Gwynn indirectly received exposure from scouts watching SDSU that were interested in Meacham, who would become a first-round pick in 1981. Gwynn had started the baseball season late in 1981 as the basketball team was still competing, and some scouts had already seen enough of Meacham and stopped following SDSU. Also on the Aztecs baseball team was Casey McKeon, son of Jack McKeon, who was the San Diego Padres general manager at the time. Given his son's involvement, McKeon often went to Aztecs games. He was initially interested in seeing Meacham, but became more impressed by Gwynn after seeing him at an exhibition game between the Aztecs and Padres; Gwynn had just re-joined the baseball team five days earlier.