BRADENTON, Fla. -- Highlights of the Pirates' 2009 schedule ...

April 6: The 123rd season for the Pittsburgh Baseball Club finds its gateway in St. Louis -- first time since John Candelaria outdueled Bob Forsch in 1983 -- and recent precedent shows it could be successful and dramatic. The Pirates opened the past two seasons on the road, in Houston and Atlanta, and won in extra innings.

April 13: The home opener? Very much another matter. Try 13 losses in the past 15 games, including 2-6 at PNC Park and 30 runs allowed in losing the past four. This time, it will be the Astros.

May 8: The first game at the New York Mets' Citi Field. Anything would be an improvement over moldy Shea, but the new place's interior was modeled after PNC, its exterior after Brooklyn's old Ebbets Field, so the difference should be stark.

May 22: Interleague play starts ominously, in Chicago against the White Sox. Some might recall that the three-game set there last year saw the home team pound out 37 runs, including 10 long balls.

May 25: No need to switch hotels. By a scheduling quirk, the Cubs at Wrigley Field -- right up I-94 -- mark the next three games.

May 30: The first of three SkyBlast events, now spread over three Saturdays in the summer. Hot new musical talent on tap includes Foreigner and KC and the Sunshine Band.

June 14: The series finale with Detroit-- on the 100th anniversary of Honus Wagner's Pirates beatiig Ty Cobb's Tigers for their first World Series title -- will have a turn-back-the-clock promotion. Day game, no scoreboard, no music, no noise ... no Pierogi Race?

June 23: The likely highlight of the summer will be the return of Cleveland for the first time since that unforgettable 2003 series, all in front of sellout crowds, all nailbiting victories for the home side. Maybe someone at Major League Baseball will pay attention and, at long last, deem these teams annual interleague rivals.

July 14: The 80th All-Star Game, St. Louis. Prediction for the Pirates? Nate McLouth again? Ryan Doumit? Paul Maholm?

July 31: The Pirates are at home against Washington on the day of the trading deadline, which means the roster in the afternoon could be far different than the one that takes the field that night. Jack Wilson, Freddy Sanchez, Adam LaRoche and John Grabow all can be free agents after the season.

Aug. 21: Kickoff of a three-day celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Fam-A-Lee's championship, with plenty of team members on hand.

Sept. 18-28: Assuming the Pirates play their first relevant baseball in September in a dozen years, they could benefit from having this season-long 10-game homestand right near the end, with San Diego, Cincinnati and Los Angeles visiting.

Oct. 4: The local team playing in October? Well, yeah, the World Baseball Classic stretched out the regular season to the point this will be the finale, at Wrigley Field.

Oct. 16: The exact date those 1909 Pirates took Game 7 from the Tigers.

Oct. 17: Three decades since Omar Moreno squeezed the third out in Baltimore. Will Pittsburgh ever see another baseball championship? Or division title? Or .500 record?