Sports Beanie Babies Article

Of the many themes and involvements of Beanie Babies produced by Ty, Inc, one of them has been professional sports. Beanies have been used both to represent and promote various sports.

Automobile racing

In mid-2007, 22 NASCAR-themed beanies were introduced. Some are now retired. These included Racing Gold (in varying colors) and:

• Mark Martin
• Kurt Busch #2
• Kyle Busch #5
• Clint Bowyer #07
• Kasey Kahne #9
• Denny Hamlin #11
• Ryan Newman #12
• Greg Biffle #16
• Matt Kenseth #17
• J. J. Yeley #18
• Elliott Sadler #19
• Tony Stewart #20
• Jeff Gordon #24
• Casey Mears #25
• Kevin Harvick #29
• Jeff Burton #31
• Jimmie Johnson #48
• Carl Edwards #99

Baseball

Giveaways

At some Major League Baseball games, various beanies have been given away to some of the fans. At games that had Beanie Baby giveaways, attendance greatly increased.

Beanies representing baseball players

• Mac the cardinal, in honor of Mark McGwire, introduced in 1999. A Beanie Buddy version later made was simply called Cardinal.
• Rocket the blue jay, in honor of Roger Clemens, introduced in 1998. A Teenie Beanie version was #5 in the 1999 series.
• Sammy the bear, in honor of Sammy Sosa, introduced in 1999. A Pillow Pal called Sherbert was introduced later the same year that was similar in style.

Addison

Addison the bear was first introduced at a Cubs game on May 20, 2001, a game at which the Cubs beat the Diamondbacks 6-5. A total of 10,000 were given away to children 13 and under. It was not until after this game that addison was introduced to retailers

Soccer

Kicks

Kicks the bear, introduced early in 1999, was the first beanie to represent a sport. A Beanie Buddy version of Kicks was made in 2000.

Champion

Champion was a bear made in 2002 in 32 versions, representing 32 countries in the World Cup. The version for any particular country was retired on the day that country was eliminated from the World Cup tournament. The hand tag of each Champion bear provided information on that country's team. All versions were introduced on April 4, 2002. None have birthdays.