Sounds like a changing of guard

Out with the Kobe.

And in with the Joe.

In one corner of town Tuesday night, a fallen hero was being pushed to the door.

Booooo cried thousands of fans as Kobe Bryant was introduced at Tuesday’s Laker opener.

The boos drowned out his name. The boos followed his game.

The first time he touched the ball, boo. The first time he shot a free throw, boo.

In another corner of town, a new hero was being welcomed in his place.

Unless Frank McCourt whiffs on the fattest pitch in Dodgers history -- always a possibility -- Joe Torre is indeed coming to Chavez Ravine.

Sources say Torre should be announced soon as the new Dodgers manager, great news because of his resume, better news considering his baggage.

Yes, he could eventually be sending for an old friend named Alex Rodriguez.

It was a new day in Los Angeles sports, indeed, our two most celebrated franchises changing places and paces, the Dodgers speeding up into the carpool lane, the Lakers slowing down on to the shoulder, nothing as it seems.

The beginning of the Lakers’ season felt like an ending.,

The end of the Dodgers’ season felt like a beginning.

The Lakers’ opening 95-93 loss to the Houston Rockets was an exciting hello that sounded like a goodbye.

The opening boos no doubt stained the brain of a guy who never forgets.

Bryant has never been booed here like this. In fact, despite all of his controversy, he has never really been booed here, period.

It wasn’t all the fans who booed, but it was probably 75%, enough that it seemed to stick with Bryant the rest of the night.

Until the final frantic moments that featured a stirring Lakers comeback, Bryant threw up 32 sometimes wild shots, occasionally slowed the action to a halt, and rarely smiled.

When Phil Jackson said that he hopes that situation is resolved, “sooner than later,” consider Tuesday night a vote for “sooner.”

“I understand where they’re coming from,” Bryant said later of the booing fans.

At the end of the game, all the boos had become cheers, but those were for the Lakers as much as for Bryant.

The overall feeling at Staples Center surrounding Bryant was one of a guest who has overstayed his welcome.

Afterward, when told that Magic Johnson had said on TNT that he hoped the matter would be resolved within a week, Bryant shrugged.

“He’s the owner,” Bryant said. “He should know something.”

So the sky above Staples Center darkens . . . just as the stars above Dodger Stadium twinkle.

Make no mistake, Joe Torre will light up the joint.

“The minute he opens his mouth, people will listen,” said a source close to the negotiations. “He brings that team a credibility that it has been missing.”

That credibility was strained once again Tuesday in a conference call staged to clear the dugout for Torre.

Manager Grady Little claimed he was resigning for personal reasons, even though, in the final days of the season, he excitedly talked with me about managing next season.

General Manager Ned Colletti then claimed Little would still be the manager if he didn’t quit, which is interesting because sources say Colletti was negotiating contract with candidates before Little quit.

I didn’t actually participate in the conference call. When I phoned the number at the proper time, the line was repeatedly busy, one of many problems that often plague the rudimentary in-house conference call system that McCourt installed.

When I phoned the Dodgers, an employee told me that the line was overloaded, and suggested I watch the call on ESPN.

I’m sure Dodgers fans are thrilled I didn’t have a chance to ask any stupid questions. But their disingenuous comments spoke for themselves, not just in Los Angeles, but throughout a baseball world that once again is tittering at the Dodgers’ poor communication skills.

“The call should have been held on April Fools’ Day,” said one baseball insider.

This will truly be a marriage of one of baseball’s classiest managers with one of its clunkiest franchises.

But, hey, Joe Torre is used to it. When he took over the New York Yankees in 1996, they were also a mess, their owner was also considered a detriment, their public image was awful.

Four World Series championships later, the Yankees have returned to a seemingly permanent spot atop the baseball galaxy, and Torre deserves much of the credit.

Of course, he had plenty of help in recent years with Alex Rodriguez. Sources say Torre would not take this job unless McCourt promised to bring in a big-hitting third baseman, and Torre has told folks that Rodriguez could be the one.

Kobe who?

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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.