Three decades ago, Charles Johnson added another piece of hardware to a Marlins resume that was already starting to look special.
On Oct. 9, 1996, the Florida catcher won his second straight Gold Glove, giving the franchise one of its earliest defensive stars and reinforcing what had become clear almost immediately after he arrived: Johnson was going to be a problem for opposing baserunners.
Drafted No. 28 overall out of the University of Miami in 1992, Johnson reached the majors in 1994 and was the Marlins’ everyday catcher by 1995. That season brought his first Gold Glove at age 25. A year later, he backed it up with an even stronger year behind the plate.
Johnson finished 1996 leading National League catchers with a .995 fielding percentage. He also topped all of baseball in double plays turned from his position and in fielding runs above replacement. Among NL catchers, he ranked third in runners caught stealing and in caught stealing percentage.
The bat didn’t match the glove that year. In fact, Johnson posted the worst offensive season of his first run with the Marlins.
But the team around him kept moving forward anyway. Miami reached 80 wins for the first time, Kevin Brown and Al Leiter became the first starting pitchers in franchise history to make the All-Star Game, and Johnson was behind the plate for one of the biggest moments of that season when he caught Leiter’s no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies on May 11 - the first no-hitter in club history.
Johnson’s run of defensive excellence didn’t stop there. He won four consecutive Gold Gloves from 1995 through 1998, even though most of the 1998 season came with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He later returned to South Florida before the 2001 season and finished with seven total seasons in a Marlins uniform.
In all, Johnson was a two-time All-Star for the franchise and remains one of only two players to win multiple Gold Gloves as a Marlin, alongside second baseman Luis Castillo.
For a club that spent its first decade with just one Gold Glove winner - its first-ever draft pick, no less - Johnson’s second straight award stood out then, and still does now.
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