LOS ANGELES — Some highlights from the pre-series press conferences held today at Dodger Stadium to introduce the Game 1 starters for the National League Division Series. Featured are Los Angeles Dodgers lefty Randy Wolf, who will be making the first postseason start of his career, and St. Louis Cardinals righty Chris Carpenter, who has missed the previous two seasons with injuries and not coincidentally the Cardinals have missed the past two postseasons without him.

The Qs and some As from the starters:

Q: How does it feel to be considered the ace of the squad right now?

WOLF: Well, I almost despise that word. A guy like Chris Carpenter, you could consider him an ace. He’s done it year in, year out. And he’s always — when you think of Chris Carpenter, you think ace. He’s the guy who is almost a perennial top five Cy Young voting guy, and for me I’ve been pitching well. I’ve kept the team in the game. And I happen to be pitching Game 1. I think with this staff, we could have an ace on any given day.

Q: You say you don’t believe in jinxes, but you didn’t change your number. What led to that?

WOLF: Actually, I went back to my real number. I always wanted No. 43. It was the number I had in Philly for a long time. And when I came to the Dodgers in 2007, Brazoban had it when I came back in 2009 this year Brazoban still had it. Out of spring training he didn’t make the 40-man and at that time I already had 21. Stuck with it. Then during the year Mitch Poole, our clubhouse guy, said, “Do you want to switch to 43?” I said, “It’s about time you asked.” It’s nice to have the number back. And I don’t believe in jinxes. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not superstitious.

Q: Talking about the playoff thing, I believe you finished second in Philadelphia four or five times, and, like you said, you missed them there and missed the playoff year here. Did you fee sort of cursed at all as you were going through your career?

WOLF: A little bit. Second place is first last. And I knew the jinx was either me or Mike Lieberthal and unfortunately it was Mike. I love the guy, but sometimes there are two-leaf clovers. … It was hard for us to watch and watch them go to the playoffs and World Series. You obviously start feeling like there’s some kind of jinx even though I’m not a big believer in that.

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Q: What does it mean to you to take the ball in Game 1 after all you’ve been through physically the last couple of years?

CARPENTER: It’s exciting. This is what it’s all about. This why I do what I do. I work hard to get back and have the chance to play. This opportunity. This is a good team that we’re about the face. But if you don’t want to pitch in this situation you need to go home. This is where it’s all about.

Q: How comforting for you is it that Manny Ramirez, who most pitchers would fear in the postseason, has had a lot of problems at the plate the last month or so?

CARPENTER: Well, first of all, if you ever take Manny Ramirez for granted, you’re crazy no matter what he’s swinging. I’ve been facing him since he was in Cleveland. He’s a professional hitter and he can hit at any time. So you don’t take anybody, no matter what their situation is or what they’ve been hitting for the last month or anything like that, for granted. You go out and you continue to execute your game plan. That’s it. I’m not concerned if Manny is 0-for-50. He can hit. He’s a professional hitter. He’s done it for a long, long time.

Q: Can you be objective about what you and Adam Wainwright have created … you’ve seen people like Oswalt and Clemens, Clemens and Pettitte — when you have two dominant guys and then you compress them into a short series. Is there a way to quantify the value that the team possesses?

CARPENTER: Well, it’s all fine and dandy what we’ve done all year. But this is where it counts.

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