If a backup player fell asleep, Johnson said, he would cut him.

That's the tough part of being a backup player.

He was cut in the off season, largely because management said it could not afford to pay a backup player a $1 million salary.

He was a backup player for Tulsa during the 1982 season.

When backup players get hurt in preseason, the Giants have to play the first team guys more.

He was a backup player that could play the outfield and first base.

Now we have a guy who has had some success in the league as a backup player.

"Do you think a system that gives a backup player a million a year is unfair?"

"I think most of them looked at me as a backup player," he said.

And five of the Giants' backup players have never started a game either.