McCourts Losing War of Words

And, now, this latest postcard from McCourtmania ...

Fernando Valenzuela recently was flying to Vero Beach to resume work on the Dodger broadcast team.

The club issued him an economy-class ticket.

Derrick Hall, the vice president who brought Valenzuela back to the organization last season, upgraded it to a first-class ticket.

The next day, he was scolded for spending the money.

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Seven weeks into their ownership of the Dodgers, Frank and Jamie McCourt’s biggest need is not a power hitter, but perspective.

They don’t know what they have. They don’t know where they are.

All new sports owners bruise some toes while rearranging the furniture, so the McCourts aren’t particularly egregious or mean-spirited.

They’re just lost.

In his first day on the job, Frank McCourt said, “I want to re-energize the relationship between the community and the Dodgers.”

Since then, he has done nothing but damage that relationship with hollow rhetoric and public personnel battles that have threatened the beloved opening day buzz.

Remember opening day? It used to be a sort of local holiday, right?

Yet this spring, with an unimproved team existing in an unstable culture, it feels like just another Monday in April.

There are no new stars, no new stories, no new hope.

Many of these problems were inherited by the McCourts. But since taking control Jan. 29, they have clumsily dropped this city’s sports treasure from the frying pan into the fire.

“Anybody who gets to know us will know how much we care about baseball,” Jamie McCourt said Tuesday in a phone interview.

She could be absolutely right. But so far, they are known only for what they have said and have not done.

“I know I can provide the leadership this team needs to win.”

Frank McCourt said this at his introductory news conference. Since then, he has led only with his chin, either firing or abandoning his three top front-office types in three messy divorces.

He insulted former president Bob Graziano by saying Graziano wasn’t working on Presidents Day, when, in fact, Graziano was negotiating a contract settlement.

Jamie McCourt then publicly ripped Graziano and former business boss Kris Rone by saying they had only sold barely one-third of the club’s suites.

The one person who has long kept this rudeness behind the Dodger Stadium doors, Derrick Hall, was so frustrated he quit and gave up the remaining year of his contract.

Hall, who was upset that word of the Valenzuela ticket incident leaked, said it had nothing to do with his departure.

And it’s not as if the fans bought tickets to watch Graziano, Rone or Hall.

But for 46 years here, those fans have bought into the Dodger brand of dignity and grace, ideals that have been soiled by the publicly messy departures.

“I intend to act quickly and decisively in making changes necessary to get to our goal at fast as we can.”

Frank McCourt also said this at the first news conference. Soon thereafter, it became apparent that these quick and decisive actions would not involve the most important guy in the dugout.

Jim Tracy, in the final year of his contract, should have been given a one-year extension to avoid being perceived as a lame duck.

A manager is only as good as his clubhouse credibility, and Tracy has occasionally struggled in these areas even when he had a long-term deal. One can only imagine the clubhouse grumbling if the team gets off to a slow start, particularly with nine of its first 15 games on the road.

“We need some players, we’re going to get them, and we’re going to be decisive about it.”

Yes, McCourt also said this at his news conference, the brightest promise of all.

Yet recently he changed direction, saying that the idea of solving their problems with one more bat was “misguided.”

So, no, the Dodgers haven’t acquired any significant players. No, they don’t seem close to any deals.

And, yes, you wonder if McCourt is going to have the money if a player becomes available.

If you can’t afford to upgrade Fernando Valenzuela on a cross-country flight, how can you afford to upgrade at first base?

All of which has left new General Manager Paul DePodesta spinning, so to speak.

“Contenders? We have to believe we are,” he said Tuesday. “There are not any teams in our division that are slam dunks for 100 wins.”

The bosses have been quick to place the heat on the new kid -- “The most important thing we have done is hire an incredible person as the general manager.... My feeling is, it’s all up to the GM,” Jamie McCourt said.

Yet from the time the prospective owners tied Dan Evans’ hands behind his back this winter, this team has belonged to the McCourts, and so the Dodger face remains in their sunburned cheeks and wide eyes.

They’re not so much nasty as downright naive.

Boy, do they need a new face, and quick.

What the McCourts need is someone who understands the Dodgers, the community, and the brand under which it is all tied together.

They need someone who can give them the history, teach them the protocol, change the conversation to baseball.

They need someone who can help them understand that, compared to the 10 years it took the Dodgers to bring an embittered Valenzuela back into the organization, a first-class seat to match those enjoyed by the team’s other broadcasters is not so outrageous.

Usually everyone flies on the charter, so it’s rarely an issue or expense.

“We have no policy in place, so we were just conducting business as usual for Fernando,” said Jamie McCourt, who said she later agreed to Hall’s upgrade and wasn’t aware of any ensuing anger from her or her husband.

What the McCourts don’t need right now is one of their many Boston publicists and cronies.

What they need is a wise and savvy soul who can help them the way Tim Mead helped new owner Arte Moreno in Anaheim.

There was one more thing Frank McCourt said in his first news conference.

“I can’t tell you how cold it is in Boston.”

Seven weeks later, I can’t tell you how cold it is in Chavez Ravine.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.