NAMES NOW RESTORED.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

Normally at these introductory news conferences the visual highlight is a couple of new players trying on a jersey. Wednesday, at Dodger Stadium it was a new jersey trying on a couple of players.

Hard to tell what the club's management was prouder to show off, center fielder Juan Pierre and pitcher Randy Wolf or the Dodgers shirts that have undergone a slight but significant redesign for 2007 to restore players' names to the backs.

Cameras clicked and whirred as the pair slipped into their Dodgers togs, Wolf a No. 41 in home white and Pierre a No. 9 in road gray.

``Let's get one (a picture) with your backs turned, so we can see the names,'' a team publicist called out.

This time the camera noises were drowned out by satisfied ``Aaaaah'' from the Dodgers employees at the back of the Dugout Club restaurant as the free-agent acquisitions spun around to show the blue-lettered ``Wolf'' and ``Pierre'' across their shoulders.

``I can bark and roll over, too, if you want,'' Wolf said.

``We spent $62 million on mannequins,'' someone joked.

Pierre ($44 million for five years) and Wolf ($8 million for one year, plus an option year) will have to go some to be as popular as the return of the players' names is likely to be.

Dodgers uniforms had helpful names from 1972 (PeterO'Malley's third season in charge) until they were removed in 2005 (Frank and Jamie McCourt's second season). The McCourts said it had something to do with the old team-sports platitude about the name on the front meaning more than the name on the back.

Unfortunately it came off as the McCourts thinking they knew better than all of those executives from when the franchise was a consistent winner. One thing to presume to know more than Rupert Murdoch about the tastes of L.A. ball fans, quite another to presume to know more than the O'Malleys.

Making matters worse, '05 turned out to be not only a year of no-name Dodgers unis but also a year of no-name Dodgers, the regulars including Jason Phillips, Mike Edwards and Steve Schmoll. The team was fire-the-manager, fire-the-general-manager bad, and you didn't even know who you were booing.

Apparently, once a major-league team makes a sartorial change, it can't make another for two years. And so, right on schedule, the fashion felony has been headed off.

Vin Scully, who'd pleaded for the names to come back, will be thrilled. Wednesday happened to be Vin's 79th birthday.

``Frank McCourt says, `Whatever Vin wants, Vin gets,' '' said Camille Johnston, the Dodgers' senior vice president, communications.

Know who else likes the return of the names? A certain left-hander who grew up in West Hills (when it was Canoga Park), starred at ElCamino Real High and Pepperdine, and went to Dodgers games as a kid.

``I like it a lot,'' Wolf said. ``Going to Dodger Stadium, I always knew I had good tickets when I could read the names on the back of the uniforms.''

Which brings us to an actual discussion of the players the Dodgers ran up to the podium Wednesday.

Sometimes at these news conferences, you look at the new signings in their Dodgers caps and shirts and think, ``This is going to take getting used to.'' But Pierre and Wolf seem like, well, good fits.

Wolf, 30, hasn't pitched a full season since going 16-10 for Philadelphia in 2003, and had major elbow surgery in mid-2005. But the Dodgers have given him a relatively low-commitment contract, onethey can get out of after ayear if Wolf fails to pitch 180innings in 2007.

Wolf said he took the deal, instead of a multi-year offer elsewhere, to be part his hometown pitching rotation. He has a house in Calabasas.

``It's kind of surreal,'' said Wolf, who's made $23.7million in his career and can afford to act on sentiment. ``Here I am sitting next to Tommy Lasorda.''

Wolf's mother, Judy, lives in West Hills and manages everything for her son from his finances to his Boston Terrier, Merlin. She's thrilled to have him home.

``Do you know how it is when you have to buy the Baseball Channel because the Phillies are 2,000 miles away?'' Judy said. She expects to attend ``about 80'' Dodgers games a year.

Pierre, 29, is penciled in as leadoff hitter, pushing Rafael Furcal down to second in the order, even though Pierre was on base less than Furcal each of the past two seasons. GM Ned Colletti paid top dollar to get a younger version of Kenny Lofton for a position where the Dodgers needed to upgrade.

Pierre, an Alabama native, has his own reasons to feel at home in L.A. He won a fall-league title with the Lancaster Stealth in 1999, and is a member of the Lancaster JetHawks' Hall of Fame despite never playing for them. And the 45-65 stolen-base man relates to the Dodgers' historical emphasis on speed (although no Dodger has led the league in steals since Davey Lopes in 1976).

``Every chance I got when I came here (with Colorado, Florida and the Cubs), I'd talk with Maury Wills,'' Pierre said. ``He wouldn't give me a lot of tips, because he was on the other side. But he gave me some tips.''

To sum up, the new shirts look just right on Pierre and Wolf. Also, Pierre and Wolf look pretty good in the new shirts.

heymodesti(AT_SIGN)aol.com

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Photo:

(1 -- color) Randy Wolf and Juan Pierre wear the Dodgers' 2007 uniforms, which include the players' names.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer