Talk about taking the air out of the game

For this baseball team, it could be one strike and they're out.

Minnesota's University of St. Thomas thought it had all its bases covered — hotels and rental cars booked, airline tickets in hand — when it scheduled a week of road games in Fort Myers, Fla., this month. That is, until Northwest Airlines pilots threatened to go on strike.

As St. Thomas coach Dennis Denning told the St. Paul Pioneer Press: "If you see 30 guys wearing St. Thomas baseball uniforms hitchhiking, please pick us up."

Going low-postal

The Utah Jazz is numbering the days until March 23 — the day the team is scheduled to retire the Mailman's jersey number — and calling its celebrated countdown the "32 Days of Karl Malone."

"Wait a minute," wrote Brad Rock of Salt Lake City's Deseret News.

"Wasn't that what people were calling his career with the Lakers?"

A cold day in Wrigley

Former Phillie Darren Daulton, putting a different spin on "Ya Gotta Believe," revealed in a Sports Illustrated interview that the world will end at 11:11.a.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Dec. 21, 2012.

The news wasn't all bad, however. He also has the Cubs pegged to win the World Series in 2013.

Grace Needleman of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, is reporting a major free-agent signing — Red Sox GM Theo Epstein as her senior prom date on May 6.

Needleman, who brought a "Will you go to the prom with me?" sign to Red Sox training camp in Fort Myers, Fla., says Epstein gave her his autograph and told her yes.

"I'm not really picky, and I don't need anything special," Needleman, 17, told ESPN2's "Cold Pizza" of her dating requirements. "Limo? It will be a great entrance anyway, so it won't really matter what car we bring."

Talking the talk

• Headline at thebrushback.com, after Steelers receiver Antwaan Randle El revealed he is waiting for heavenly direction in free agency: "God Tells Antwaan Randle El To Sign With CFL Just To See If He'll Do It."

• NBC's Jay Leno, on the secret to curling's higher TV ratings among female viewers: "Think about it: When do women ever get a chance to see a man pick up a broom?"

• British schoolgirl Kate Langley, 9, to The Sun of London, on the secret to becoming the youngest female golfer (by 109 days) to hit a hole-in-one: "My coach told me to hit the ball harder, so I did."

• Hockey Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur, to the CBC, on getting mugged while vacationing in Buenos Aires: "I didn't have any time to react before I got a sucker-punch in the eye. It was like one of the players from the Bruins."

Between the lines

Authorities in Fort Bend County, Texas, have accused a Little League baseball coach of trying to sell $10,000 worth of cocaine, Houston's KPRC-TV reported.

Guess he isn't a big fan of car washes and candy-bar sales.

Dwight Perry: 206-464-8250 or dperry@seattletimes.com