3 crazy things Cubs fans probably forgot from their last meaningful postseason berth

The Chicago Cubs are back in the postseason! It's something that, less than a decade ago, we had started to take for granted. After all, Joe Maddon's Cubs punched their playoff ticket in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. It was just the new normal on the North Side - one that would soon rudely be ripped away.

Of course, the Cubs made the playoffs in the shortened 60-game 2020 season, but with no fans and a raging global pandemic all around us, it didn't exactly carry the same weight. So, with the Cubs heading back to the postseason, let's look back at 3 crazy facts that remind us just how long ago 2018 - and the team's last entrance in the big dance - was.

Cubs' return to the postseason brings back memories of the 2018 season

Ian Happ was in just his second year in the big leagues

Next season marks Ian Happ's tenth season as an MLB player and he's now the seasoned veteran leader of the Cubs' clubhouse. Quiet and unassuming, yet remarkably consistent over the long-term, the former first-round pick has played a key role for Chicago both prior to and after the Jed Hoyer-led rebuilding effort.

Happ is also the last man standing from the team's 2018 postseason roster. Nico Hoerner debuted the next summer and the bulk of the core from that era was dismantled at the 2021 trade deadline. But when the Cubs last played October baseball, Happ was a baby-faced 23-year-old utilityman still learning the ropes of the big-league grind.

On the heels of an eighth-place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting the year prior, Happ went through a bit of a sophomore slump, but was still a league-average bat and saw regular time at all three outfield spots and third base - and even played a little second and first, to boot.

Daniel Murphy started at second for the Cubs in the Wild Card Game

You didn't think I would gloss over the unforgettable Daniel Murphy era in Wrigleyville, did you? Best remembered for his postseason heroics as a member of the New York Mets during the 2015 NLCS, the veteran infielder was picked up by the Cubs in late August - and he was solid for the club, putting up an .800 OPS down the stretch, filling in for Addison Russell, who was placed on administrative leave by the league in September due to domestic abuse allegations.

While you might think Ben Zobrist drew the start at second in the must-win NL Wild Card Game against the Colorado Rockies, it was Murphy who got the nod, with Zobrist starting in right against left-hander Kyle Freeland.

Murphy went 0-for-4 with a walk in the 13-inning loss and actually wound up signing with those same Rockies that December, inking an ill-dated two-year, $24 million deal. Murphy has been out of the league for five years now, giving you an idea of just how long ago the Cubs' last full-season playoff appearance was.

Yu Darvish was the team's big offseason signing

Although his season was cut drastically short by injury, the 2018 season began with high hopes after Theo Epstein doled out a six-year, $126 million deal to land Yu Darvish late in the offseason.

The right-hander immediately struggled and made just eight starts, posting a 4.95 ERA before he was shut down due to injuries that eventually ended his season. It was an inauspicious beginning to Darvish's Cubs tenure - and by the time he settled in, got comfortable and started dominating (finishing second in NL Cy Young voting in 2020), ownership slashed payroll and Jed Hoyer sent him to San Diego in the trade that netted now-top prospect Owen Caissie.

We could get a sort of full-circle moment in the postseason, though, as it's very possible the Cubs will host Darvish and the Padres in the NL Wild Card Series at Wrigley Field.