TOTALLY RANDOM

The deification of sports figures continues, this time in Pittsburgh. A regional commission approved plans to name a street near Heinz Field after former Steelers coach Chuck Noll, who led the team to four Super Bowl titles. Nearby, streets are already named in honor of Hall of Famer and Pirates star Bill Mazeroski, the late Steelers owner Art Rooney Sr. and former Pitt football star Tony Dorsett.

In Boston, there’s the Ted Williams Tunnel; in Green Bay, a Vince Lombardi middle school; and in Austin, Texas, a subdivision called Ty Cobb Place.

Perhaps the most extreme memorial for an athlete, however, occurred in the picturesque town of Jim Thorpe (pop. 4,800) in eastern Pennsylvania. This former mining community, once known as Mauch Chunk, was suffering a severe economic downturn when Thorpe, the former Olympic and football star, died in 1953. Thorpe had no connection with the town, but officials negotiated a deal with his widow to have Thorpe’s remains buried there and the town was renamed after him in hopes of drawing tourists.

It didn’t work and Jim Thorpe, the town, slipped into obscurity. Only in recent years did Jim Thorpe’s attractive Victorian residences, and its modest real estate prices, lure New Yorkers who were shopping for bargain weekend homes.

Trivia time

Who is the oldest living former undisputed heavyweight boxing champion?

Grapefruit League inflation

We’re in the worst economy since the Great Depression, prices are nose-diving and the term disinflation is back in vogue.

So it’s comforting to know that in Florida, ticket prices for Red Sox-Yankees spring training games are skyrocketing like Nasdaq stocks of the late 1990s.

The Red Sox froze ticket prices this year, so tickets for their March 13 game against the Yankees in Fort Myers cost $10 to $46 -- but on Stubhub.com, those tickets are being resold for $16 to $299. Meanwhile, the sticker shock is worse for the March 24 game in Tampa. Those Yankees tickets, originally $17 to $31, are priced at $36 to $555.

Fortune cookie time

The Yankees are 4-1 favorites to win the 2009 World Series, according to beted.com, followed by the Red Sox and Cubs at about 8-1, with the Angels about 9-1. Meanwhile, the Dodgers are 20-1, although that sounds as if they’re betting on Manny Ramirez playing here.

Trivia answer

Muhammad Ali, 67.

And finally

From David Letterman’s Top 10 messages left on Alex Rodriguez’s answering machine:

“It’s Madonna. You got a phone number for Jeter?”

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barry.stavro@latimes.com