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Wallace Darnell Johnson (born December 25, 1956 in Gary, Indiana), is a former Major League Baseball player and coach. He was a first baseman for the Montreal Expos and San Francisco Giants and Chicago White Sox third base coach, but is best known for his skill as a pinch hitter. Johnson was a switch hitter and threw right-handed.

After graduating from Indiana State University Wallace was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the sixth round of the 1979 amateur draft. He made his major league debut for the Expos in September 1981 and played most of his career in Montreal. He spent part of 1983 with the Giants, having been traded to them on May 25 in exchange for outfielder Mike Vail. The next spring, the Giants released him, and he returned to the Expos as a free agent shortly thereafter.

On May 2, 1988, Johnson broke up the perfect game bid of Ron Robinson of the Cincinnati Reds. Johnson getting a single with two outs in the 9th inning.

Johnson led the major leagues in pinch-hits during the period 1987-1990. On August 11, 1990 he was released by the Montreal Expos again and signed with the Oakland Athletics, but he did not appear in any games for the A's. He played his final major league game on August 3, 1990.

He spent three years (1995-1997) coaching in the Atlanta Braves minor league system and five years as the third base coach with the Chicago White Sox but was fired after the 2002 season.

Johnson's was an acclaimed pinch-hitter. His pinch-hit knocked in the winning run that put the Montreal Expos in their first (and only) postseason in 1981. He was the Expos all-time pinch-hit leader with 86.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube