ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Jeff Kent is the first to admit that his relationship with San Francisco Giants teammate Barry Bonds hasn't always been the most ideal.

The two stars that have led the Giants to the World Series against the Anaheim Angels have frequently been at odds in their careers, culminating in a dugout shoving match in June.

"For all those screenwriters out there, Barry and I could play ourselves in the movie,'' Kent said Friday.

Despite some of the differences, Bonds has talked about how important it is for the Giants to bring Kent back next season and the two former MVPs have lots of respect for each other.

"I think Jeff Kent and myself complement each other very well,'' Bonds said. "If one's not doing it, the other wants to do it. If one's doing it, the other one wants to do better. I think that's outstanding.

"Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen, Magic Johnson had Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar). There's always got to be somebody to help that other person become a better player or challenge themselves, and Jeff Kent challenges me a lot in how I perform. And I try to challenge him as much as I can for his performance.''

Team player
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Scott Schoeneweis will be watching the first inning of the World Series from the same place he's watched every game since late June -- the bullpen. But he's not complaining.

"To be honest about it, I'd have to say, yeah, sure, I'd love to be starting a game in the World Series -- or any game,'' Schoeneweis said. "But for the good of the team, I accepted my role and did what I could to contribute. I'm just glad that I'm here and that I was able to be a part of it."

Schoeneweis, the Angels' player rep and the only left-handed reliever on their postseason roster, was a starter for 2½ seasons before he was replaced in the rotation by rookie right-hander John Lackey.

At the time, Schoeneweis was 6-6 with a 5.38 earned-run average. In 39 relief appearances, he is 3-2 with a 3.25 ERA and one save.

"Quite possibly, the way the season was going for me, I may have been left off the playoff roster altogether. So to be here and be able to contribute on a daily basis is a thrill in itself,'' Schoeneweis said. "The last three years I was sitting at home in October.

"One of the reasons I accepted the role was because I kind of knew -- I had a little bit of an intuition that this team was going to go places, and I wanted to be a part of it in any way, shape or form. I felt like I had a lot invested with this team -- and they had a lot invested in me.''

Schoeneweis, however, wants to return to a starting role in 2003.

"I don't think there's been any talk about that at all, on either side,'' he said. "We'll let the winter and spring training next year take care of that. There's still a lot that has to be done over the next week to 10 days, and I'm going to concentrate on that.

"All I'll say is that I haven't given up on being a starter. But at this stage of my career, if they want me to relieve, I kind of have to. Either they tell me I'm going to start, or they tell me I'm going to relieve, or they get rid of me and I go somewhere else.''

Palmeiro's new arrival
The excitement Angels reserve outfielder Orlando Palmeiro felt while preparing for the World Series suddenly took a back seat Friday when he learned his wife, Tami, gave birth to their first child.

Faith Palmeiro, who will receive her middle name at a later date, checked in at 5 pounds, 3 ounces in Miami.

"It hasn't quite sunk in, really,'' Palmeiro said as he leaned against a bat rack in the Angels dugout. "When I pulled into the parking lot this morning, I called home just to check in on my wife, and all my father-in-law could say was, `She's beautiful.' So I figured we had the baby.

Had it been any other season with the Angels, there wouldn't have been any conflict. They had never won a pennant in the franchise's first 41 years.

"I thought the timing would be perfect,'' Palmeiro said. "I mean, you know it could happen, but I really didn't think it would happen this soon. In thought we were fine for the next 10 days and that I'd be home in plenty of time. But God knows what he's doing.''

Palmeiro's parents, sister and brother-in-law are in town for the Series, but Tami has been in Miami for more than a month.

"My wife had some illnesses and we had to wait, and this was the time God has blessed us,'' Palmeiro said. "My first baby far outweighs what I'm going through right here. I don't want to downplay this, because I know it's been hard for us to get here, but this is way down there by comparison because I'm concerned about my wife. I'm sure I'll be able to absorb this afterwards.''

Brother Act
Angels shortstop David Eckstein already has World Series experience. He played in the College World Series with the University of Florida. One of his teammates was his brother, Rick, who is an assistant coach at Georgia.

David was the starting second baseman and Rick the starting left fielder for the Gators in 1996, when they finished third in the tournament. But they never thought that one day, one of them would be in the real World Series.

"We never talked in terms of World Series. We talked in terms of opportunity,'' said Rick, who was a bullpen coach for the Minnesota Twins two seasons ago. "I watched those guys every day, and I told David he could play at this level.''

Rick, who is 20 months older than David, proudly wore his Angels cap at Friday's workout and recalled their formative years when they constantly were teased about their height.

"We're basically eye-to-eye, but I think he's got me by a smidge,'' David said. "Everybody gave us a hard time growing up, bring short, being 5-foot-nothin' and 100-nothin' pounds. But my father told us growing up, `You can't listen to what everybody says. Who cares? It doesn't matter. You control you.'''

Both brothers were walk-ons at Florida, and Rick remembers the day his brother got the news.

"He called me up and he said, `I made the team today -- I got a hat.' He didn't even get a team uniform,'' Rick said. "He was practicing in gray pants that he brought from home, when the whole team was practicing in white.

"So his walk-on chance wasn't a full-fledged, `Here you go.' He still had to work and earn his way to make it into a starting position.''