Craig Sager’s faith in Cubs finally pays off after 35 years of betting on them to win the World Series

Years of positive thinking and an undying faith in his beloved Chicago Cubs have finally paid off for Craig Sager.

In his yet-to-be-released autobiography, "Living Out Loud," the much-loved sportscaster reveals that he has placed money on the Cubs to win the World Series every year since 1981.

“That's 35 years of losing bets,” he wrote, as seen in an excerpt tweeted out Thursday by his son, Craig Sager II. “In December 2015, I put down $1,000 for the Cubs to do it this year. You gotta think positive."

And we all know what happened 10 months later. The Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-7, on Wednesday night to clinch their first World Series championship since 1908.

Sager’s son tweeted Thursday that his father is finally “able to cash in after 35 years.”

A native of Batavia, Ill., Sager regularly attended Cubs games at Wrigley Field as a child and this year threw out a first pitch for the team. He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2014 and received his third bone marrow transplant this summer.

In December, the odds for the Cubs to win the World Series were around 6 to 1. Not sure how much Sager wagered in previous years, but it seems likely Sager has still lost more money than he’s won from the yearly ritual.

It also seems very likely that he doesn’t care one bit about that part.

charles.schilken@latimes.com

Twitter: @chewkiii