Released on January 1, 1999, at the height of the historic 1998 home run race between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, this bear was specifically designed to honor the Chicago Cubs superstar. The poem explicitly details him "stepping up to the plate" and making his fans proud. It even served as an official giveaway at the Chicago Cubs Convention. Unlike standard solid-color Beanie Babies, Sammy features a beautiful pastel tie-dye plush fabric. Because of the way the fabric was cut, no two Sammy bears have the exact same color pattern, making your specific bear completely unique. For hobbyists who love collecting misprints, Sammy is legendary for mass-production typos. Standard variations include "Oakbrook" spelled as one word instead of two, "Gosport" misspelled as "Gasport", and an extra space before the exclamation point at the end of the poem ("fans in town !").