I spent a week at Spring Training 2020 in Arizona with Topps, while I was managing another team out in Florida at the same time—all with the goal of leveraging Topps’ team and player relationships to create interview content for the upcoming MLB season. This was February, 2020, so shortly after, the pandemic hit and the season was paused (see #ToppsTogether post for our covid pivot). But we were able to salvage a bunch of footage to use throughout the year, and into 2021.
My favorite clip is above—a 2021 Opening Day Scouting Report we did with the players in support of Topps’ Home Run Challenge cards. Wait for the end, it’s straight jokes. And below, check out a couple other pieces I put together with our in-house editor for the delayed 2020 Opening Day, Father’s Day, and National Baseball Card Day.
Overall, this was an incredible experience for me—not only prepping for a nonstop week of shoots and interviews in two different locations simultaneously with some of the biggest names in baseball for the biggest brand in sports collectibles, but figuring out how to pivot from our original mission once the pandemic hit and other factors like timing and player deals came into play. But through all the challenges, it was a home run for Topps.