The Los Angeles Dodgers were following Shohei Ohtani's career long before he arrived in Major League Baseball with the Angels.
In 2016, Andrew Friedman asked Adrián González to bring a care package to the Japanese baseball star. González was playing for Team Mexico and traveled to Japan for a few games against Team Japan before the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
González detailed the viral moment in an interview with AM 570 Radio.
"Ohtani was playing in that tournament and so Andrew (Friedman) and company said, 'Hey, if we give you a care package for him, will you present it to him because we cannot pursue him? It's against the rules, but you as a person can obviously take whatever you want to any player.'"
The former Dodger presented the bag to Ohtani along with a personalized Mexico jersey.
In return, Ohtani gifted González with a signed jersey of his own, and the retired first baseman has it at his home.
Major League Baseball did warn the Dodgers about potentially tampering with Ohtani but there wasn't a punishment.
The Dodgers didn't get Ohtani the first time around despite González's best efforts, but they have the two-way superstar now and that's what matters for the next 10 years.
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