Two members of the Milwaukee Professional Baseball Park
District have no problem with reports the team had three of its
players defer $1.5M in salary until after the season, according
to this morning's MILWAUKEE JOURNAL-SENTINEL. The stadium
board's Vice Chair, Craig Leipold, did not believe the deferments
were "relevant to our situation at all." The board's investment
bankers are currently seeking a lender for a $50M loan to the
team to help finance the new ballpark. Brewers officials said
the request to six players to defer pay "did not mean the team
was financially strapped," and one team source said the money
would become available in December and January (Kenneth Lamke,
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL-SENTINEL, 4/30). Brewers manager Phil Garner
was told the team did not have a cash flow problem, merely a
"cash flow misunderstanding" (USA TODAY, 4/30).
FIRE UP THE KIELBASA: The Brewers' weekend promotion,
lowering general admission to $3 and bleacher seats to $1 and
free parking to early arrivals, increased the three-day gate by
as much as 20,000. Team officials figure several more thousand
would have attended under better weather. Columnist Dale Hoffman
writes the foul conditions "bolstered the argument" for a
retractable roof for a new Brewers facility (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL-
SENTINEL, 4/30).
