DUGOUT LINGO: “Cage-Killer”

By Scotty Smalls
Updated: March 31, 2012

Sometimes, you just can’t get out of the cage. We’ve all been there – you hit ball after ball after ball up into the netting above you. You try to comfort yourself – How far up is this thing today? – as though the cage’s location on the field was robbing you of no-doubt homers. You do your best to play it cool, but with each pop-up, a little panic sets in and finding your way out of the turtle seems more and more impossible.

You can’t get on top of the ball for the life of you – you’re calling for the Driver but somehow the Sand Wedge keeps finding its way into your hands. It’s a horrible feeling, and you know it’s bad when comfort comes in the form of a dribbling ground ball. I got out! But hey, it happens.

Everyone’s been guilty of testing the strength of the cage’s netting at some point. There’s a little cage-killer in all of us, and even the greats aren’t immune – just ask Phil Brickma.