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.