Baseball 2001: Dates to Watch

April 2: St. Louis at Colorado. Welcome to Coors Field, Mike Hampton. The Rockies new $121 million man gets quite the opening date in Denver’s high altitude: Big Mac and the St. Louis Cardinals.

April 16: Texas at Seattle. Alex Rodriguez returns to Seattle for the first time since bolting for $252 million in Texas. Will the fans at Safeco Field remember the playoff berth A-Rod brought Seattle last season or the departure a few months later?

June 1-3: White Sox at Toronto. David Wells returns to Toronto and the fans he criticized before forcing a trade to Chicago. If the Skydome fans have any heart, Wells will hear it this weekend.

June 8: Houston at Texas. The first meeting ever between Texas’ two teams highlights the opening of interleague play. There’s also the battles of Ohio, Chicago, the Bay Area and Los Angeles, as well as a potential World Series preview between the Yankees and Braves.

June 15-17: Yankees at Mets. Can Joe Torre juggle his pitching staff so Roger Clemens can skip a highly charged at Shea Stadium. The Mets are itching for a chance to pitch to Clemens, who beaned Mike Piazza during the regular season last year and threw Piazza’s broken bat back toward him during the World Series.

July 3: Boston at Cleveland. There should be lots of fireworks on July 4 holiday at Jacobs Field. Manny Ramirez returns to Cleveland for the first time since signing with Boston.

July 31: Trading deadline. Which teams will try to bolster their rosters and which teams are looking to next year at baseball’s trading deadline?

Aug. 24-26: St. Louis at Cubs. It’s always a compelling matchup when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa are swinging for the fences at Wrigley Field.

Sept. 7-10: Boston at Yankees, White Sox at Cleveland. The races in the AL East and Central could be determined when the top contenders meet for the final time of the season.

Sept. 28-30: Mets at Atlanta. Despite making the World Series last year, the Mets still haven’t figured out how to win at Turner Field, losing 20 of 23 games there. The last weekend of the season, with the NL East on the line, would be a great time to start.