Johnson was born in
Fort Pierce, Florida, where he graduated from
Fort Pierce Westwood High School in Fort Pierce, Florida. He was drafted by the
Montreal Expos in the first round of the
1989 Major League Baseball draft. He did not sign, and decided to enroll 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 caught
Al Leiter's
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 , 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 would also catch his third no hitter when
A. J. Burnett no hit the
San Diego Padres on May 12. The only Marlins no-hitters Johnson has not caught for Florida were in
2006, when
Aníbal Sánchez threw a no-hitter in
Dolphin Stadium against the
Arizona Diamondbacks,
2013 when
Henderson Álvarez no-hit the
Detroit Tigers, and
2017 when
Edinson Vólquez no-hit the
Diamondbacks. After the
2002 season, the Marlins traded Johnson to the Colorado Rockies where he played for two seasons. On April 27,
2004, he, rookie
Matt Holliday, and
Jeromy Burnitz combined to slug back-to-back-to-back home runs against the
Marlins, the sixth such occasion in franchise history. After playing for Colorado, he ended his career with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, playing his final game on June 11,
2005 at the age of 33. ==Career statistics==