While growing up in Chicago, Tom Bosley dreamed of becoming the star left-fielder for the Cubs.

He was 11 when the Cubs faced the Yankees during the 1938 World Series. That series featured Dizzy Dean's last stand, Lou Gehrig's last game, and Joe DiMaggio's dagger home run into the Wrigley Field stands.

Bosely was in the Navy when the Cubs faced the Tigers during the 1945 World Series. By then he knew his baseball dream would never come true (He told TV Guide in 1976 that his dream was ended simply by being "too short, too heavy, and not very good at sports"). As it turned out, the closest Bosley got to organized athletics was a sportscasting class at DePaul University after the war. After additional training at the Radio Institute of Chicago and two years' practical experience in various dramatic radio programs and stock companies, he left for New York in 1950.

But he never lost his love of the Cubs.

Even during the glory years of Happy Days when he lived in Los Angeles (where he still lives) and had season tickets to the Dodgers, he always rooted for the Cubs. "Tommy Lasorda still gives me grief and yells at me for being a Cubs fan," he told People Magazine in 1979.

He put his name where his mouth was by becoming a member of the board of directors for the Die Hard Cubs Fan Club.

Tom Bosely turns 82 years old on October 1, 2009.

Will the Cubs reward his 70+ years of fandom with an October present, or will Bosely spend another birthday saying "Wait til next year?"