He Might Need Greatest Hits to Reach .200

Country singer Garth Brooks will join the San Diego Padres at their training camp in Peoria, Ariz. To entertain? No, presumably to play.

Brooks, 37, appeared as a pinch-runner for the Padres last March during an exhibition game against the Chicago Cubs.

Brooks says he’s serious about playing for the Padres.

So was Michael Jordan in trying out a few years ago with the Birmingham Barons, a minor league baseball team. Jordan, a superb athlete, couldn’t make the grade in baseball.

What do you make of Brooks’ chances?

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Trivia time: Who holds the NHL record for most penalties in a game?

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Wicked stuff: Padre star Tony Gwynn in ESPN the Magazine on former teammate Kevin Brown, now a Dodger pitcher:

“It’s like someone throwing a chain saw to the plate, and I’m supposed to hit it with my bat.”

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A new daddy: Greg Vaughn, traded by San Diego to Cincinnati, will have to shave off his goatee to fit in with the Reds’ policy of no facial hair.

“My kids [ages 9 and 4] have never seen me without it,” Vaughn said.

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Garage sale? A partial list of David Letterman’s least-valuable sports memorabilia:

* Autographed photo of the guy who invented the wave.

* Mark McGwire’s 70th foul ball.

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Bulletin: Armon Gilliam of the Milwaukee Bucks has changed his first name to Armen.

“I just put an E in so people could pronounce it right,” he said.

Whatever you say, Armon, er, Armen.

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Gutty little guy: Corey Pavin, who was in a foursome with Charles Barkley at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, describing Barkley’s swing:

“He’s got a horrible swing, awful, one of the worst I’ve ever seen, and I’ve told him that face to chest.”

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Overkill: Art Spander in the Oakland Tribune on Andre Agassi’s ejection from a tennis tournament in San Jose for muttering obscenities:

“Earth to tennis. Isn’t it time you people joined reality? This is 1999, not 1899. As Barry McKay, director of the tournament, pointed out, ‘If they had this rule in the NFL, NHL, NBA, or baseball, they’d never complete a game.’ ”

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Trivia answer: Chris Nilan of Boston, 10, against Hartford on March 31, 1991.

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And finally: Don King, promoting Evander Holyfield’s fight against Lennox Lewis on March 13, told Ron Borges of the Boston Globe how enjoyable it is to work with Holyfield:

“When you say, ‘Be at the DuPont Plaza at 9 a.m. on Saturday,’ and then go to sleep, he’s at the DuPont Plaza at 9.

“What a relief this is for me. This is order like I’ve never known. I only lived chaos all my life.

“What Holyfield has done is of redeeming spiritual value for boxing. It’s fun again.”