A betting man says: Frank McCourt still doesn’t grasp the depth of the public’s disgust

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He doesn’t get. I’ll wager anything, he still doesn’t get it.

Even after Peter O’Malley uncharacteristically called on Frank McCourt to sell the Dodgers, he doesn’t see the resentment, doesn’t see the disgust, how he’s turned L.A.’s prized franchise into a national laughingstock.

McCourt is insulated from the real world with his wealth and bevy of yes-men and celebrity.

He must be truly mystified that O’Malley would say: ‘In my judgment, it would be best for the franchise and the city if there was new ownership.’

McCourt looks at the trips to the postseason, to the stadium improvements, the way the team is making money, how he’s warmly greeted by fans, and figures the Dodgers under his ownership are a raging success.

He walks from his box seat next to the dugout along the back wall toward the private club beneath the stadium, and fans call his name, shake his hand, ask for his autograph. I saw this happen again at the last homestand.

I just don’t think he grasps the depth of the anger that most Dodger fans are experiencing as the lunacy of his stewardship has slowly been revealed during his contentious divorce.

Raping the team of $100 million for private use, the obscene personal lifestyle, the plan to cut team payroll, the Russian faith healer/psychic, the labyrinth tax dodges, paying his personal lackey a $400,000 salary out of the team charity, his admitted lie of family ownership … it’s all too much for those who have loved this franchise.

So much that it finally has proven too much for O’Malley. I promise you, he did not speak out without giving it great thought. It had to pain the private O’Malley, but then that demonstrates just how pained he’s been to watch this spectacle unfold.

‘For many years, the Dodgers have been one of the most prestigious institutions in our city and throughout professional sports,’ O’Malley said. ‘Sadly, that is not the case today.

‘The Dodgers are a jewel and earned that reputation not just based on winning games, but on how the franchise was managed.’

It will be interesting to see if O’Malley, saying publicly what most everyone has thought, will sway public reaction. The obvious outrage, really, has been disappointingly minimal.

Because you know McCourt has his own plan. It’s to win the court procedure declaring him sole owner. To unearth additional investors to help him stem the tide until the team broadcasting contract expires in 2013. To use the Dodgers for his next financial scheme and then pass them onto his sons.

Everything else, a momentary firestorm. That’s my wager.

-- Steve Dilbeck