Fanfare, Expos Get to Park

The sound of Fernandomania is just a distant echo. Nomomania is just a murmur.

But Parkmania is growing louder by the game.

And that’s not always a good thing.

It certainly wasn’t Wednesday night.

After getting shelled by the Montreal Expos in a 7-3 Dodger loss Wednesday night, a loss that dropped the Dodgers 2 1/2 games behind the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants, Park said he had suffered from a lack of concentration caused, at least in part, by exuberant fans.

Park (10-6) was bombed for six runs and nine hits in five innings, the most runs he’s given up in a single outing this season, ending his career-high five-game winning streak.

Park’s concentration began to drift during his pregame warmup in the left-field bullpen. The bullpen at Olympic Stadium is built alongside the seats.

Those seats were filled with part of the group of 1,000 Korean fans who came from the Montreal area, as well as Toronto and New York, to cheer their hero.

They brought their signs and their banners.

They leaned out from stands while Park was warming up and begged for his autograph, or snapped his picture.

And when he stood on the mound and faced the Expos, they cheered him on.

“It was hard to keep my concentration,” said Park, who doesn’t usually hear the noise but did this time. “The pressure of it bothered me.”

Of course, the Expo bats also had something to do with Park’s problems. Montreal got to him early and effectively.

The Expos’ leadoff hitter, F.P. Santangelo, singled and the next batter, Andy Stankiewicz, doubled. With one out, David Segui singled up the middle to drive both home.

“It was just a night when Chan Ho didn’t have his stuff,” Dodger Manager Bill Russell said.

Former Dodger Henry Rodriguez appeared to blow the game open in the fifth inning by blasting a wrong-field homer to left, his 23rd home run, to boost Montreal into a 6-0 lead.

In the meantime, Montreal right-hander Dustin Hermanson (6-5), who had won only four games in the previous two seasons combined, blanked the Dodgers through five innings.

But in the sixth, they made a game of it.

At least Greg Gagne did.

With two men aboard, the Dodger shortstop hit a Hermanson slider into the seats in left field for his eighth home run, cutting the Expo margin in half.

“I got ‘em once,” Gagne said. “He gave me the pitch I was looking for.”

The Dodgers didn’t get many more against relief pitchers Marc Valdes and Dave Veres, Hermanson coming out after Gagne’s blow.

The Dodgers got two men aboard in the seventh inning, but Karros grounded out to first. They got a man on in the eighth, but Gagne grounded into a double play.

And they got the first two men on in the ninth, but Wilton Guerrero grounded out and Eric Anthony and Mike Piazza struck out.

The loss doesn’t figure to put much of a dent in Parkmania.

Korean fans are buying blocks of tickets in most cities, and cheering with their unique balloon sticks at Dodger Stadium.

And the craze is not just being felt in America. Park recently received a congratulatory telegram from the president of South Korea, Young Sam Kim.

Park routinely gets 50 to 100 fan letters a week from Korea, along with gifts ranging from CDs to clothes.

Park is thrilled with Parkmania. If only they’d hold the noise down a little when he’s trying to warm up.