Believe it, Cub nation. Your Cubbies are back in the playoffs.

You can stop pinching yourselves. What might have seemed so distant in the early months of the season has become reality.

The Cubs’ quest for their first World Series in 99 years begins tonight in the desert as they play the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 1 of the NLDS.

It hasn’t always been easy for the Cubs this season, but the hard part is over. In the postseason, anything can happen, and any team can emerge from the playoffs and get hot.

“I think we’re a confident baseball team right now,” first baseman Derrek Lee said in a story on Chicagocubs.com. “When you get in the postseason, in these big games, confidence goes a long way.”

The Diamondbacks have a roster loaded with young players – many of whom are in their rookie seasons – who lack playoff experience. One challenge the Cubs will face is going against Arizona starter Brandon Webb, one of this year’s NL Cy Young Award candidates. Earlier in the year, Webb compiled 42 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings, a franchise record. Webb will start Game 1 for the D-Backs against Carlos Zambrano, and will most likely start Game 5 if necessary.

After a sub-par start to the season, the Cubs, behind manager Lou Piniella and a core of veteran players, charged into the pennant race and maintained first place throughout most of September behind a recent power surge. Lee, Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez led the charge as the Cubs hit 45 home runs in September, second in the majors only to Milwaukee.

“We had some bumpy roads along the way,” Piniella said. “Our team has endured and these kids have played hard. We’ve been through a tough pennant race in the last six, seven weeks. I think that will pay some dividends for us in the postseason.”

Game 1 starts at 9 p.m., Game 2 will also be in Arizona at 9 p.m. Thursday. The Cubs’ first home playoff game is 5 p.m. Saturday.