DODGERS NOTEBOOK: NO ILL WILL FOR IZTURIS.

Byline: TONY JACKSON  Staff Writer

CHICAGO -- One day after coming off the disabled list, where he spent three weeks with a strained right hamstring, and three hours before the opener of a three-game series with his former club, Chicago Cubs shortstop Cesar Izturis stood in the outfield grass on Tuesday talking with a handful of teammates, past and present.

The conversation lasted at least half an hour, and the smile never left Izturis' face.

In other words, he looked like his old self. Like the electrifying defensive wizard who won a Gold Glove for the Dodgers just two years ago.

``I have my position back,'' Izturis said. ``That's where I belong.''

It might be where he belongs, but Izturis wasn't going to play shortstop, at least not regularly, anytime soon in Los Angeles. By the time he came back from reconstructive elbow surgery on June 20, the Dodgers had signed Rafael Furcal -- who will never match Izturis defensively but blows him away at the plate -- to a three-year, $39 million contract.

So with some coaxing, Izturis agreed to move to third base. But even that was cast into doubt a month later, when the club acquired Wilson Betemit from Atlanta. So, with a chance to get future Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux from the Cubs, Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti did Izturis the favor of trading him on July 31 to the National League's worst team.

For which Izturis is eternally grateful.

``I understood what the situation was,'' Izturis said. ``I talked to the Cubs when I came here, and they told me they wanted me to play shortstop. I don't have anything against the Dodgers' organization. They treated me well during the years I played there.

Lucky bounce: The Dodgers have won the coin toss, which took place at the league office, for home-field advantage in a potential one-game playoff for the NL West title against either San Diego or San Francisco. No coin toss has yet taken place for a wild-card tie, but it will at a later date if it looks like it might be necessary.

If the Dodgers finish tied with the Padres or Giants atop the division and both clubs are guaranteed playoff berths, no one-game playoff will be held to determine the actual division winner. Instead, a tiebreaker formula will be employed to determine playoff seeding.

Pushed back: Pitcher Chad Billingsley's scheduled simulated game, to test his strained left oblique, was postponed until today due to inclement weather here.