TORONTO — It all started with a tweet.

Two of them, actually.

On Dec. 8 last year, during a Friday afternoon in the thick of MLB's offseason, Toronto-based freelance photographer — and proud Blue Jays fan — Carlos Osorio was scrolling through X (formerly Twitter) when he saw a flurry of social media speculation centered on Shohei Ohtani.

It began with one post tracking a private jet flying from Orange County to Toronto; one that online sleuths deduced must have been taking Ohtani to meet — or sign — with the Blue Jays, a known finalist in the sweepstakes for the free-agent star.

Then came apparent confirmation from an MLB Network reporter, who asserted that "Shohei Ohtani is en route to Toronto today," citing multiple unspecified sources.

With his curiosity piqued, and his Blue Jays fandom buzzing, Osorio decided to jump into action. He emailed his editor with Reuters, offering to drive to Toronto Pearson Airport to capture Ohtani's supposed arrival. He joined a pack of other photographers and autograph hounds who watched as the plane touched down at 4:23 p.m. local time, fully expecting Ohtani to soon be in his sights.

"Oh my god, here we go," Osorio thought to himself as he followed the plane's taxi to a hangar tarmac. "We're gonna have the first pictures of Ohtani."

When the door opened, however, it was Canadian businessman and television celebrity Robert Herjavec who descended the steps.

In a mix-up of epic, social media-fueled proportions, the reality of the saga suddenly became clear.

Ohtani wasn't on the plane, which was actually Herjavec's personal jet (the final characters of the plane's tail number, N616RH, reportedly correspond to Herjavec's initials).

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