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Key dates in 2007 for the Majors
Monday, April 02, 2007

April 3: San Diego at San Francisco ... These are the final two teams to begin the season. Barry Bonds hits No. 735. The race is on.

April 5: Boston's "Dice-K" makes major-league debut in Kansas City. Unveiling -- or not unveiling -- his gyroball, Dice no-hits the Royals, 3-0. Matsuzaka Mania begins in earnest.

May 7: Bonds scores his 23rd run of the season to move into third place all-time in runs scored behind Rickey Henderson and Ty Cobb. Nobody seems to care much.

May 29: Houston's Craig Biggio gets his 35th hit of the season. He's halfway to the 70 hits he needs this season to become the 27th member of the 3,000-hit club.

June 8: Barry Zito beats his former Oakland teammates and Bonds launches No. 745 into McCovey Cove.

June 15: The New York Mets' Tom Glavine gets his eighth victory of the season. The left-hander needs two more wins to become the 23rd member of the 300-win club.

July 10: Bonds homers in his only All-Star Game at-bat, delighting the hometown fans. Adam LaRoche's ninth-inning home run wins All-Star Game for National League, 6-5.

July 29: Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken are inducted into Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Congratulations, guys!

July 30: Sur-prising Kansas City, which rebounded nicely from being no-hit by Matsuzaka in April, beats Minnesota, 2-1, to take over American League Central lead. Royals are hailed as the "Tigers of 2007."

Aug. 7: After enduring a slump, Glavine fittingly gets No. 300 against Atlanta in New York.

Aug. 12: Bonds hits No. 752 against Pirates in San Francisco. Commissioner Bud Selig announces he's taking a vacation, sets no timetable for return to work.

Aug. 24: Biggio, after a prolonged slump, finally gets hit No. 3,000 against the Pirates in Houston.

Aug. 28: Bonds goes on disabled list with a sore elbow. He's stuck at 753 career home runs. Selig hurriedly returns from vacation.

Aug. 31: Roger Clemens announces he's coming out of retirement -- again! -- and signs a one-month contract with the Yankees for $2,222,222.

Sept. 12: Bonds begins taking batting practice and says he's close to returning. Selig calls his travel agent.

Sept. 14: Detroit beats Minnesota in opener of three-game series and takes a one-game lead in AL Central.

Sept. 16: Bonds hits No. 753 in San Diego. Selig flies to Cancun to resume "much-needed" vacation.

Sept. 23: Tigers finish three-game sweep of Royals to clinch AL Central championship. Sean Casey's reaction? "Wow! Oh, golly! Man, this is so cool, dude! Gee, whiz! Wow! Neat-o! My gosh!"

Sept. 24: Bonds hits No. 754 against San Diego. A sellout crowd in San Francisco goes manic.

Sept. 26: Bonds, in Giants' final home game of the season, goes 0 for 1 with four intentional walks. Giants head for Los Angeles and final three games of season. Selig extends hotel stay for at least three more nights.

Sept. 30: Bonds in his final plate appearance of the season is intentionally walked in the ninth inning.

Oct. 1: Bonds announces he'll return in 2008 to resume pursuit of Hank Aaron's career home run record. Selig abruptly announces he'll retire right now.

First published on April 2, 2007 at 12:00 am