Really, It’s as if He Were Never Even There

The starting center on Nebraska’s football team as a sophomore last season is no longer on the roster and nowhere to be found.

Richie Incognito left school last week after being suspended for the Cornhuskers’ first two games because of what Coach Bill Callahan called repeated violations of team rules.

Boy, could Bud Abbott and Lou Costello have had fun with that name.

Costello: “I can’t tell who is playing center. Is he incognito?”

Abbott: “Yes, he is Incognito.”

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Who’s in hall? Speaking of Abbott and Costello, several readers have suggested a trivia question along these lines: “Who are the only two members of the Baseball Hall of Fame who had nothing to do with baseball?”

The answer supposedly is “Abbott and Costello.”

But Hall of Fame spokesman Jeff Idelson says that answer is not quite correct. Although the comedy duo is featured in the Hall of Fame museum, they are not members of the Hall of Fame.

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Trivia time: Former Cal State Fullerton running back Mike Pringle, who plays for the Edmonton Eskimos, became the Canadian Football League’s all-time leading rusher over the weekend. He has 16,178 yards after running for 63 yards in a 36-33 loss to the B.C. Lions. Who is the CFL’s all-time leading passer?

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Odds man out: The Cincinnati Reds opened their new Hall of Fame on Monday. It includes a wall of 4,256 baseballs -- one for each of Pete Rose’s record number of hits -- but Rose is not in the hall.

The Reds chose to abide by the rules of Major League Baseball. So, because Rose is banned from baseball, he is also banned from the Reds’ Hall of Fame.

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No doubt about it: During an interview Saturday in the top of the fourth inning, with the Boston Red Sox trailing the New York Yankees, 9-0, Fox’s Thom Brennaman asked Red Sox Manager Terry Francona whether he knew the status of injured pitcher Derek Lowe, who had left the game.

“Thom, the only thing I know right now is that we are killing your ratings,” Francona said.

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Looking back: On this day in 1986, the New York Jets’ Wesley Walker, a former Carson High star, caught four touchdown passes, including one of 21 yards on the last play of regulation and a 43-yarder in overtime as the Jets defeated the Miami Dolphins, 51-45.

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Trivia answer: Damon Allen, who also played at Cal State Fullerton. The younger brother of Marcus Allen has thrown for 63,639 yards in 20 CFL seasons and is still playing at 41 with the Toronto Argonauts, although a broken leg had kept him out for the last month.*

And finally: Jennifer Bueno, the 41-year-old woman whose nose was broken when Texas Ranger pitcher Frank Francisco threw a chair into the stands at Oakland, says she is going to sue because of her injuries.

Says reader Joe Gutierrez of Cambria, “I guess that means Francisco is going to be paying through the nose.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.