Barry Bonds’ former mistress, at the center of the government’s perjury investigation of the slugger, said yesterday she will discuss the couple’s relationship in the November issue of Playboy magazine.

The Playboy article, accompanied by a nude pictorial of Kimberly Bell, is scheduled to hit newsstands Oct. 1. The 37-year-old Bell said the article will cover details of her relationship with Bonds that she told a grand jury investigating the perjury allegations in 2005.

"The opportunity was there, and I took it," she told The Associated Press in a phone interview yesterday. The photo shoot "was one of the most liberating experiences of my life."

Bell’s decision to pose for Playboy was first reported by The New York Times on its Web site last night.

She testified before the grand jury that Bonds once told her of his steroid use in 2000 and that he implied he started taking the performance enhancing drugs in response to Mark McGwire’s pursuit of the single-season home run record in 1998.

"He was very envious of Mark McGwire," she said from her San Jose home. "He never said that was the reason, but I know it was."

Bell testified about that conversation as well her relationship with Bonds, which lasted from 1993 to 2003. She also said Bonds gave her $80,000 in cash to buy a house, the proceeds of which allegedly came from a paid autograph session that authorities also are investigating as going unreported to the Internal Revenue Service.

Bonds’ lawyer, Michael Rains, could not be reached for comment late yesterday.

The term of the grand jury investigating Bonds’ steroids testimony appears to have been extended because the San Francisco Giants left fielder’s personal trainer remains jailed. Greg Anderson was to be released last Thursday, the end of the grand jury’s term, unless the term was extended.

The U.S Attorney’s office has declined to discuss the grand jury proceedings. But one of Anderson’s lawyers, Paula Canny, believes the term was extended.

"Greg’s still not out," she said.

Bell said she has not been called before the grand jury again, but declined to say if she has spoken with federal investigators since.

Bell’s appearance in the magazine can’t help the government’s case against her former lover.

Defense lawyers are widely expected to argue that Bell was a woman scorned because of Bonds’ decision to marry another woman during their relationship. Her appearance in Playboy may only add fuel to the defense’s case.

● OLDEST FORMER MAJOR-LEAGUER DIES: Rollie Stiles, a former St. Louis Brown who at 100 was believed to be the oldest former major-leaguer, has died.

Stiles died in his sleep Sunday morning at Bethesda Southgate nursing home in St. Louis County, a spokesman for the nursing home said yesterday. A cause of death was not given.

Born Nov. 17, 1906, in Ratcliff, Ark., Stiles pitched for the Browns in 1930, 1931 and 1933, compiling a 9-14 record with a 5.92 earned run average. Among the hitters he faced: Babe Ruth.

"I had a great game against him," Stiles recalled in a 2006 interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I held him to three hits."

Stiles played seven more seasons in the minor leagues after his major-league career ended.

With Stiles’ death, several online sites list Billy Werber, 99, as the oldest ex-major-leaguer.

Werber was a third baseman who played for the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics, Cincinnati Reds and New York Giants from 1930 to 1942.

● NATIONALS GIVE BELLIARD EXTENSION: Infielder Ronnie Belliard and the Washington Nationals agreed yesterday to a $3.5 million, two-year contract extension through the 2009 season, a veteran building block for a club trying to improve.

"They have a good thing going here," the 32-year-old Belliard said by telephone from Philadelphia, where the Nationals open a series today. "Those young guys - they want to win."

He is second on the club with a .305 batting average and has five homers, 18 doubles and 29 RBI. Belliard has appeared in 85 of Washington’s 98 games, making 62 starts, including at least one at every infield position.

"We like Ronnie very much. He’s been a great contributor for us, whether as the starting second baseman or the best utility player in the game," General Manager Jim Bowden said. "Whether he’s a starter or not, we feel he’ll be a positive contributor to our future."

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