Text messages from press row...

It’s easier to understand now why the Texas Rangers refused to package Derek Holland in a trade for Roy Halladay. . . .

Holland’s three-hit shutout against the Angels in only his 12th major league start brought to mind Bobo Holloman’s pitching a no-hitter for the St. Louis Browns in his first -- in 1953. . . .

Holloman’s career record: 3-7. . . .

Probably not even Usain Bolt would have beaten the throw to the plate Sunday on the popup that Manny Ramirez inexplicably tried to score on against the Atlanta Braves. . . .

Andre Ethier and the slumping Dodgers, 23-22 at Dodger Stadium since their club-record 13-0 start, might wind up in a down-to-the-wire division race after all. . . .

They’re 17-16 overall since Ramirez’s return last month. . . .

Tiger Woods, uncharacteristically, has been at his least impressive this year in the major championships. . . .

If the winner of Sunday’s Bridgestone Invitational doesn’t win the PGA Championship this week at Hazeltine, he’ll end the year without a major victory for the first time since 2004. . . .

College football’s preseason prognosticators have spoken: Among teams that do not have Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford or Colt McCoy at quarterback, USC is a virtually unanimous No. 1. . . .

Glass half full, Part 2: In the USA Today preseason coaches’ poll, UCLA earned more votes than any other team that lost as many as eight games last season. . . .

Hey, it’s a start. . . .

The last No. 1 pick whose team advanced beyond the second round of the NBA playoffs during his rookie year was James Worthy, who enlisted the considerable aid of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jamaal Wilkes, Norm Nixon, etc., in helping the Lakers reach the NBA Finals in 1983. . . .

The NFL draft’s move to prime time is not good for everybody, notes reader Jim Crowell of Dana Point via e-mail: “Now when the first round starts on a Thursday, most of us on the West Coast will still be at the office or sitting in traffic, which is not the same as hanging with friends and drinking a beer!” . . .

Speaking of beer and drafts, Team Marketing Report reveals that the highest price in baseball for a small cerveza pulled from a tap is $8.75 at San Francisco’s AT&T; Park . . .

The lowest price -- $4 -- is found at Chase Field in Phoenix. . . .

En route to the Super Bowl last season, Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals were 3-7 outside the NFC West. . . .

Pro Football Hall of Fame member Bob Hayes averaged a touchdown every 5.2 catches, which sounds even more impressive when you consider that Jerry Rice averaged one every 7.8. . . .

In a recently published book, “The 100 Sporting Events You Must See Live,” author Robert Tuchman lists two Southland attractions: the Rose Bowl at No. 26 and, at No. 49, a USC-UCLA basketball game at Pauley Pavilion. . . .

Neither a Lakers game, a Dodgers game, a USC-Notre Dame football game nor even a skin-baring beach volleyball tournament were among the Southland staples not deemed worthy of the top 100, but these events were: Professional Bull Riders World Finals, Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, Westminster Dog Show, a Tennessee women’s basketball game, the Iditarod. . . .

Topping the list: the Masters. . . .

John Jackson Sr., USC’s offensive coordinator during an era that produced Heisman Trophy winners Charles White and Marcus Allen, will be inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame on Sept. 26 at Stevens Steak House in City of Commerce. . . .

Jackson, whose son John Jr. is a broadcaster and former USC receiver, was Jerry Buss’ boxing promoter at the Forum for more than 10 years, staging 85 world championship bouts. . . .

Speaking of the Forum, the Lakers offered season seat-holders a chance to sit in their old seats -- at 1999 prices -- when Kobe Bryant & Co. return to the club’s former Inglewood home for an Oct. 9 exhibition against the Golden State Warriors. . . .

Elizabeth Buckley of Westchester, a reader with a long memory, e-mails to ask of former Times staffer Ross Newhan, co-owner of the Foothill Fruit Stand in Corona, “When Ross takes a vacation, would he allow Tony LaRussa to manage?” . . .

In 1985, Buckley reminds, then-Chicago White Sox outfielder Tom Paciorek famously said of his not-yet-venerated manager, “Tony LaRussa couldn’t manage a fruit stand.”

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jerome.crowe@latimes.com