TOKYO — Andy MacPhail couldn't help but reminisce Sunday when he took his first look inside the Tokyo Dome.
"It's like dj vu all over again," he said.
Nicknamed "the Big Egg," the Tokyo Dome is modeled after the Metrodome, the sterile home of the Minnesota Twins. MacPhail was general manager of the Twins from 1986-94.
"To be honest with you, they did a better job," said the Cubs' president. "This is a Metrodome built for baseball as opposed to a Metrodome built for football, which they have in Minneapolis."
While the Tokyo Dome lacks the novelties that have become standard in new ballparks in the United States, it is different in at least two ways. The netting that protects fans from foul balls behind home plate wraps almost all the way from first to third base at the Tokyo Dome. And the dugouts have two rows of seats rather than one long bench.
"Why didn't we think of that?" MacPhail said.
With Ed Lynch staying home to keep in touch with other general managers, MacPhail joked that he is the "junior GM. But there isn't much damage I can do."
The Cubs' 25-man roster is set, but it will change over the next two weeks after Ismael Valdes, Willie Greene and Glenallen Hill come off the disabled list. Although the Cubs and Mets will start the season Wednesday, five days before the other teams, MacPhail said the Cubs are not at a disadvantage.
"We're actually fortunate that we play these two games," MacPhail said. "With all the off days, we have a lot of flexibility with the roster. If we get our guys back healthy and on the field, I see it as a minor blip on the screen."
He belongs: Cole Liniak didn't figure to have much of a chance to make the Opening Day roster when spring training began. The Cubs not only had Shane Andrews, they signed Greene in the off-season.
Although logic told him he was third string, he never believed it.
"For me the key is to always keep it positive," he said. "My friends would ask me, `What's up with Willie Greene?' I'd say, `I don't know. Do you want me to call the GM and ask him?'"
Liniak didn't do that. He put all his energy toward making the team, which meant practicing at shortstop and second base so he could win a job as a utility infielder. Liniak did just that.
"I feel like I can help this team when we have double switches," he said. "I can move throughout all nine innings. I'm young, I'm ready to go and I'm going to bust my [tail]."
Homeward bound: The Cubs knew Julio Zuleta had no better than a 50-50 chance to be admitted to Japan for the season-opening trip. But that didn't make it any easier when they had to leave him behind in San Francisco because of a problem with his visa.
"That was disheartening for me," manager Don Baylor said. "The guy makes the club, it's his first time in the big leagues and you have to leave him at the gate."
Zuleta was set to take the place of Hill, who is on the disabled list with a pulled groin muscle. Catcher Jose Molina will be the 25th man instead.
Crowd pleasers: Leon Lee knows all about the Yomiuri Giants. He played against them for 10 years.
"Every team wants to beat the Giants," said Lee, the Cubs' Pacific Rim coordinator. "They dress a little sharper and their shoes [are] a little shinier."
The Cubs will get their shot at the Giants in an exhibition game Monday. Andrew Lorraine will start.
