Barry Bonds doesn't get along with all of his teammates. He is a man apart, an above-it-all superstar who operates on his own program. He doesn't stretch with his teammates, or party with them, or even eat food in the clubhouse with them.

Shocked yet?

He sometimes fails to run out fly balls or ground balls, and has been known to leave the clubhouse before all the post-victory revelry has run its course. He has his own nutritionist and his own publicist and his own strength coach.

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The power of this information shouldn't be enough to light a 15-watt bulb, but the Giants were asked to address it all over again Wednesday night in Montreal. At issue was a Rick Reilly column in the current issue of Sports Illustrated, which noted each instance of Bonds' epic apartness. They were buttressed by some comments from Jeff Kent, who said Wednesday that he was unwittingly drawn into a personal battle between author and subject.

Bonds knows this is part of the deal, and he has been notoriously stubborn in his refusal to comply with the rules as they pertain to .230-hitting backup infielders. He goes his own way, and his production has always been worth the trouble. If Kent says he doesn't care about Barry off the field, and likewise he's sure, that's fine.

"How many friends do you need?" Bonds asked. It's the same drill the Giants underwent when Kevin Mitchell was on the roster; Mitch, the '89 MVP, rarely stretched with his teammates and often failed to enter into any of their reindeer games. When the problem exceeded the production, he was sent away. That, too, is part of the deal.

So, on another desultory night of baseball in Montreal, where nothing quite compares to the sound of several people banging the backs of empty seats in unison, Bonds' relationship to his teammates masqueraded as news.

In cases such as this, it's always good to consult Dusty Baker. Team chemistry is his job, after all, and his response to the latest resurrection of the "Bad Boy Barry" angle was perfect: He shrugged.

"Not everybody gets along," Baker said. "Not everybody gets along in any job. The teams I played on in Los Angeles didn't get along. The A's of the early '70s didn't get along. You play, though. As long as you play, dude, as long as you play."

E-mail Tim Keown at tim.keown@espnmag.com.