Entertainment Sports Minor League Baseball Team Owners Split $600K Among Employees After Sale: 'My Jaw-Dropped' One employee, Scott Sailor, was given $46,000 after working for the Iowa Cubs for 23 years By People Staff Published on January 5, 2022 03:35PM EST Michael Gartner. Photo: Charlie Neibergall/AP Employees of a minor league baseball team in Iowa received the surprise of a lifetime when they were given bonus checks worth thousands of dollars just days after Christmas. According to the Des Moines Register, Michael Gartner, the longtime chairman and principal owner of the Iowa Cubs, invited the team's 23 full-time employees to a meeting on Dec. 28. The Cubs had just finalized a sale to new ownership and Gartner wanted to offer the team business cards, he told the employees. "Everybody kind of laughed and at that point just with his tone, we knew there was going to be more than just business cards," Iowa Cubs broadcaster Alex Cohen told the newspaper. Instead of business cards, inside envelopes given to employees were bonus checks worth $2,000 for every year they had been with the team. "It was pretty crazy," Cohen said of the reaction. "People were crying and shaking." What It's Like to Be in the Stands at a World Series Game Charlie Neibergall/AP In all, $600,000 was given out to employees, the New York Times reported. "My jaw dropped," Cohen told the Times. "It's an industry where you work really hard, and sometimes you don't get compensated like that." Gartner is a journalist and former president of NBC News, and has been with the team since he and a group of associates purchased it two decades ago, according to the Register. The team is affiliated with the MLB's Chicago Cubs. Former MLB Pitcher Jim Corsi Dead at 60 After Revealing Liver and Colon Cancer: 'Lost a Great One' The 83-year-old thought of the idea to surprise Cubs' employees before the team was sold to Diamond Baseball Holdings, which is part of the sports and entertainment company, Endeavor. Gartner pitched the gesture to the club's four other co-owners, who all were on board with the idea. One employee, Scott Sailor, was given $46,000 for the 23 years he has worked with the team, the Times reported. RELATED VIDEO: Boy Gets Excited After He Hits Baseball Shot "A lot of those people have worked for us for over 20 years, and they've helped us build a successful team," Gartner told the outlet. "They're just fantastic people." He added to the Register: "None of us gave it a second thought."