Brewers Lobby Selig

MILWAUKEE (WI) -

In an unprecedented move, Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio lobbied MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to suspend all Milwaukee Brewers games until further notice.

"I have requested that Commissioner Selig summarily halt Major League Baseball games involving the Milwaukee Brewers franchise," Attanasio said in a prepared statement. "Our hope is that this suspension will last until late August or early September. The Brewers as an organization actually halted operations on Tuesday of last week, in hopes that the Commissioner would suspend the road games in Cincinnati and St. Louis, but the request was not acted upon at that time."

Attanasio refused to give a reason for the bizarre request, but team insiders, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the negotiations, cited multiple reasons.

"We obviously aren't playing good baseball, and have the Mets and Phillies coming to town," said the official. "Plus, Sheets is obviously hurt until at least late August. We obviously need him. That's a recipe for another disasterous week. Better to just shut the team down for a while. Obviously. Plus, I need time to get the timing down on my high leg kick, which obviously is not working for me right now."

The biggest reason for the request? If the Brewers don't play, they might actually increase their lead in the NL Central.

"Look at what happened tonight - the Phillies beat the Cubs 4-1, and the Brewers' lead in the division swelled to a game," said another team source. "That doesn't happen if the Brewers play - they'd lose and the lead would stay the same, at best."

At least with the Brewers not playing, they've got a "fighting chance" of gaining ground, according to the source.

The Commissioner's office issued a statement late Monday indicating that Selig would review the request and decide on the issue on Tuesday after "careful deliberation."