After a slow start this season, his numbers have been significantly better in the second half. Beginning with his two-homer game at Atlanta on Aug. 29, Bonds homered in six of 12 games. Over his previous 23 games before facing the Brewers, he was batting .383 with eight homers, 19 RBIs, four doubles and had drawn 18 of his 113 walks. That stretch helped the 13-time All-Star raise his average from .235 to .267.

“I think all of us have seen him getting better, and he has gotten better in all phases of his game since the beginning of the year,” Giants general manager Brian Sabean said.

Bonds is leaner, too, having firmed up his midsection thanks to a low-carb diet and several mini meals with little salt. He says jelly beans and an occasional Philly cheesesteak sandwich are his splurges these days. Bonds’ body is even holding up through the colder Bay Area nights.

“If I can keep the weight off, I’m fine,” he said.

Bonds has been much more easygoing since he passed Babe Ruth and moved into second place on the career homers list May 28 — and the constant questions about his alleged steroid use have calmed down since then. While he typically prefers to be left alone at his corner locker, Bonds clearly still enjoys the team aspect of the game.

On many occasions this year he has passed time before games playing chess or cards with teammates.

“I like my quiet life,” Bonds said with a smile, sitting by his locker before a recent game. “I don’t say a word.”

MESSAGE BOARDS

Few people can envision the Giants’ lineup without No. 25 in the middle of the batting order and playing left field.

San Diego Padres general manager Kevin Towers cheered for the Giants as a kid living in Southern Oregon. He grew up watching Bonds’ late father, Bobby, and later worked in Pittsburgh’s scouting department during the early part of Bonds’ career with the Pirates.

“I’ve seen him in another uniform,” Towers said. “No matter what uniform he’s in, you don’t want to see him in the lineup. Barry was drafted as a Pirate, but I consider him a Giant. Knowing Barry, he would like to finish here. There will be pressure on them with the All-Star game. He’s got a little leverage.”

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The interest Bonds might generate as a free agent is unclear, in part because of the steroids scandal surrounding him and his surly reputation. A federal grand jury is still investigating whether the slugger perjured himself when he testified in 2003 in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative steroid distribution case that he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs.

“To see him potentially in a different uniform would be a strange sight,” said Arizona manager Bob Melvin, who grew up in the Bay Area and played American Legion ball against Bonds. “It would be different. You just identify teams with guys and you identify Barry Bonds with the San Francisco Giants. It would be a weird feeling, but it wouldn’t break my heart.”

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