During one of our recent Twitter contests, we asked followers to post a picture of their favorite Topps baseball card. There were tons of the usual responses with pictures of cards featuring childhood heroes like Roberto Clemente, Gary Carter, and Ken Griffey, Jr. But, amidst all of the typical replies, one stood out. It was Donny Racz’s.

As you can imagine, when followers are posting pictures of baseball cards featuring current stars and some all-time greats, this picture stands out in the crowd.
Once I saw the picture, the name on the card, and the lightbulb went off in my head reminding me what the premise behind the Stadium Scenes insert set was, everything clicked.
This was his favorite card because it was essentially HIS card.

These were the basic submission rules to the contest:
INSTAGRAM –™Eligible Entrants can enter the Contest during the Submission Period by submitting (posting with your personal Instagram account) a photo showing the action in the field or stadium from a 2014 regular season Major League Baseball game (the “Theme”). All Contest photo/video submissions posts must include the™hashtag, #ToppsLive, in order to be eligible. Submission of a Theme-applicable photo (with the proper hashtag) is a mandatory part of entry. Each photo submission will receive one (1) Entry into the Contest.

So, I asked Donny if he’d be willing to answer some questions about the Topps contest and the process by which his photo was selected and he politely agreed.
How did you find out about the Topps contest?
It was an Instagram contest.
Did you have any gut feelings once you submitted your picture?
I thought it was a good picture but I didn’t have my hopes up. I was afraid that since it had a player and his kid in it they would not be able to publish it.
How were you notified that you were selected as a winner and do you remember what you were doing or any thoughts that ran through your mind?
I don’t use Instagram much so I almost missed the notification. And it was also not the best quality photo at the time so I thought that might come into play also. I always used the lowest setting on my camera to get the most photos. I definitely don’t do that anymore. They were supposed to select something like 20 or so cards. Only 18 or so had confirmed and only 16 or 17 were actually printed. I’m glad I saw the message. A few others missed out. I don’t remember what I was doing, but I told everyone.

Did you receive any sort of compensation from Topps for the photo?

All of the people chosen also got a special refractor set of Stadium Scene cards. I’m curious to know how much they would be worth. I’m not even sure anyone even knows they are out there.

Any stories you can add….has anyone ever asked you for an autograph, etc?

Most of my family wanted an autographed card. Someday I want to go get David Herandez to autograph one for me. By the time I get around to it, his kid will also be able to autograph it. Anytime I have team building exercises where they ask to name something no one else would know about you, I always throw it out that I have a baseball card. It’s still neat to Google my name and that’s what shows up.



See the complete rules to the contest here.



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