AS FRIENDS LEAVE, PARK DOESN'T FEEL AT HOME ON MOUND.

Byline: Tim Brown Daily News Staff Writer

At 4 o'clock Monday morning, Chan Ho Park said goodbye to the Hanyang (Korea) University baseball team, which trained for the past two weeks at Dodgertown. He shook the hands of his friends, some of them his former teammates, and accepted a bat inscribed with the Hanyang logo and his name.

They went home, to South Korea, Park's native land, where he has not been in a year. He spent this winter playing in the Arizona Fall League, then in Los Angeles, where he took courses in English at West Coast University. A part of him wanted to tag along with the team, to see his parents again.

"For the first time," Park said, "I cried. I don't know why. I never cried before. Ever.

"It was very hard. Big sad."

So big, in fact, that Park found it difficult to concentrate later in the afternoon, during the Dodgers' second intrasquad game. Among the names prominently mentioned as the Dodgers' fifth starter, Park was erratic and hittable in his first spring impression. Standing on the mound, Park could not escape his thoughts of homesickness.

"Today is bad day," he said with a shrug and a forced smile.

He also feels the pressure of making the Opening Day roster. He spent all of last season in Albuquerque, where he found no Korean companionship or, for that matter, even a Korean restaurant. In Los Angeles, where there is a substantial Korean population, he at least could satisfy his culinary and cultural urges. In New Mexico, he would be lost again.

"A lot," he said with a sigh. "A lot."

He is only 22, and is competing with Pedro Astacio, Darren Dreifort, Joey Eischen and Mike Harkey for a position in the starting rotation. Monday's innings didn't help, but they hardly dashed his chances.

"I wanted to keep it low, but they were high," said Park, who allowed a home run to reserve catcher Tom Prince.

However, he said, "I can do that (make the rotation). I'm trying to do my best. There's a good chance this year. I have to be ready physically, mentally and fundamentally. I'm ready. Just, today . . ."

It was among the most difficult days since the Dodgers signed him out of Hanyang University two years ago. He'll start again today.

The Hideo tape: Hideo Nomo started for the visiting Dodgers on Monday and allowed two hits in two innings. He struck out Greg Gagne and Todd Hollandsworth with forkballs.

Nomo, speaking to two dozen reporters after the intrasquad game, called his fastball "normal," said it felt as if he "were pitching in the bullpen," and that his curveball, too, was "normal."

Asked if during this spring he felt less like a sideshow than during last season, when most wondered if he had major-league ability, Nomo said, "Well, I don't feel different myself. I think it is natural since I am a professional. I just don't want to play a game in which I will disappoint my fans."

Go out for a six pack: Right-hander Ramon Martinez, who figures to be the Dodgers' Opening Day starter, pitched the first two innings for the home team. Though he allowed six runs and frequently was up in the strike zone, Martinez had good velocity on his fastball, and appeared to have a decent feel for his breaking pitches. His fastball consistently registered in the low- to mid-90s on a fast radar gun.

Green fields and hams: Slightly tweaked hamstrings are becoming epidemic at Dodgertown. Third baseman Mike Blowers did not play in Monday's intrasquad game because of a sore hamstring. First baseman Eric Karros missed his second game because of the same ailment, and infielder Chad Fonville strained his hamstring early in Sunday's game. Karros said it would be "a few days" before he is able to play again.

Notes: When Tommy Lasorda puttered into Holman Stadium, driving a golf cart with his name written in script across the hood, the small crowd cheered, Lasorda waved his cap and the public address system blared, "Hail to the Chief."