On the cooler side of the Bay, there is a team with a guy by the name of Barry who has decided his presence is unimportant ? he can?t swing the bat, so why bother showing up. Take a short drive across the bridge and you?ll find another team who is overjoyed to have a guy named Barry. Only this one is actually making a contribution. The bizarre tale of Barry Bonds continues in San Francisco, where no one has any inkling of his status. Will he play this year, or won?t he? And do any of us even care anymore. Barry himself whistles a new tune every other day, although that has always been the way the man operates. Why be surprised now. A recent interview with J.T. Snow revealed a sour attitude about the situation, the same attitude that must be permeating the entire Giants? team. Bonds deemed it convenient to show up in the clubhouse for just one out of the four games against the Dodgers recently ? even though he actually lives in Los Angeles, and is working out there. Maybe he was afraid of getting caught in the post-game traffic crunch. Since Dodger fans typically leave in the seventh inning though, that couldn?t be it. Maybe he felt rooting his team on wouldn?t be noticed, so why deal with putting on all that uniform gear. There might even be a shower involved. No, too much time taken from the day. Snow summed it all up with rhetorical questions, asked in an understandably disgusted manner: Why is it Jeff Bagwell is in the Astros dugout every day during his rehab? Why is it Bonds has to use outside people for his rehab? And why can?t all you guys stop asking us about Barry? He?s never around, so we don?t know nothin?. Good point. On the other hand, the Oakland A?s are on fire, and Barry Zito has made sure of keeping the inferno blazing. His 5-2 victory over the Twins was his eighth straight, and gives him some fabulous momentum going into the big showdown series with the Angels. He has a 2.33 ERA during that span. From catcher Jason Kendall: ?He had command of everything (today). I felt like I was in a rocking chair back there. Back and forth, back and forth, he was putting it wherever he wanted it.? Careful Jason ? you might fall asleep. Could be embarrassing. Zito has not lost to an American League team since May 27th. The curveball specialist seems to have regained the form that won him the 2002 Cy Young award, and aren?t the A?s happy they didn?t trade him along with Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson. Drafted ninth overall in the first round in 1999 by Oakland, the popular lefthander was born in Las Vegas and went to high school in San Diego. He attended USC as a junior and earned All-America honors going 12-3 with 154 strikeouts in 113 innings. Barry is currently involved with a program he founded, called ?StrikeOuts For Troops? which assists with family travel and housing expenses for service members being treated at military hospitals. The pledge is a hundred dollars for every strikeout he gets this year. So far, the count is 112. The white-hot A?s have won 17 of 19, and now have a record of 64-47 after a woeful 17-32 start. Doesn?t it seem like they do this every year? As the weather heats up, so do they. What if they were playing in Arizona? ?The team's just been unreal,? Zito marveled. ?The way we've been picking each other up is just so inspiring to me. Everybody finds a way to do something positive. It's so enjoyable to see these guys work, whether I'm pitching or not.? But until further notice, the only Bay Area Barry of consequence is named Zito. The A?s wouldn?t have it any other way. Ramblings? Frenzy gone wild: Steroids are a problem, sure, but things have never been completely fair in baseball. Guys have been gaining an edge for a lot of years using energizing drugs, corked bats, sharpened spikes, spitballs, and probably a ton of other things we?ve never heard about. And why just point to the home run dudes -- a lot of pitchers have obviously been doing juice too. Let?s stop the hysterics, clean it up and move on. Teams have often tailored their stadiums to emphasize homers or pitching. Nothing fair there, either. Had Say Hey and Hammerin? Hank switched parks for their careers, there just might be a different home run leader. Asterisks? Don?t think so? The incredible backlash over the ignorant and stupid statement by a Bay Area talk radio host continues to amaze. Felipe Alou said he offended hundreds of millions of Caribbeans, and wouldn?t accept his apology. For people who have suffered racism, is one pathetic remark by a knucklehead that consequential to their lives? So damaging, as to render any forgiveness totally out of the question? Maybe, but why elevate this dimwit?s importance? He?ll suffer plenty in the future because of this one, for sure. Just watch him fade away -- and enjoy. Also, Moises Alou felt slighted because he wasn?t sought out for comment about the matter. What? Really?