Great Googly Moogly!

Wow. What a wild game and what a bizarre finish.

Trevor Hoffman looked like he was throwing batting practice in the bottom of the 13th, but the Rockies almost blew it with some horrible baserunning. First, Troy Tulowitzki almost gets thrown out at second on what should have been an easy double, then Matt Holliday tries to score on a ball that wasn't nearly deep enough, and nearly kills himself in the process.

By the way, the umpire made the right call. Even if Holliday didn't touch the plate, and I'm not 100% sure he didn't get the corner before hitting the catcher's leg, it was interference. Despite how it is called almost all the time, the catcher isn't actually allowed to block home plate when he doesn't have the ball. Barrett didn't have the ball, and he impeded Holliday from touching the plate, so he should have been called safe.

NOTE: The catcher, without the ball in his possession, has no right to block the pathway of the runner attempting to score. The base line belongs to the runner and the catcher should be there only when he is fielding a ball or when he already has the ball in his hand.

- Official Rules of Major League Baseball

Elite Eight

I'm trying to decide which teams I'll be cheering for in the baseball playoffs.

Colorado Rockies: Pros - Great city ... Fantastic finish to just make the playoffs ... Todd Helton is finally in the postseason ... Always fun to cheer for saxikath's teams. Cons - Denver spawned the two most evil franchises in hockey - the Avs and the Devils ... Uniforms are black and purple, which is way too trendy.

New York Mets: *snicker*

Philadelphia Phillies: Pros - Philadelphia fans have suffered a lot over the years ... Phillies were kind enough to trade Placido Polanco to the Tigers for a machete killer ... Phillies do not wear yellow-and-blue uniforms like the Eagles ... Charlie Manuel mumbles in an endearing way. Cons - Jimmy Rollins got to 20-20-20-20 on the last day of the season, kind of ruining the whole "Curtis Granderson was only the third guy in major-league history to do it" story ... The fans booed Santa Claus ... I hold the entire city responsible for those Eagles uniforms.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Pros - My brother lives in Phoenix ... Beat the Yankees in a recent World Series ... Certainly won't have a lot of bandwagon fans against the Cubs. Cons - They are the only team in the National League playoffs to have won a World Series since World War I, so it would seem a little greedy to win another one already ... Phoenix just won the WNBA title, so it would seem a little greedy to win another one already ... They are boring -quick, name an Arizona Diamondback!

Chicago Cubs: Pros - Lovable losers, long-suffering fans, blah blah blah. Cons - Red Sox fans wanted to win, and were happy when they did. Cubs fans would lose their entire identity if they actually won ... If they win, the Cubs, White Sox and Red Sox will have all won World Series more recently than the Yankees, which is a biblical sign of the End Times.

The Angels Angels of Anaheim California: Pros - No longer owned by Disney ... Vladimir Guerrero is a silly name ... Kept the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man from winning a World Series. Cons - I'm really over the name thing. Pick one. Any of them ... Recently owned by Disney ... Already won in the 21st Century.

Boston Red Sox: Pros - Provided the greatest moment in sports history in 2004 ... Always fun to cheer for saxikath's teams ... David Ortiz. Cons - Once they won a World Series, they sort of became Yankees Lite ... Another World Series and a fourth Super Bowl for the Patriots? Isn't that a bit selfish?

Cleveland Indians: Pros - Playing the Yankees in the first round ... Cleveland fans have the suffering of Philadelphia, without ever booing Santa Claus ... Eric Wedge is a great guy ... Won the Central Division, meaning I wouldn't have to cover postseason baseball this year. Cons - Won the Central Division, meaning I wouldn't get to cover postseason baseball this year ... Detroiters are prohibited by law from cheering for teams from Cleveland ... I hold the city responsible for my fear of flying.

New York Yankees: No. Not if they were playing a team of demonspawn managed by Bill O'Reilly.

This is easier than I thought - there's no way I can cheer for most of these teams. If the Padres had won tonight, I'd probably go for the Phillies. Or maybe the Diamondbacks, if I could remember any of their players.

But it's the Rockies.

Letter from the vet

Any suggestions on how we should proceed?

Hello Dave and Angela.

I'm glad Moonlight is back to his normal self since you changed him back to
the Purina Proplan Select Chicken and Rice diet.  His labs show that his ALT
(liver enzyme) is three times the normal value.  This enzyme, when elevated,
generally indicated damage to the liver at the cellular level which can
happen with trauma, toxins, infections, and tumors.  His Albumin, a protein
that is synthesized in the liver, is also mildly low (which supports the
fact that the liver isn't working at 100%).  A bile acids test (takes 3
hours and runs about $160) can confirm poor function and if highly elevated
gives us direction as far as medication and diet changes to make to avoid
things like high ammonia in the blood (from the liver not working well)
which in turn can cause seizures.

As I mentioned on the phone, with Moonlight's symptoms having resolved,
perhaps some of this elevation was due to something he ate or some sort of
trauma.  In that case, the values may return to normal on their own, or at
least, not keep going up.  With a value of 3x normal, I would prefer to take
a responsive action.  We can:

1) put him on a prescription diet for the liver (called l/d),
2) put him on one or more supplements that we know help support the liver (Denosyl to
support liver function and Marin to actually help to detoxify the liver
itself... in the human supplement areas these would be called 'Sam-E' and
'Milk Thistle' respectively).  We can dispense these supplements in kitty
formulation from our office.

If we do either or both of these items, I would recheck his liver values
(can be done via a mini panel @ $29) in 30-60 days.  If we do not do either
of these items, I would still recheck his ALT in 30 days to determine if it
is stable, returning to normal, or rising further.  As liver values rise,
symptoms eventually return. These can be vomitting, anorexia, diarrhea, and
or seizures.