MESA, ARIZ. ? This little desert dustup between Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa isn’t blowing away quite yet. Certainly not after a bit of playful back-and-forth between the sluggers about Bonds’ home run record suddenly turned personal.

“I thought he was a good person, but now I have to believe the negative things said about him by his teammates are true,” Sosa barbed.

Said Bonds: “I don’t know what made him burst out like that.”

Now it’s not close to a blood feud, not like the severe sniping Ken Griffey Jr. is taking from ex-Reds during spring training.

Sosa brushed aside a question about Bonds on Thursday, as if it was no big deal.

Best for Bonds and Sosa, they’ll soon get a chance to put it to rest, if they want. On Monday, the San Francisco Giants play the Chicago Cubs at HoHoKam Park.

The feud began brewing after Bonds and Sosa talked before an exhibition game last week. The two stars, who are merely casual acquaintances, naturally spoke about Bonds’ 73 home runs last year.

Later, Sosa said Bonds had told him, “I want you to break my record.”

But Bonds said he didn’t really care who passed him, adding that Sosa “was just running his mouth too much.”