Suarez was born in Tampa, Florida, and attended Jesuit High School. As well as being the catcher for the Jesuit Tigers, Suarez played for West Tampa\'s American Legion team with Lou Piniella and Tony La Russa.\n', '

Suarez attended Florida State University, and took over catching duties for the Seminoles baseball team as a sophomore in 1963. After leading his team to the College World Series in 1963, Suarez erupted his junior year. He batted .404 with 44 hits, six home runs, thirty runs batted in, 25 runs scored and 21 walks, all tops on his team. He was named a 1964 First Team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association, and was selected to the 1964 U.S. Olympic Baseball Team. After which, he signed with the Kansas City Athletics as an amateur free agent.\n', '

Suarez\'s first professional hit was a grand slam while playing for the Lewiston Broncs in 1965. That season, he batted .253 with thirteen home runs and twenty RBIs while providing excellent defense for the Broncs and Double-A Birmingham Barons to earn an invitation to spring training in 1966. He won the starting job out of camp, but lost the job to Phil Roof after batting just .185 with two RBI through May. He hung around at the major league level through the All-Star break before being optioned to Double-A Mobile.\n', '

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