Did you know that Barry Bonds’ trial begins today? Better yet, do you even care?

Oh, you care that he took steroids and tarnished baseball’s record books (or at least you act like you care because everyone else does). But do you really care whether or not this man goes to jail for four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice?

I can tell you one thing: Giants fans don’t care. Dude is nothing but a distant memory now that their G-Men are defending World Series champions. Ask 10 SF fans if they’re at least somewhat glad that the Bonds-led ’02 Giants lost because it made the victory in 2010 that much sweeter, I’d be willing to bet that at least eight of them would answer “yes.� Fans have fully embraced the Bearded Panda Freaks and hardly mutter Bonds’ name these days.

But what about non-Giant fans – do they care if Bonds goes to jail for lying under oath about steroids? Will they follow the story on a daily basis and keep up with the latest news? Do they know that the case has started and that close to 40 jurors have already been dismissed? Will bloggers follow this case as extensively as they did Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee’s trial?

Because I hardly doubt it. Again, fans care that Bonds tarnished the game by ballooning to the size of the Incredible Hulk in order to hit a bunch of home runs. But I find it hard to believe that the majority of people want to see “justice servedâ€� here (key word is “majority,” I realize that some, even many people want to see him go to prison but does the majority?). When you take Hammerin’ Hank’s fallen record and baseball out of the equation, Bonds took steroids. He didn’t kill anybody, he didn’t set a school on fire and he didn’t steal anyone’s money. He injected himself with steroids so that he could play long enough to break Hammerin’ Hank’s home run record and hopefully be remembered as one of the best ever.

Hey, wrong is wrong. If you lie under oath, you pay the consequences like everyone else. But the ironic part is that he’s not remembered like he had hoped he would. To me, that’s his true punishment. At this point, I couldn’t care less if he’s hauled off to prison and maybe I’m wrong but something tells me that the majority of fans don’t either. He simply isn’t news anymore.

According to ESPN.com, Barry Bonds will have to be arraigned and enter a plea next month for the third time since he was initially charged in 2007 with lying to a federal grand jury about his steroid use.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston on Friday ordered Bonds to enter his new plea after prosecutors revised the charges against him, cutting his indictment from 11 counts to five. Bonds is expected to plead not guilty for the third time at a hearing March 1. His trial is scheduled to begin March 21.

Illston said she will rule later on Bonds’ demands to exclude from trial a recorded conversation between Bonds’ former business partner, Stevie Hoskins, and Bonds’ personal trainer, Greg Anderson. The hearing to exclude the evidence began Thursday morning in San Francisco federal court.

The recording was made by Hoskins in March 2003. Anderson can be heard discussing an undetectable substance he appears to have given Bonds. Prosecutors allege Anderson is talking about a designer steroid they say showed up in a Bonds urine test.

Bonds’ attorneys want to exclude the recording from the trial because of Anderson’s refusal to testify at the trial. They argue the tape can’t be authenticated without Anderson’s testimony.

The thing that has always got me about Bonds is that he didn’t need roids to be great because he was already great. You talk about a naturally gifted baseball player, that was Barry Lamar Bonds. As the legend goes, the guy once sat in the dugout during spring training and correctly predicted, in order and out loud to his teammates, what pitch the pitcher would throw for nearly three batters. That’s how in-tune to the game Bonds was.

But his own ego got him in the end. He wanted to be remembered as the greatest player to have ever lived, so he used steroids to extend his career so that he could become the home run king*. He didn’t need steroids to be great – he needed them to extend his career.

And steroids are what he’ll be remembered for, which is kind of ironic if you ask me.

Barry Bonds clearly does not want to be outdone by Mark McGwire. Not on the field while hitting home runs and not off it by imparting his wisdom on younger hitters.

While attending Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night, Bonds was asked if he wanted to be a coach someday. In classic Bonds fashion, he reminded everyone that he has a gift that needs to be shared.

When asked if he’d like to do more than just cheer on his former team in the future, Bonds said he would be interested in becoming a hitting coach in the future.

“I have a gift and sooner or later I have to give it away,” Bonds said. “I have to share it. Hopefully I’ll get the opportunity here.”

First and foremost, the Giants already have a hitting coach in Hensely “Bam-Bam� Meulens, who speaks five languages and oversaw a club that is now in the World Series. (I mention the language part because the Giants’ roster is chockfull of players from all over the country, including Juan Uribe (Dominican Republic), Edgar Renteria (Colombia), Pablo Sandoval (Venezuela) and Andres Torres (Puerto Rico), thus, it’s a nice skill to have if you have to communicate with foreign-born players.)

