By now you might have heard about the hysterically incompetent slapfight that broke out between two agents at the MLB Winter Meetings on Wednesday. It was easily the most eventful moment of a quiet week, narrowly edging out that acid-fueled press bacchanalia that I alone had the courage to microblog about, and it turns out that I might have seen more of it than anyone.
Yahoo's Jeff Passan got the fight rundown and was even able to obtain a grainy video of Happy and Slappy at a great distance.
While it remains unclear who the men were, context clues from two witnesses to the altercation indicated that the fracas, which featured at least one kick, a handful of wild haymakers and intervention from both a local sheriff and hotel security, happened after one player agent accused another of trying to poach a client. ...
There was lots of yelling and pushing, including the angrier man upping the ante significantly when he said, according to the witnesses, "I'm gonna burn your [expletive] house down!" One of the men, said the witness recording the video, seemed to be apologizing -- and then threw a punch to restart the fracas.
The witness account contains far more than what I saw in terms of violence, but it missed the lead-in, which I saw more or less by accident.
Here's what happened.
The Dolphin Resort's parking lot has a north-south orientation, with the valet lot to the south, a self-park lot facing the entrance and middle of the building, and an auxiliary self-park lot to the north. This last is where TV satellite trucks and most journalists staying offsite wound up parking. Its distance meant a leisurely stroll to the Dolphin main entrance, with full view of the northern conference room exits.
