CLARK'S HEART NOW HAS A DODGER BEAT.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

The Dodgers opened their winter workouts Friday morning with fresh grass on the diamond, a light blanket of clouds overhead and a sweet scent of renewal in the air. For the record, the first crack of fungo bat on ball, ringing in the new year, sounded at precisely 10:35 a.m.

It was a day when everybody enjoyed new life, made a fresh start, was granted a second chance, however much he'd disappointed Dodger Stadium fans in the past.

Even . . . Jack Clark?

``I'm glad you're here and I'm sure you're a nice man,'' a veteran of the Dodgers front office had said upon meeting the club's new hitting coach recently. ``But . . . Jack Clark?''

Clark had laughed at the staffer's discomfort.

``Are they going to boo me on opening day?'' he'd asked.

Understand this about the 45-year-old man whose presence in Dodger blue uniform No. 44 caused more than a few double-takes and ironic chuckles Friday: He knows his place in Dodgers history.

``People tell me I broke their heart,'' Clark said.

And understand this: The man who grew up in Covina as a Dodgers fan felt something special when he put on those doubleknits for the first time.

``It's something to be proud of when you wear this uniform,'' Clark said.

He was in the hitting coach's stance as he spoke, arms folded on a batting-cage rail, a stride from the very spot where he stood at that pivotal moment late in the afternoon of Oct. 16, 1985. He seems bigger now, thicker around the middle than he'd been that day as a St. Louis Cardinal.

It was impossible to stand there with him and not picture Tom Niedenfuer's fastball, Clark's wicked hack, his line drive exploding into the left-field bleachers, Pedro Guerrero spiking his glove in disgust, Tom Lasorda in tears in his clubhouse office, and the second-guessing that never quite died.

That day, when his three-run homer in the ninth inning of Game 6 of the National League Championship Series gave the Cardinals a 7-5 victory and the pennant, you couldn't have guessed Clark would ever be welcomed over to the other side by the Dodgers.

That happened in November, when new manager Jim Tracy named him to replace Rick Down as batting coach, after Clark spent a season as hitting instructor for the Dodgers' Single-A team in San Bernardino.

``It's kind of wild,'' said Dodgers right fielder Shawn Green, who had just moved to Orange County from the San Francisco Bay Area when Clark killed the Dodgers' pennant chances 15 years ago.

Clark had returned to baseball to manage Missouri's River City Rascals in the independent Frontier League in 1999, having been out of the sport following his 1992 retirement, fighting the money problems that cost him a home and an exotic cars collection.

Working with young players, he realized 18 seasons with the Giants, Cardinals, Yankees, Padres and Red Sox left him with experiences worth sharing.

Experiences like stepping to the plate with two out in the ninth, runners on second and third, and your team trailing by a run.

``Other people think about it and talk about it a lot more than I do. That was my job,'' Clark said. ``Yeah, when I hit that home run, it was a lot of frustration for L.A. fans. But when Kirk Gibson hit his home run, there was also a lot of joy. That's sports.

``You know what? I think Tommy made the right move (deciding not to walk Clark intentionally and challenge Andy Van Slyke). I don't think Neidenfuer made the right pitch.''

The first pitch was a fastball, out over the plate. The rest was history.

Now, Clark said, that at-bat, one of his 341 home runs in a major-league uniform, can serve as a lesson and inspiration for his pupils.

``All the work and all the BP, not just here but for your whole life, is to try to get to that moment. I just thank the Lord I got to that moment,'' he said. ``You might get to the playoffs or World Series, but a situation doesn't always develop. And if it does, you're not always the one who has the chance to come through or fail.

``I was blessed, but it took a lot of hard work. My lifetime experiences allowed me to get to that point.'' Tracy speaks of Clark's ``feeling for situations.'' Clark speaks of preparing for situations. And he sounds less like a muscle-headed slugger than a thinking man's hitter.

``First base was open, you had a right-hander up, there were two outs. I had to have my mind clear what I wanted to do. I was ready for fastballs. I wanted to get three swings and just try to hit the ball hard. I didn't try to hit a home run, didn't try to lift it, didn't try to be a hero,'' Clark said.

``I just told myself, whatever happens, be ready for a fastball. Try to get three good swings and try to drive this run in. We had a tremendous amount of speed on that club. We had Willie McGee on third and Ozzie Smith on second. A base hit on grass and those guys are going to score 99.9 percent of the time.

``If I can communicate that attitude to these guys, it's going to be exciting,'' Clark said as he watched a Dodgers hitter in the cage. ``I am excited.''

The thought of his home run serving as teaching aid for a new generation of Dodgers might seem a little weird. Of course, it's no weirder than the sight of Clark in a Dodgers uniform.

Jack Clark?

He might be a good fit.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Dodgers manager Jim Tracy watches practice with new hitting coach Jack Clark.

(2) Jack Clark, new Dodgers' hitting coach, returns to the scene of one of his biggest moments.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer