They Came to Honor a Giant Among Men

When Barry Bonds received an invitation from author Danielle Steel to have dinner Monday night in Beverly Hills, it seemed legitimate. Their connection is that Steel’s bodyguard, Danny Molieri, is Bonds’ best friend from their days at Serra High in San Mateo.

So plans were set, and Steel sent a limousine to pick up Bonds and his wife, Liz. Steel told Bonds that the limo would stop at Lucky Strikes Lanes in Hollywood, where she would be with her daughter. But when Bonds got to the bowling center, he discovered he had been duped.

Steel had lured Bonds to a surprise 40th birthday party, arranged by Bonds’ publicists, Rachael Vizcarra Banvard and Lisa Nitta. Bonds was very surprised, particularly since his 40th birthday isn’t until July 24.

The party, whose hosts were Liz Bonds and Bonds’ support team, drew 310 people, including some of the biggest names in Hollywood and sports.

“This is amazing,” Bonds told “Entertainment Tonight.” “They say I don’t have any friends. Look at all these people here.”

Trivia time: In Bonds’ 11 previous seasons with the San Francisco Giants, how many times did he fail to hit 30 home runs?

Chicken poetry: San Francisco Chronicle reader Bill Littlejohn described all the rubber chickens being waved as SBC Park to mock opponents who intentionally walk Bonds as “poultry in motion.”

The Benefactor: The Sports Business Daily reported that Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban noted on his weblog that Chicago Tribune NBA writer Sam Smith, appearing on Dan Patrick’s ESPN radio show, called draft acquisition Pavel Podkolzine “a stiff.”

Cuban wrote to Smith, saying: “I will donate [$10,000] to the charity of your choice if you can prove that you have ever seen Pavel play in person or on tape -- excluding the footage on the ESPN draft shows. If you lose, you change your business card title and Tribune byline to ‘Sports Gossip Columnist.’ ”

L.A. woes: From KFWB’s Bret Lewis: “Billy Hunter, the head of the NBA’s players’ union, says there could be a lockout after the 2004-05 season if labor negotiations don’t improve. Uh, Billy, the way things are going for the Lakers, could you move that up a year?”

It has everything: Shaquille O’Neal has put his Beverly Hills-area home up for sale for $7.5 million, prompting Greg Cote of the Miami Herald to write: “Amenities include a basketball court, movie theater and a pouting room.”

Ouch: Of O’Neal, Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post wrote: “He couldn’t jump over a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, and he goes to the drive-up window at Burger King harder than he goes to the hoop.”

Trivia answer: None. Bonds’ lowest home run total with the Giants is 33, in 1995.

And finally: The Washington Times’ Dan Daly, on Mike Tyson’s needing seven fights to get out of debt: “Now he just has to find seven opponents willing to let him eat their children.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.