The Houston Astros will kick off the 2011 season in Philadelphia this Friday (April 1st), so that Ed Wade ("Boffo" per Sr. Powling) may be given his due for building the core of a championship team by blocking Ryan Howard with Jim Thome. The opening day matchup? It'll be Brett Myers for the Astros and Roy Halladay for the Phillies. I'm sure the Astros, who will likely open up without Clint Barmes and Jason Castro, will get ones of hits against Halladay.
The home opener will take place on April 8th, and it'll be your chance to see the Fightin' Florida Marlins! With Hanley Ramirez! Maybe Josh Johnson will start a game! NL All-Star Omar Infante! It's going to be riveting.
Behind the jump are a list of dates where the Astros will host certain teams, in case you were planning on seeing a specific team this season:
Arizona Diamondbacks: May 27th-29th
Atlanta Braves: June 10th-13th
Boston Red Sox: July 1st-3rd
Chicago Cubs: Apr. 11th-13th, Aug 15th-17th
Cincinnati Reds: May 9th-11th, Aug. 1st-3rd
Colorado Rockies: Sept 22nd-26th
Florida Marlins: Apr. 8th-10th
Los Angeles Dodgers: May 23-25th
Milwaukee Brewers: Apr. 29th-May 1st, Aug 5th-7th, Sept. 2nd-4th
New York Mets: May 13th-15th
Philadelphia Phillies: Sept. 12th-14th
Pittsburgh Pirates: June 14th-16th, July 15th-17th, Aug 29th-31st
San Diego Padres: Apr. 14th-17th
San Francisco Giants: Aug 19th-21st
St. Louis Cardinals: Apr. 26-28th, June 7th-9th, Sept. 26th-28th
Tampa Bay Rays: June 24th-26th
Texas Rangers: June 28th-30th
Washington Nationals: July 18th-20th
Some of the more interesting games this season:
April 3rd @ Philadelphia -- If J.A. Happ can avoid the DL, he'll be facing ex-Astros ace Roy Oswalt. Oswalt's possible return to Houston will come in September.
April 26th vs. St. Louis -- Lance Berkman's first at-bat in Houston as a Cardinal. Provided he's healthy.
May 13th vs. New York Mets -- Your latest chance to boo Carlos Beltran for no reason. Not pictured: Willy Taveras.
July 1st vs. Boston -- Houstonian Carl Crawford comes back home for the first time with his hefty sacks of dollars.
August 19th vs. San Francisco -- Your chance to see the defending World Series champions as they enter a dogfight for the division with the Rockies.
For MLB.com's sortable Astros schedule, click here. For their printable Astros schedule, click here.