The Barry beat

Barry Bonds lives in his own world. In the San Francisco Giants' clubhouse, Bonds has his own wing, where he has his own leather chair, his own TV set and his own group of assistants.

With his icy glare and a capacity to torment sportswriters, the space he occupies can be as unwelcoming as the Texas Tech lockerroom during a Bobby Knight tirade.

Last Saturday afternoon Giants rightfielder Dustan Mohr, whose shaved head and thick goatee give him a Stone Cold Steve Austin look, stood at the opposite side of the clubhouse, a throng of reporters surrounding him. It was a good day in the Giants clubhouse -- music blared on the speakers, players howled at college football highlights on the clubhouse TV screens and the Giants had picked up half a game on the Cubs in the wild card race. After ripping a clutch game-tying double in the eighth inning, Mohr was the man of the day and the media was all over him. Suddenly, heads starting spinning around -- toward Bonds and his leather chair -- and word spread quickly: Barry is talking. By God, Barry is talking.

Like insane shoppers barging into a mall the morning after Thanksgiving, reporters stampeded across the room, leaving Mohr in mid sentence. "Go! Go! Go!" a Giants player yelped, delighted at the scene. A crowd of reporters jockeyed for position, huddling in closely around Bonds, hanging on his every word and every pause, as if the mumbled words leaving his mouth are the words coming out of a transistor radio announcing the end of World War II.

No player in baseball is bigger than Bonds. On the verge of his 700th career home run, Bonds is in the fourth of what arguably is the greatest four-year run of any player in history. Although his 39 homers this year are well short of the 73 he slugged in 2001, this might be his most impressive season yet: Bonds is hitting a PS2-like .371 and has his second NL batting title in three years all but locked up, even though pitchers are pitching around him like no other player in history. Bonds' 194 walks (100 intentional) is an alltime record. So, too, is his .824 slugging percentage, his .610 on-base percentage, and his otherworldly 1.434 OPS. Most impressive of all: Bonds has showed no signs that he's slowing down.

1. Bush or Kerry?

Bush. I was one of those absentee voters in Florida last time around. So I'd better be sure to send my vote in again. Bush, definitely.

2. What do you miss most about Minnesota?

Noodles. Great restaurant in Minneapolis. Great. Miss that a lot.

3. Worst dressed Twin?