1.   At first, he was the malcontent, the grumbler in the locker room unhappy with his unglamorous bench role.

2.   At the start of their careers, none of these six players believed they would ever have to make the big leagues by fighting for a bench role.

3.   In New York, he knew he would have to go back to a bench role he had left behind when he left Utah.

4.   That would not have happened in the bench role the Mets envisioned for Tony Phillips, unless an everyday player happened to get injured.

5.   The newcomers will allow Terry Porter and Danny Ferry to return to bench roles.

6.   Ceballos is expected to step into a bench role expected to be filled by swingman Dan Majerle, who has missed much of the season with a torn hamstring.

7.   Matthaeus is usually not content with a bench role.

8.   Robinson returned to the starting lineup after being used in a rare bench role the night before.