Early Life and Major League Career
Johnson was born in Fort Pierce, Florida where he graduated from Fort Pierce Westwood High School in Fort Pierce, Florida, in 1989. He then enrolled at the University of Miami, where he played for the Miami Hurricanes baseball team. He was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the first round of the 1992 Major League Baseball Draft. He played with the A-level Kane County Cougars in 1993 and the AA Portland Sea Dogs.
In 1995, Johnson's reputation as a skilled defensive player was solidified when he became the fourth catcher in Major League history to win a Gold Glove Award in his rookie season, joining Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk and Sandy Alomar, Jr. Although his offensive statistics weren't impressive, he made up for those shortcomings by helping his team with his superior defensive skills. In 1996, Johnson was the Marlins catcher when Al Leiter threw a no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies. Johnson set a Major League record in 1997 by playing in 123 games without committing a single error, earning him his first All-Star selection, and helping the Marlins win the 1997 World Series against the Cleveland Indians. Johnson led the Marlins in the Series with 10 hits, batting .357 including one home run. Along with winning his third consecutive Gold Glove Award in 1997, he also caught his second no hitter when Kevin Brown no hit the Giants on June 10.
In 1998, the Marlins traded Johnson along with Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich, Gary Sheffield and Manuel Barriosto to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile. After finishing the season with the Dodgers, he played for two years in the American League with the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox. He had his best year offensively in 2000, when he had a .304 batting average along with 31 home runs and 91 RBIs, during a season in which he played 84 games for the Orioles and 44 games for the White Sox.
In 2001 he was traded back to the Marlins, where he hit .285 with 16 home runs by mid-season to earn his second All-Star berth. He would also catch his third no hitter when AJ Burnett no hit the San Diego Padres on May 12. The only Marlins no-hitter Johnson did not catch for Florida was in 2006, when Aníbal Sánchez threw a no-hitter in Dolphin Stadium against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
After the 2002 season, the Marlins traded Johnson to the Colorado Rockies where he played for two seasons before ending his career with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2005.
Read more about this topic: Charles Johnson (catcher)
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