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Whether you consider it a time-honored rite of spring, a spiritual / baseball rebirth or a justifiable excuse to get blitzed on a weekday afternoon, opening day has always been an unofficial holiday in Milwaukee.

Like so many holidays, the Brewers' home opener has taken a distinctly commercial turn. As a result, some long-standing traditions are being altered and many fans and tavern owners are unhappy.

First, a little background ...

A brutal winter, coupled with skyrocketing hope, hype and a handful of other factors have created a huge demand for tickets to the Brewers' game April 4 against San Francisco.

Simply put, there aren't enough tickets to go around.

"We've done the best we can to get at least some tickets to the people that have been so loyal to the ballclub over the years," said Tyler Barnes, the Brewers' vice president of communications.

"At the end of the day, we don't have a fraction of the inventory to match the demand. We could probably have three home openers and it still wouldn't be enough."

As recently as a couple of years ago, the biggest headache some fans faced on opening day was deciding which tavern outing to join for the afternoon. Several area bars offered packages that included a ticket to the game, a bus ride to the ballpark and often pre- and post-game parties.

With their popularity in the market surging, the Brewers began to push partial season ticket packages -- the nine- and 20-game packages that have become a significant source of team revenue. As an enticement for fans to buy those packages, the Brewers included tickets to the home opener.

That cut into the supply of tickets previously allotted to area taverns, and fans that have become accustomed to buying group packages at their favorite bar are finding out that they aren't available.

The Trysting Place Pub in Menomonee Falls is a prime example.

"We probably took 200 people to opening day and we've been doing it for about 20 years," manager Scott Mayhoffer said. "This year, they only offered us 48 tickets, so we decided we're not going to do it at all.

"We kind of feel like we got screwed. In the lean years, we always brought a big group. Now that the team is better, it's like they've forgotten about us."

Mayhoffer said the Trysting Place would plan a group outing for later in the season, but that it will likely be for a game at Wrigley Field in Chicago and not at Miller Park. Though some other bars are taking a similar stance, many are planning trips to the ballpark later in the season.

"Our group sales overall are up 25 percent over last year," Barnes said. "While we don't have as many groups at opening day, it's spilling into other games on the schedule. The group business here is extraordinarily strong.

"We certainly understand the frustration people are feeling about opening day. As demand goes up for the season packages, it puts a squeeze on the available inventory."

Chris Leffler, owner of Leff's Lucky Town, 7208 W. State St., knows a little bit about a ticket squeeze. For the past several years, Leff's has run a giant pre-game tailgate party complete with a giant tent, a band, food and toilet facilities.

Leffler, who has been involved with opening day parties for nearly a dozen years, began selling tickets to the 2008 opener and tailgate party through his Web site recently and was stunned by the results. The packages cost $78.50, up from $65 a year ago, and Leffler knew demand would be high.

He didn't imagine that the packages would sell out in 14 minutes.

"We sold 2,400 of them," Leffler said. "But, we only had 1,800 to sell. So many people got on so fast that the system got clogged. We ended up selling more tickets than we had. We had to refund money. I feel horrible and embarrassed by the whole situation. I've had to call and e-mail people to tell them that they don't have tickets even though they have confirmation numbers.

"I feel really bad about it. People have been calling the bar and calling my house. It's created a lot more ill will than goodwill."

On Saturday, Leff's will begin selling tailgate-only tickets for $53.50. In order to use them, fans must have their own game ticket.

That brings us back to the scarcity discussion.

"We probably could have sold (the packages) for $150 apiece, but that's not the idea," Leffler said. "We were very fortunate that our distributor, Miller Brands, was able to take care of us and get us the number of tickets that we had," Leffler said. "A lot of the bars who traditionally went through the Brewers found that tickets were tough to get."

Barnes called that phenomenon a "re-education process.

"I think our fans have seen the past few years with some of our marquee games that demand was starting to out-pace the inventory," he said. "It's nothing really new. The nine-packs have been there. It's not like we're sold out for the year.

"The demand has gone up for opening day, but there are a lot of other games on the schedule. It's a product of being in a good time for the Brewers."

When it comes to opening day, good times for the club don't necessarily mean good times for area bars.

"In a way, it's good and it's bad," Leffler said. "I feel bad for the bars that have been doing opening day for years. But, I'm glad that the Brewers are doing well. The Brewers are hot right now. They have to take advantage by of that by being able to sell the nine-packs and the 20-packs.

"I don't blame them for doing that at all. It just made it tough for a lot of people to get tickets to opening day."

Leffler said he was considering a solution to the problem.

"I'm thinking of doing a party for the second game on Saturday (April 5)," he said. "We could just leave the tents out there, have them clean out the port-a-potties and go at it on the second day, too."