Text messages from press row...

Randy Wolf won’t be the first former Pepperdine pitcher to start the opening game of a major league playoff series. . . .

In 1986, Cy Young Award winner Mike Scott outdueled Dwight Gooden in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, helping the Houston Astros defeat the New York Mets, 1-0, in the Astrodome. . . .

Scott also won Game 4 and was named MVP of the series even though the Astros lost in six games. . . .

Matt Holliday of the St. Louis Cardinals is the Manny Ramirez of 2009, the midseason pickup of the year. . . .

Albert Pujols and the Cardinals are favored to meet the New York Yankees in the World Series, according to odds posted at bodog.com and BetUS.com. . . .

Andre Ethier and the Dodgers are the third pick in the National League, the Angels the third pick in the American. . . .

Here’s something else for Chone Figgins and the Angels to ponder: No team since the 1998 Yankees has parlayed the largest season-ending divisional lead into a World Series title. . . .

Watching Alexi Casilla and the Minnesota Twins eliminate the Detroit Tigers in a nail-biting tiebreaker Tuesday reminded that the Dodgers and Angels were involved in the two most lopsided one-game playoffs since baseball expanded its playoff format in 1969. . . .

In 1980, the Dodgers lost to the Astros, 7-1, and in 1995 the Angels fell to the Seattle Mariners, 9-1. . . .

The endless diva drama surrounding Brett Favre may have grown stale, but watching him play has not. . . .

He’ll face his former team again Nov. 1 at Green Bay. . . .

Peyton Manning has never been more impressive, but brother Eli leads what many believe is the NFL’s best team. . . .

Reader Bill Mouzis of Lake Balboa, identifying himself as Chick Hearn’s original radio engineer, e-mails to ask, “What do you call a Detroit Lion with a Super Bowl ring?” . . .

“A thief.” . . .

With Tim Tebow recovering from a concussion, Sam Bradford nursing a shoulder injury and the New York Jets 3-1, Mark Sanchez spends no time second-guessing his decision to leave USC. . . .

Comedian Bill Maher, after Chicago lost out to Rio de Janeiro in bidding for the 2016 Olympics: “For the Olympic Committee, it really came down to one simple question: Where do you want to spend your summer vacation, the land where supermodels invented the bikini wax or the land where fat guys invented deep-dish pizza?” . . .

If nothing else, the apparent dissolution of the Greg Norman-Chris Evert union after only 15 months gives Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian a reachable number to beat. . . .

Tyus Edney would be greeted with a thunderous ovation Saturday at the Rose Bowl if, when introduced as one of eight new members of the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame, he ran from one end of the field to the other, zigzagging as he went. . . .

Speaking of basketball, most prognosticators expect Nikola Dragovic and UCLA to finish third in the Pacific 10 Conference behind California and defending champion Washington. . . .

Cal last won a conference championship in 1960, when it won the last of four in a row under the late Pete Newell. . . .

Reader Doug Thomson of Brentwood e-mails to note that Fullerton is the only high school that can count among its alumni a U.S. president (Richard Nixon) and a charter member of the Baseball Hall of Fame (Walter Johnson). . . .

Neither Nixon nor The Big Train graduated from Fullerton, but both attended classes there, Nixon before transferring to Whittier High and Johnson before moving to Idaho. . . .

In 1905, Johnson gave a preview of what was to come by striking out 27 batters in a 15-inning game against Santa Ana. . . .

Mary Cromwell, wife of Texas A&M; offensive coordinator and former Los Angeles Rams safety Nolan Cromwell, was a member of the Rams’ Embraceable Ewes cheerleading squad. . . .

Also part of the squad: Jenilee Harrison, who replaced Suzanne Somers on the hit sitcom, “Three’s Company.” . . .

Author Mark Frost is expected at Village Books in Pacific Palisades on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. to sign copies of his book “Game 6,” described by the New York Times as a “gripping story” of the penultimate game of the 1975 World Series. . . .

When broadcasters Mark Gubicza and Rex Hudler refer to the Angels’ third base coach, reader Chris Galuman of Whittier e-mails to note, “it sounds like they’re saying, ‘See no evil.’ ” . . .

Dino Ebel knows better.

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jerome.crowe@latimes.com