and are housed in the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg.

It’s one of the most complete specimens from the Great Lakes region, with 80% of its body intact. Now, it’s a baseball team name.

“I think we could have got with our staff in a room and come up with 50 different identities that all would have been very successful and good and well-received,” Erie team president Greg Coleman told MLB.com. “And we wouldn’t have ended up here.”

Coleman added that he thought Erie would embrace the new alternate identity even though neither he nor the team’s assistant GM had heard of Moon’s discovery until now.

“We’re one of the smallest markets in all of baseball … so we have to fight for everything we do,” said assistant GM Greg Gania, who also does play-by-play broadcasts for the SeaWolves. “It’s our job to help put Erie on the map, and this shines such a big light on a small community.”

When is the Moon Mammoths’ first game?

The SeaWolves will play as the Moon Mammoths for four games this season, debuting July 19 with Oliver expected to be in attendance and the alternate identity’s namesake, George Moon — who still lives in Erie — invited as a special guest. Tickets are on sale now.

The Moon Mammoths’ full schedule is:

—Saturday, July 19

—Tuesday, Aug. 19

—Friday, Sept. 12

—Saturday, Sept. 13

What about merch?

Unsurprisingly, there’s a bunch of it. MiLB teams’ alternate identities are a major merch play for teams.

The Phillies’ Single-A team, the Clearwater Threshers, went viral for its alternate identity, the Clearwater Beach Dogs. The alternate logo features a yellow Labrador in a very Florida getup, riding a surfboard.

In Erie, an assortment of purple hats, crew necks, hoodies, and a replica jersey is available for preorder on the team’s website. The swag ranges from $24 to $90.

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