 As Lilith is going away for family business, she entrusts Frasier with taking care of her beloved lab rat, Number 17A, or who she coins Whiskers. Frasier brings Whiskers to the bar, and promptly loses him. Frasier hasn t found Whiskers by the time Lilith comes back, so Frasier decides to buy a rat from the pet store and train it to pass it off as Whiskers. Lilith immediately knows the rat is not Whiskers. As Frasier is adamantly vowing that the new rat is Whiskers, the real Whiskers, attracted to the sound of Lilith s voice, suddenly appears on Frasier s shoulder. Lilith might have Whiskers back, but Frasier doesn t have Lilith back, at least in the sexual sense for a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, with the arrival of Mitch Ganzell, an old baseball buddy, Sam decides to follow Mitch s footsteps and try-out for the Red Sox  farm team as a relief pitcher, this despite their respective ages. Miraculously, they both make the farm team. However only Sam makes it to the team as Mitch comes down with a sudden injury (courtesy of Whiskers). Carla decides to visit Sam while he s on the road pitching. Although Sam is pitching well, he admits to Carla that he really hasn t been able to go back, namely to the carousing and pranks of the younger guys. In other words, he hates his new situation. Just as the guys are about to pants Sam, Carla calls them off and allows Sam to leave the team in peace. However Carla decides to stay and join in the fun with the guys.