Cincinnati Reds Opening Day Countdown: 49 Days and a Historic Season

Former Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez had a special 2019 season.

Author:
Austin Elmore
Publish date:
Feb 8, 2024 10:46 AM EST

In this story:

CINCINNATI — Welcome back to another edition of our Countdown to Opening Day here on Inside the Reds. Last time, we told you about the iconic moment that Ramon Hernandez authored in 2011. This time we recall the 2019 season of former Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez.

Suarez was coming off the best season of his career in 2018, when he was a National League All-Star and hit 34 home runs. He also had 103 RBI and hit a strong .283 for the Redlegs.

He was awesome again in 2019, when he hammered 49 home runs, the most ever by a National League third baseman. Those 49 bombs also tied Ted Kluszewski for the second most in a single season in Reds history.

In case you’re wondering, and I’m sure you are, George Foster holds that record with 52 homers in 1977 when he won the National League MVP award.

Suarez's 49 home runs are the most ever by a Venezuelan-born player. He hit 15 of them in the first inning, 12 in July, and nine against the Chicago Cubs. He also became just the ninth player in Reds history to hit 40+ HR in a single season. Bonus points if you can name the other eight.

In 2019, the Reds were coming off of an offseason that saw them move on from Homer Bailey and acquire veterans Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig, but it wasn’t the new guys that turned in one of the greatest seasons in franchise history, it was Suarez.

His historic season was a bright spot in a year that wasn’t as fruitful as the Reds had hoped. They finished 75-87 and the highlights of the year were brawling with the Pirates, the Reds wearing a ton of different uniforms, Derek Dietrich spraying bees, and all sorts of other shenanigans.

That season was one of the most fun in recent memory, though. The personalities on that team, led by Suarez and his ever-changing hair color, connected with the fan base in a special way and set the team up for a playoff run in 2020.

The franchise was honoring their 150th Anniversary of being baseball’s first professional team, and it started off with a bang on Opening Day when Dietrich launched a 3-run homer off of Richard Rodriguez to put the Reds ahead.

That was March 28, 2019.

49 days from now is March 28, 2024.

Opening Day.

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