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Giants slugger Barry Bonds, looking fit and a tad trimmer, said on Saturday night that he was optimistic his problematic right knee would respond positively to the daily pounding of playing baseball again this coming season.

"It feels great right now," Bonds told MLB.com. "I'm going on vacation and then I'm going to give it a good test in January, see how it reacts. The soreness is gone. It's not bothering me every day like it did this past season. Who knows? I could fall down and be back at square one again. That's why I don't like to look too far ahead. But if I go into Spring Training the way things are right now, it'll be pretty good."

Bonds, who lives in the area, attended a dinner hosted by the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation, during which he was presented with The Scout's Dream award named in honor of his godfather, Willie Mays.

Mays, a Hall of Famer and former Giants great, presented the award to Bonds, who told the audience: "I have a lot of awards, but to get one from my godfather is tops for me."

Bonds underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee three times earlier this year and played in only 14 games, all in September, as the Giants made a late but unsuccessful run at the Padres for the National League West title.

Giants general manager Brian Sabean said at the end of the season that he hopes the 41-year-old Bonds will be able to play up to 120 games and be a force for San Francisco in 2006.

Bonds wouldn't make any predictions, but he said he looked forward to playing in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, which is scheduled from March 3-20 in Japan, the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Major League Baseball said earlier this month that Bonds would play for Team USA. U.S. manager Buck Martinez figures Bonds will be his designated hitter.

"It was a no-brainer," Bonds said about playing in the first international tournament to include Major League players. "It's going to be a big thing and I'm excited about it. There's just a few details to be ironed out, but we'll work through it."

Last year at this time, Bonds was looking down the gullet of having right knee surgery on Jan. 31 to remove torn meniscus. This after he rehabbed from surgery on Oct. 17, 2004, to clean debris from beneath his left knee cap. Bonds tried to come back, perhaps too quickly early in Spring Training, and underwent right knee meniscus surgery again on March 17.

For the next six weeks, he showed no improvement and finally visited the clinic of Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles where he was diagnosed with a serious bacterial infection. On May 2, he had the knee flushed with antibiotics and had to wear a portable IV for another week.

The infection was ultimately purged. On June 24, Bonds left the team to rehab at the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic under the auspices of Yocum, the Angels' chief orthopedic surgeon, and physical therapist Clive Brewster.

He rejoined the team at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 5 to resume batting practice and returned on Sept. 12 to hit five home runs in his first 36 at bats, giving him 708 in his 20-year career. He now stands six behind Babe Ruth's 714 and 47 in arrears of Hank Aaron's 755, the all-time Major League Baseball record.

During his first at bat on Sept. 12 after missing the season's initial 142 games, Bonds battled San Diego's Adam Eaton for 11 pitches, slamming the final offering just near the rim of the left-field fence. The shot was called a double instead of a home run because of fan interference.

A little more than a week later, during his second plate appearance ever at RFK Stadium, Bonds hit the ball seven rows into the second deck, making it the 35th Major League ballpark in which he has homered. At that point, Bonds was in the midst of hitting homers in four consecutive starts.

His last homer of the season came Sept. 27 in San Diego's pitcher-friendly PETCO Park, an opposite field, first-inning, three-run shot into the left-field bleachers.

Bonds missed the final four games of the season after the Giants were eliminated from contention and said that his knee recovered quickly after the day-to-day pounding on the turf and base paths ceased. He spent October working with Yocum and Brewster and is continuing to work with a trainer.

"I'm doing a lot of pool work, the bicycle, mixing it up," Bonds said on Saturday. "I can run outdoors now, which is a good thing."

He finished 2005 with a .286 batting average (12-for-42), including a double, the five homers, eight runs scored, 10 runs batted in and nine walks, three of them intentional.

Bonds said on Saturday that he's glad the ordeal is over.

"Considering where I was last year, right now I'm in a much better place," he said. "It's not even close."

Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.