For Divac, It’s Gone Today, Hair Tomorrow

Vlade Divac, who wore a beard for most of his seven seasons with the Lakers, may have put one over on two of his new Charlotte Hornet teammates. According to Chris McCosky of the Detroit News, Scott Burrell and Matt Geiger were joking with Vlade when they talked him into shaving off his trademark whiskers.

“Scott said, I’ll give you a hundred bucks to shave,’ ” Geiger said, “and I said, ‘I’ll give you another hundred.’ So Vlade says, ‘OK, I will.’ ”

Divac, with $200 in his pocket, grinned and said, “In a week, it’ll be a full beard again.”

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Trivia time: The Atlanta Braves’ Andruw Jones was 19 when he played in the National League championship series. Who is the youngest player to play in a World Series?

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Prep mania: Garfield and Roosevelt meet tonight at East Los Angeles College in one of the longest-running and most-watched high school football rivalries in the country. A crowd of 25,000 is expected for their 61st meeting. Some of the nation’s other top games:

Canton McKinley (Ohio) vs. Massillon. Oldest continuous rivalry, beginning in 1884. McKinley won last year, 24-21, before 21,000.

Louisville Trinity (Ky.) vs. Louisville St. Xavier. Trinity won the 50th meeting, 10-0, before 26,300.

Odessa Permian (Texas) vs. Midland Lee. In its 38th year, Midland Lee won last year, 14-7, before 21,000.

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Tough standards: There are 19 Green Bay Packers in the Hall of Fame, but the Packers have retired only four numbers: Tony Canadeo’s 3, Don Hutson’s 14, Bart Starr’s 15 and Ray Nitschke’s 66.

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The Dodger way: Sparky Anderson told the Chicago Tribune’s Jerome Holtzman: “Do you know why the Dodgers have such a successful organization? They only had two managers in the last 43 years. And my guess is Bill Russell will be there for 10 years. That’s the way they do things. Every time a little problem comes up and the club doesn’t do too good, they don’t go out and get another manager.”

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A magician: Jimmy Key, who will pitch in the third game of the World Series for the New York Yankees, is deceptive. He looks hittable, but doesn’t seem to be.

Baltimore Manager Davey Johnson, who watched his Orioles fail to solve Key in last week’s American League playoffs, explains: “He’s got a great touch. He’ll sink it, he’ll run it, he’ll add, he’ll subtract.”

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One tough cookie: Colorado Rocky right fielder Dante Bichette watched while doctors operated on his knee, rebuilding his anterior cruciate ligament.

“I was up the whole time; I watched the whole thing,” he said at a Vail, Colo., hospital. “It was an experience.”

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Trivia answer: Freddie Lindstrom of the New York Giants, who was 18 years, 10 months, 13 days old when he started at third base against Washington in the 1924 Series. He batted .333 (10 for 30).

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And finally: When Yankee pitcher Kenny Rogers was yanked in the third inning against the Orioles, the Camden Yards public address system played “You Picked a Fine Time To Leave Me, Lucille.”