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Barry Bonds in drag: Is this what it takes to create "team chemistry"? We'll see. Plus: A Buck O'Neil petition.

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March 1, 2006 | You may have seen tape of Barry Bonds in drag at San Francisco Giants camp Tuesday. He was impersonating Paula Abdul for "Giants Idol," a spring hazing gag in which rookies must sing for a panel of judges.

"Giants Idol" was conceived by well-traveled veteran first baseman Mark Sweeney, a newcomer to the team, with an eye toward improving team chemistry, which was lacking last season as the Giants struggled.

"When things are like this, I swear to you, you play better as a team," outfielder Moises Alou told Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Several other reports from Giants camp have noted the improved team chemistry as well.

All right, game on. We'll watch the Giants this year and see if that improved chemistry, should it hold up, has a positive effect.

Readers with long memories and no lives to occupy them will remember that previous chemistry experiments in this column have confirmed the importance of team chemistry for people who already believe in its importance, while also validating the feelings of those who, like me, think it's a lot of hooey, that it's a product, not a cause, of winning.

Chemistry's funny that way. It's like religion. Whatever you believe, you believe the evidence backs you up.

The Giants' apparent improved chemistry seems to be flowing from Bonds, who as manager Felipe Alou told Baltimore Sun columnist Peter Schmuck, "has loosened up for whatever reason."

Schmuck points out a probable reason: Bonds is being followed around by a camera crew that's set to record every move of his season-long chase of Hank Aaron's career home run record for a documentary or reality series. Negotiations are underway between the independent production company doing the filming -- which Schmuck speculates is owned by Bonds -- and ESPN.

So Bonds' newfound loosey-goosey happiness may just be an act, a product of Bonds making nice for the cameras in hopes of polishing his image through a TV show he controls.

Shouldn't matter. Whatever his motivations, he seems to have helped make camp looser, improved the chemistry. Is acting upbeat even when you might not feel like it not an important part of team chemistry anyway?

Next page: With a healthy Bonds, lots of chemistry, the Giants will be ... not good. Plus: More on Buck O'Neil