That said, the thought of Bonds joining the Giants as a hitting coach is intriguing. Steroids or no steroids, Bonds was one of the best pure hitters the game of baseball has ever seen. His pitch recognition was outstanding and as the story goes, he used to be able to sit in the dugout and tell his teammates which pitch would be thrown next based on who was on the mound, the count and the situation. He was that good.

The problem is that he’s also Barry Bonds. When the Giants finally moved on from him in 2008, there was a sense of relief in a clubhouse that was once dominated by their ego-driven left fielder. He commanded his own part of the clubhouse, which included multiple lockers, a personal reclining chair and a big screen TV, and he was consistently salty to the media, team personal and even teammates. With the Giants new team-first mentality, that kind of environment would never fly nowadays.

Oh, and let’s not forget the guy will be going to trial next March for perjury charges after he allegedly lied to congress about his involvement with steroids. That alone should have the Giants saying, “Thanks, but no thanks.�

Bonds doesn’t do low-key. Whether he’s the left fielder or an usher, he draws attention to himself and I don’t think the Giants would welcome that back. So as intriguing as it would sound to have him instruct their hitters, it wouldn’t behoove an organization that is succeeding without all that hoopla.

The Giants are doing just fine without him.

Alex Rodriguez became the youngest player to hit 600 home runs when he launched a Shaun Marcum 2-0 pitch over the centerfield wall during the Yankees’ game with the Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon.

Excuse me while I wet myself.

The blast broke a string of 12 games in which A-Rod was so overcome with pressure that he managed to hit only .177 with no home runs. While I can’t prove that pressure was the thing that was holding him back, rumor has it he hasn’t slept in nearly 10 nights and has often been seen shaking uncontrollably at the mere mention that he has to perform. (All right, so I can’t prove that either.)

A-Rod now joins an elite club that includes Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), Willie Mays (660), Ken Griffey Jr. (630) and Sammy Sosa (609) to have accomplished the feat.

Too bad only four of those seven players didn’t need to enlist the help of performance-enhancing drugs in order to reach the milestone.

So way to go, A-HoleRod. Congratulations, or something.

It’s been a surreal year for Alex Rodriguez. It began with disgrace, as he joined the club of major league players implicated in the never-ending steroids scandal. He was never a fan favorites in New York, and now he had sunk to a new low. His reputation would be forever tarnished.

Yet after watching A-Rod’s postseason performance so far, this may be the best thing that ever happened to him. Last night, A-Rod rose to the occasion again to provide a dramatic home run to save the day for the Yankees in Game 2.

• To be honest, for all his remarkable numbers, A-Rod has never inspired legend quite like a Williams or Ruth, a Bonds or a Mantle. Yet through five postseason games, he now has three home runs that have either tied or put the Yankees ahead. One off Joe Nathan and another off Brian Fuentes, two pretty darn good closers, too. Here’s the reaction from The LoHud Yankees Blog:

• His story of exorcising October demons has almost become old hat. Four times he has been asked the same questions and four times he has continued to repeat what he said in St. Pete. “I know you guys are probably looking for something profound. I’m just in a good place. I’m seeing the ball and I’m hitting it. That’s about it.� Rodriguez now has an RBI in each of the first five postseason games, setting a new Yankee record. Here’s audio from Rodriguez:

• Burnett said he, Phil Hughes, Phil Coke and Joba Chamberlain were in the clubhouse watching the 11th inning unfold. People would never believe the scene they made after Rodriguez hit the tying homer. “We were like little kids,� Burnett said, “jumping around and hugging.�

• In the dugout, Mark Teixeira couldn’t fathom that Rodriguez had done it. Again. “I just kept yelling, ‘He did it again! He did it again!� Teixeira said. “I just couldn’t believe it.�

It’s amazing what a great athlete can do when he just focuses on the job at hand. A-Rod has admitted to being so self-absorbed that he put tremendous pressure on himself. The scandal seems to have forced A-Rod to grow up and develop a more mature approach to the game. If he keeps this up and the Yankees win the World Series, this will be one of the fastest and most dramatic image turnarounds we’ve ever seen in sports.

We are now in September, which means pennant races are becoming reality and every game is more meaningful.