I like Juan Pierre more now than I did four months ago.

So do Dodgers fans.

There is something a bit odd, actually, going on around Juan Pierre.

He has become something of the Official Pet/Mascot of the 2009 Dodgers. As far as fans are concerned.

At the Dodgers’ game on Wednesday (the already famous Manny Bobblehead Slam night), Juan Pierre came onto the field a bit before gametime to warm up in the outfield. He was starting ahead of Manny, who had been hit by a pitch the night before.

It wasn’t as if Juan Pierre was the only guy out there. But as soon as he got into the outfield to do some sprinting and stretching, applause began.

At first I wasn’t sure what the cheering was about. Then it became clear that fans in the quickly filling stadium had identified Juan Pierre (no one else on the club looks quite like him, a little guy in a uniform meant for a much bigger man) and were applauding him. Just for being out there, getting ready.

Why should that be? Two answers: The fans’, and my own.

Dodgers fans seem to have taken to Juan Pierre like they never have before … because of how well he played during the 50-game Manny Ramirez suspension. In those 50 games, all of which Pierre started, he hit .318 with 32 runs and 21 RBI. He was particularly hot early in the Manny suspension, when expectations/fears of a flop by a Ramirez-less lineup were deepest.

At the end of the stretch, Juan was headed back to being Juan Pierre — a few slap singles, not much else.

But fans now recognize him as the former everyday player who was shunted aside by the arrival of Manny, asked to step up when Manny was caught cheating, and did so … and then seemed to fade back to the bench without complaint. And fans respect that, and like that, and they have decided they like Juan Pierre. Enough, even, to forget that the Dodgers foolishly committed $44 million to him for five seasons. (Which was Ned Colletti’s fault, after all, not Juan’s.)

I respect Juan Pierre more now than I did before because I like the way he plays and what a guy like Juan Pierre represents.

Juan Pierre is a smallish man. Thin as a whippet. And about as fast. And not much stronger.

Juan Pierre has severely limited physical gifts. He can’t hit for power. At all. Not only is he unable to put a ball over the fence, he barely has what we call “gap” power. His doubles and triples … almost all are about his legs. He steals bases. Though he gets caught almost too often (about 25 percent of the time) to make it an intelligent strategy.  And he has a subpar arm. One of the worst in the major leagues, actually. He also runs circuitous routes to fly balls. In short, he is a bad defensive player.

But … but …  Juan Pierre respects the game. To the point that he runs out everything. That his head is always in the game. That he knows something about its history. (He was named after Juan Marichal, for goodness sake.) That he doesn’t take shortcuts and cheat. This is not a guy who has failed a drug test or is ever likely to do so. If you’ve seen him coming out of the shower, it is to marvel that a man that wispy can play in the major leagues.

So, at the end of the day, Juan Pierre is as good as Juan Pierre possibly can be. Like a David Eckstein. And I respect that. He plays the game the best he can, he doesn’t cheat, and (of late, anyway) he doesn’t mope and whine about his playing time.

I like a guy like that … and it pleases me that fans are applauding him. Even if their reasons aren’t quite the same as mine.