He grew up in Maywood, the son of postal workers, and he always loved one sport more than others...

"I had a wonderful childhood, and it all centered around baseball," he told Cigar Aficionado. "Baseball was my sport. I started out in the outfield, but I wanted to be part of the activity all the time, so I put on a few pounds and I became a catcher. That was my position, because I always loved being involved."

And who did he root for? The Cubs. He had a favorite player too.

"I grew up wanting to be like Ernie Banks. I was always imitating his hand movements on the bat."

When Franz became an actor he joined the Organic Theater in Chicago.

"We did play after play, and after we'd finish one, we'd talk about what we were going to do next. One of my friends from that time was Joe Mantegna. Joe lived near Wrigley Field, and we were all big Cubs fans. Joe suggested doing a play about Cubs fans and the mentality of Cubs fans. The play was about accepting the Cubs for what they are and loving them regardless, knowing that we will probably never see a World Series in our lifetime."

That's Dennis Franz.

And that's a Cubs fan.